Life for Peter Parker, (Andrew Garfield), has become interesting to say the least. He is juggling the delicate and complex balance of being Spider-man as well as a high school senior and boyfriend to Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).
His enthusiasm for his wall crawling alter ego is evident from the start as he still is as fast with a quip as he is with his webs and fists when taking down the bad guys of New York.
A chance encounter with an ultra nerdy yet brilliant Oscorp employee named Max (Jaime Foxx), puts a series of events into motion that will put the city and Spider-man on a collision with a severe danger.
When a freak accident transforms Max into a being capable of becoming and discharging pure electricity, the passive aggressive Max has an outlet for his pent up anger and hero worship and sets to make all those who ignored him pay.
At the same time, internal politics have left Oscorp in the hands of young Harry who learns he has limited time to solidify his position and legacy.
All of this would be enough for anyone to deal with but Peter is conflicted by his love for Gwen and his promise to her late father to stay away from her for her own safety.
Peter also has to content with his Aunt May (Sally Field) and unlocking the mystery of his parents who left him with his Aunt and Uncle years earlier never to return.
If this sounds a bit heady for a comic book based movie then you will not be surprised with the first ¾ of the film. It does contain some great 3D moments of Spider-man slinging his way around the city and some good moments of action but mostly the audience gets character introductions and plot expositions.
When it does get to the action, it does so in a very sleek and stylish way but one that is so obviously CGI created that it plays more like a video game.
For me the liberties taking with the characters and the history of the series were a bit much at first as what they came up with for Electro is not even close to the way he is portrayed in the comics.
Thankfully the final act of the film delivers and sets up future films in grand style even though the trailers tease content that is barely in the film and would have made for a great addition to the film.
Garfield and Stone have great chemistry with one another, and Foxx does his best despite in my opinion being very miscast for the role.
Director Marc Webb is clearly a fan of the source material and I am eager to see what he comes up with for future installments.
As it stands, “The Amazing Spider-man 2”, is an enjoyable summer film but not as good as the film that preceded it and could have been so much more.
4 stars out of 5.
Second Review By Neil Jordan
Greetings & Salutations Folks!
The sunlight, the heat, the annoying jingle from the ice cream trucks that roll through neighborhoods all across the country, the weird buzzing noise coming from the power lines ….
That can only mean one thing …. Spring has indeed arrived! Oh yeah … I almost forgot …
Along with all that come the precursor of the summer blockbuster movies, the SPRING blockbuster movie season and Hollywood isn’t pulling any punches. We’re kicking off the 2014 movie season along with everyone’s favorite web crawler Spider-Man in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″!
Set to be release in the U.S. May 2nd, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Sally Field, Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper, Denis Leary with Marc Webb in the director’s chair.
The movie picks-up not far from where ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ left off. Peter and Gwen are graduating high school and looking to the future. While Peter continues to walk the tightrope fighting crime as Spider-Man and attempting to live somewhat of a ‘normal’ life as a photographer for the Daily Bugle he also revisits demons from his past and confronts new enemies. As if that wasn’t enough, the reappearance of his old friend Harry Osborn with demons of his own past and a crippling illness will only serve to push Peter/Spider-Man to the limit …. Can he live his life with Gwen, fight crime + protect New York City, help his oldest/best friend Harry in his darkest hour, and finally discover the secret his parents were hiding and how he came to live with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben?????
The was my very first 3D IMAX film. Let me tell you this folks …. It was a most excellent way to kick-off that milestone! Andrew Garfield definitely portrays Peter Parker/Spider-Man to a ‘T’! I use this description FAR too often but this movie is a ‘roller coaster’. It has action, laughs, drama …. It’s a great film whether you have read the comics or not …. If you’re a kid or an adult. Obviously, there will be differences between the comics and the movies … You can’t escape that really … If the movie reflects how awesome the comics are though … That’s what counts in my mind and I believe this film does live up to that. As the moviegoer , this film does a most excellent job in that you BELIEVE in Peter Parker/Spider-Man. You want him to succeed, to rescue everyone, defeat all the villains, to save the day and walk of into the sunset at the end of the film.
An associate of mine who also saw the film made the statement that he thought,”There were too many villains on the dance floor in this film.” I sort of agreed with him in that aspect BUT the portrayal of the villains more than makes up for that and gives you a look at what Spider-Man will have to face in the next installments of the series. I was somewhat torn on seeing Jamie Foxx as ‘Electro’ …. On the one hand …. as ‘Electro’s’ alter ego Max Dillon … It was almost too much … When he first shows up in the film, my first impression was that he looked like a character from his days as a cast member of ‘In a Living Color’. When he appears as ‘Electro’ though, Foxx was spot on. The rest of the cast Garfield, Stone, DeHaan, … You couldn’t have assembled a better cast for the film and they were great in their roles (and YES … There is indeed a Stan Lee cameo)
This is a rarity but I would give this one 5 out of 5 stars … Escape the heat, find an air conditioned theater, and take the ride!
Thanks for reading and on behalf of myself and my fellows at ‘Skewed & Reviewed’ … This is
‘The CameraMan’ … Thanks for reading and we’ll see you at the movies!
