The Amazing Spiderman 2

To all intents and purposes, this is the fifth outing for Spiderman in recent years, as Sam Raimi’s trilogy had barely gathered any dust by the time the reboot came along in 2012. Clearly, the director, Marc Webber, is trying to up the ante this time round, filling the film with more action and more ‘baddies’ than the predecessor. Although at time these juggling balls may drop, the overall picture is one that is freshly entertaining.

So, Spidey is now inevitably the most famous Spider-human cross breed in the World (Not the hardest accolade, but still). He’s web slinging his way around town and is naturally attracting public adoration and media scorn, whilst still trying to maintain his relationship with Gwen (Stone). When saving the lovably nerdy Max Dillon (Foxx) on one of his escapades, you’d think he’d be grateful, but, when Dillon accidently dices with death he becomes the main villain of the piece; Electro. The shady Oscorp gets a new owner, none other than Peter Parker’s (Garfield) oldest friend Harry Osborn (DeHaan). However this isn’t perhaps the reunion Pete was hoping for and it sets Harry on his way to becoming yet another villain. The high voltage finale brings all three players together for a battle royale, but in turn leaves the door wide open for the sequel, due in 2016.

It seems only right to start with what makes this film live up to its title; amazing. The whole look and tone of the film is somewhat lighter than the Avengers canon, yet just as enjoyable as a spectacle overall.  The action sequences are much more vibrant than say Captain America, but that doesn’t make them look less impressive or less realistic. The whole tone reflects the franchise’s Comic Book origins which in turn makes its fresh and bouncy. At the centre of it is the incredibly charismatic Garfield playing the lead role. It may seem obvious, but the film is at its best when he is on screen. His chemistry with real-life girlfriend Emma Stone as Gwen is constantly fizzing and thoroughly entertaining. This is certainly a character who is more comfortable in their own suit as it were and it really shows. He strikes the balance between cockiness and geekiness brilliantly and really dictates the pace of the film when he’s on screen. The depth added to the story at the start of the film is worthwhile and gives you a bit of context and meaning as to why Peter was abandoned by his parents all those years ago.

However, not everything in the film is as enjoyable. The middle section feels slightly bloated and fleets between story lines in the vague hope that we’ll tie up the loose ends. The two villains are both good, but you perhaps lack a degree of empathy with them, which makes them lack depth. Don’t get me wrong, both Foxx and DeHaan do superbly with the content that they've got, with DeHaan really growing into the sinister role of the Green Goblin that was so brilliantly executed by Willem Dafoe in the first of the Raimi trilogy, but they sometimes fall foul of an erratic script that tries to cover too much ground too quickly. On occasion the score for the film and choice of music is slightly off putting at best and irritating at worst. The use of classical music in the Electro-testing scene seems completely bizarre and that particular scene is made even worse by the most comically clichéd evil German doctor I've seen. (Seriously, they may as well have put a swastika on his breast pocket and be done with it). That one gripe aside, and the rest is perfectly enjoyable, with most of the highlights coming at the start and at the climax of the film.  

Therefore, this second instalment averts complete villain overload and in the main is incredibly enjoyable. The format isn’t your typical superhero film which is something that certainly deserves a lot of credit. The ending gives the franchise a lot of room for manoeuvre; Spiderman has room to grow even more, and is a changed hero by the end of the film, whilst the growing supervillains club is receiving applications left, right and centre. It’s certainly worth a watch and although it’s not perfect, there’s enough ‘amazing’ in it to justify the title. 

83/100