MOVIE REVIEW: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - 'His Greatest Battle Begins'

Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx
Release Date: May 2, 2014

Marc Webb's reboot of Spider-Man came just only 5 years after Spider-Man 3 in 2012. Some felt that it was too soon for a reboot but they couldn't fight that the reboot had some characteristics that are likeable. One being, Andrew Garfield playing the web-slinging Spider-Man. But now The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is touching some grounds that makes Spider-Man 3 unlikeable - having Spidey fight off three villains as Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), and Electro (Jaime Foxx) are all set to appear in the film. Can Marc Webb fit in three villains in a film and make it work in a way that Sam Raimi was not able to? Or will we receive another disappointing blockbuster film?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 begins not long after the first film. Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has grown since the first film but still fights the ghost of Gwen’s father and the promises he has trouble keeping. Another ghost returns as Parker's old friend Harry Osborne returns to New York City after Norman Osborne's death. But ghosts are not the only thing Spider-Man is going to need to fight as a new foe emerges from Max Dillon. Dillon works for OsCorp and just wants to be seen and acknowledged - something Spider-Man once did towards Max, calling him his eyes and ears. But after an awful accident involving a tank of electric eels, Dillon transforms into a blue electrifying human and calls himself Electro. Now with a terrifying appearance and Spider-Man forgetting what he once called Dillon, Electro is ready to reek terror against OsCorp and Spider-Man.

A lot is going on throughout The Amazing Spider-Man 2, we have the love drama between Gwen and Peter, Harry returning to NYC, the background of Peter's parents and the events that transpire with Max Dillon. The relationship and chemistry Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have is strong and is shown by how intimate Peter and Gwen are on screen. You even find yourself in the same crossroads as Peter, you can tell that the love he has for Gwen is real and passionate and you want the couple to be together. But then you remember that Peter promised Gwen's father that he would leave her alone. The relationship works for the film and I enjoyed how Marc Webb played it out. As for Harry Osbourne, Dane DeHaan gives him this amazing creepy vibe that makes the character quite enjoyable. Harry is suffering from a degenerative condition, the same condition that killed his father, and the only way he can extend his life if he gets a hand of the spider's venom that OsCorp was experimenting on. Problem is, after the attack by the Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, OsCorp destroyed all animal testing making Osbourne's hope of surviving that much slimmer but not impossible. There is still Spider-Man and his blood. Harry's return and health condition plays perfectly for tying in the background of Peter's parents. We learn way more about his parents, the spiders and OsCorp in general than the first film gave us.

Then there is Max Dillon a.k.a Electro, where Marc Webb and company went wrong. Max Dillon is portrayed as a man who is socially awkward, lonely and unappreciated - a man we should grow to have sympathy for as the film progresses. But is the sympathy felt for him truly genuine? After Spider-Man saves Dillon's life in the beginning of the film, Dillon becomes obsessed with the hero and feels as if he has finally found someone who notices him. When Dillon becomes Electro and a threat to the city, the whole world starts to notice him but not in the way he wanted to be noticed. But the film never gave Electro much motivation or cause to destroy the city. Webb fails to heighten Electro to that main villain level and to a villain that when it is all said and done you feel true sympathy for. But where the film goes wrong with the character growth of Electro, it picks up with the action sequences. Each one is brilliantly done and we get to see Spider-Man's spidey senses in action.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 packs a lot into its story line and I blame it mostly on the studio's want of building the franchise. With Sony planning on making two more films in the The Amazing Spider-Man series and spin-off films that include a Venom and Sinister Six film, introducing new characters are a must. Just in this film alone they introduce the comic book characters of Felicia Hardy, The Daily Bugle, J Jonah Jameson, Alistair Smythe, Doc Oct, Vulture, and Mister Fear. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the 8th inning pitcher of baseball setting up for the closer, with the closer being The Amazing Spider-Man 3.With the way the film ended, it leaves you expecting something epic from the next film and almost makes you upset at the same time that you have to wait for another film to know what is going to happen to Peter Parker next. Nonetheless, you should definitely see this film when it hits theaters, you won't be upset.