The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Review

Two years ago when I came out of the cinema after watching The Amazing Spider-Man, I was entertained, but not amazed. I was however, very excited to see where this new take on Spider-Man would lead, especially with the likeable Andrew Garfield at the helm as the prolific superhero himself. Now after almost two years, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has arrived, and it presents itself as one of the best examples of a mixed-bag if there ever was one. 

The film takes place not too long after it's predecessor, with Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) now dating Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). This goes directly against her late Father's wishes however, which frequently haunts Peter as he struggles with emotions and morality. During an early action-sequence in the film, Spider-Man saves an obsessive fan (Jamie Foxx) from certain death, which comes back to bite him once this particular fan is brutally injured and turned into sinister villain Electro. This is only the tip of the iceberg however, as many other twists involving the insidious corporation Oscorp come into play.

Electro (Jamie Foxx)

Now, before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released, many feared that it was going to be a very cramped movie. It seemed like Sony were throwing too many Spider-Man antagonists in solely to create a franchise, but for a large period this isn't the case. Electro remains the antagonist for a large part of the film, and a sub-plot of the relationship between Peter & Gwen also plays a large role. In fact, the film features a lot less action scenes than you may expect, but this is no bad thing, as the romantic 'side-plot' is just as engrossing and relevant as any other aspect, if not more. 

This nice balance of action and drama doesn't remain for the entirety of the movie though, and this is when I began to lose interest slightly. The film runs for around 2 and a half hours, but I would've much rather it ran for two so that some of the content could be saved for a later, confirmed instalment. This will be treading in spoiler-territory a little, so read on at your own risk. The final 30 minutes or so of the movie introduces the Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) as another villain for Spidey to fight, but after a single intense-sequence, he is dispatched and placed into prison in preparation for the next film. This is the same with The Rhino (Paul Giamatti), who only fully features in the very final scene of the movie. I can understand why Sony decided to do this, as it allows the set-up for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but by incorporating these characters for such a brief period, it made the film feel more like an advertisement than a stand-alone movie. If the movie concluded with a small cliff-hanger hinting at a sequel, then it could have been much more effective than practically showing the first 20 minutes of another movie. It didn't completely detract from the film, and I still enjoyed Electro as an antagonist, but it made me leave the cinema feeling a bit cheated. 

Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield)

As mentioned earlier, the storyline which followed Gwen Stacy and her complicated relationship with Peter Parker took much more of a central role than I thought it would, but this turned out to work hugely in the film's favour. Despite the lack of constant action, I can't say that I ever felt bored during The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is something I definitely can't say for it's predecessor. 

Verdict
Although not perfect, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is definitely one of the best Spider-Man movies I have seen. It confirms my opinion that Andrew Garfield is the best actor to play the character, as he presents him in such a charismatic and likeable light, and has a really nice balance of drama and action. I could quite happily do without the final few scenes of the film which drastically altered my opinion of it, but this doesn't ruin the rest of it. Yes, it's clear that Sony are just trying to franchise Spider-Man, but it's not so blatant that it makes this film any less enjoyable than it is.