The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is Not as Amazing as the First One

Spider-Man 2 posterBreaking news: the sequel to 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man is just ever so slightly not as good as the original. Many if not all of the same ingredients are there, most importantly the chemistry between Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, but somehow the sum of this follow-up is lesser than its parts. And that has a lot to do with the villains. As seen with the unfortunate terribleness that befell the Men In Black franchise, a film is only as good as its villains, and here two smart and usually dynamic actors are utterly wasted as aimless, very shallow sketches who seem only to serve as obstacles to Spider-Man and nothing more.

First there is Jamie Foxx, playing the electricity-themed baddie Electro. At the outset, as nerdy Oscorp electrician Max Dillon, Foxx is painted as an almost childlike klutz, the kind of poor sap who will of course totally snap at some point and go off the deep end. But we are never really let into why this might happen, so the character remains just a sketch for the rest of the film, and not a very mesmerizing one at that: when he transforms (inexplicably) into the supercharged glow-in-the-dark Electro, his appeal is only temporarily enhanced, but due to some shoddy effects, by the last third of the film he looks entirely too cartoonish as he whizzes by in high-speed chase sequences. Unfortunately for Foxx, Electro never gets close to generating the kind of sparks elicited by the film’s cute-as-can-be star couple.

Then, as a mere afterthought, there is Paul Giamatti as the particularly ridiculous Rhino. In the trailer, this character (essentially just a man in a bulky, hi-tech battering ram of a suit) looked somewhat promising, thanks in no small part to Giamatti, who is frequently the best part of any film in which he chooses to appear. But he is barely in Spider-Man 2, relegated to the background in an interesting and unorthodox structural choice on the part of the filmmakers. The problem is, once we finally see a wide shot of the Rhino at the movie’s conclusion, the thought ‘too little, way too late’ comes to mind.

But all is not lost, as villainous actor extraordinaire Dane DeHaan still cooks things up as jealous, tortured Harry Osborn/Green Goblin. His supervillain transformation also feels rushed and without much motivation, with Harry simply happening upon the Goblin’s suit and hovercraft, but this was a long time coming—it has taken two films for him to get this far, and the final showdown is hard to watch for those of us who know the outcome (and doesn’t everybody?).

The question is, will they still manage to get Shailene Woodley to star as Mary Jane Watson in the third installment? It seems like Dr. Octopus will be making an appearance, so we’d just like to know what other new faces we’re going to see.

 


 

amazing-spider-man-2

Spider-Man 2 posterBreaking news: the sequel to 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man is just ever so slightly not as good as the original. Many if not all of the same ingredients are there, most importantly the chemistry between Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, but somehow the sum of this follow-up is lesser than its parts. And that has a lot to do with the villains. As seen with the unfortunate terribleness that befell the Men In Black franchise, a film is only as good as its villains, and here two smart and usually dynamic actors are utterly wasted as aimless, very shallow sketches who seem only to serve as obstacles to Spider-Man and nothing more.

First there is Jamie Foxx, playing the electricity-themed baddie Electro. At the outset, as nerdy Oscorp electrician Max Dillon, Foxx is painted as an almost childlike klutz, the kind of poor sap who will of course totally snap at some point and go off the deep end. But we are never really let into why this might happen, so the character remains just a sketch for the rest of the film, and not a very mesmerizing one at that: when he transforms (inexplicably) into the supercharged glow-in-the-dark Electro, his appeal is only temporarily enhanced, but due to some shoddy effects, by the last third of the film he looks entirely too cartoonish as he whizzes by in high-speed chase sequences. Unfortunately for Foxx, Electro never gets close to generating the kind of sparks elicited by the film’s cute-as-can-be star couple.

Then, as a mere afterthought, there is Paul Giamatti as the particularly ridiculous Rhino. In the trailer, this character (essentially just a man in a bulky, hi-tech battering ram of a suit) looked somewhat promising, thanks in no small part to Giamatti, who is frequently the best part of any film in which he chooses to appear. But he is barely in Spider-Man 2, relegated to the background in an interesting and unorthodox structural choice on the part of the filmmakers. The problem is, once we finally see a wide shot of the Rhino at the movie’s conclusion, the thought ‘too little, way too late’ comes to mind.

But all is not lost, as villainous actor extraordinaire Dane DeHaan still cooks things up as jealous, tortured Harry Osborn/Green Goblin. His supervillain transformation also feels rushed and without much motivation, with Harry simply happening upon the Goblin’s suit and hovercraft, but this was a long time coming—it has taken two films for him to get this far, and the final showdown is hard to watch for those of us who know the outcome (and doesn’t everybody?).

The question is, will they still manage to get Shailene Woodley to star as Mary Jane Watson in the third installment? It seems like Dr. Octopus will be making an appearance, so we’d just like to know what other new faces we’re going to see.