Review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) by Thatsterlinkid — 03 May 2014

[This review contains spoilers, so unless you've already seen the movie or just don't care, tread with caution.].

Usually I'm able to write up reviews immediately after I see a movie, but this time I had to sleep it off. As I was walking out of the theater, I had nothing but good things to say about the movie due to how fast the 2 and a half hours went by, along with other great things that will definitely be mentioned in this review... But for hours, I found myself thinking: "How did this movie get such low scores?" and as I woke up this morning, it hit me. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may not be a bad movie, but it does throw a lot at the viewer from many different directions, which is definitely this movie's downfall. There's actually so much going on in this movie that I'm surprised Peter Parker having some kind of a mental breakdown wasn't scripted.

Starting with what makes this film a mess as opposed to what makes it shine; the first of many things that this movie throws at its audience is the absence of Peter's father, which is actually how the movie opens up. I suppose this could have been seen as necessary to the plot for the sake of Peter's back-story, but as the film moves on you'll realize that it's just one more thing that this movie has to juggle. Following that is the incredibly predictable, and not enjoyable at all thanks to the trailers that spoil it, chemistry between Gwen Stacey and Peter. This goes on throughout the entire movie in a pretty steady flow full of hardcore feels that build up to the big moment, but wait, there's more.

In addition to Peter's past and love life is the uprising of Maxwell Dillon, aka Electro, who's character build is actually pulled off pretty well. It's a shame that it nearly gets drowned out by everything else going on, including the relationship between Peter and Harry Osborn. Despite being in the film consistently from the first 30 minutes or so, Harry doesn't even make his transition into the Green Goblin until the film's final moments. Confused yet? Because there's even more.

At the very end of the movie after Peter takes a 5-month hiatus, thanks to what should have been the big finale, The Sinister Six goes into development starting with Rhino terrorizing the streets of New York. First of all, how did it take 5 whole months for any serious crimes that require Spider-Man's assistance to occur? Second, why would they close out the movie with a member of the Sinister Six fighting Spider-Man before the release of The Sinister Six movie, which Spider-Man is to have no involvement in? And finally, what in the world were they thinking when they put the final clip of the movie in the trailers? The whole time I was sitting around, I kept hearing "But wait, where's Rhino?", and if you take the clip of them in the trailers, then add credits after Spidey is about to hit him, you've got the end. Pretty lame.

However, there are actually a few sources of light in this long, dark, 2 and a half hour tunnel. What The Amazing Spider-Man 2 overloads us with is made up for with an amazing use of visual effects. Nothing looks like it's computer generated, the CGI interactions between actors is spot on, and best of all, the film opens up with scenes filmed in my home town; Rochester, NY. I actually even shouted "It's Rochester!" a couple times, but people didn't really like that too much.

The film's also pretty smart with its use of music, as opposed to simply blaring an original score whenever something gets even remotely serious. My personal favorites both involve Max, though. The first is when he becomes Electro, and an electronic song is used to portray the thoughts in his head while kicking off an interesting fight between he and Spidey. Another was towards the end of the movie and involved Electro toying with Spider-Man and playing "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" through poles of energy. Really smart play there.

There was also a good amount of strategic foreshadowing that required knowledge of the Spider-Man universe and didn't feel like a huge addition to the already cluttered story-line. A woman named Felicia was introduced soon after Harry Osborn was, and despite not hearing her last name, I'm sure it's Hardy. Felicia Hardy is Black Cat in the Spider-Man universe, and serves as an anti-hero who I'd love to see in future films. There was also a lot to see on the holo-graphic images presented in Oscorp, but unless you have the ability to pause it, you won't get much. I also like how Doctor Octopus and Kraven were hinted at.

Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is exactly what I said it was in the beginning; not a bad movie, but it does throw a lot at the viewer from many different directions, which is definitely this movie's downfall. I sincerely hope that the next couple films in the franchise aren't this cluttered, and the Sinister Six movie doesn't flop as hard as I think it will with so many stories to tell in such a short amount of time.