Adam Corn May 6, 2014
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has, it’s safe to say, the biggest explosions of the series. Big, colorful explosions complete with streaking bolts of electricity. If that’s what you look for in a film then you won’t walk away disappointed. If you expect much of anything else then you probably will.
The action is the same as we’ve seen in the last four movies. That’s not such a bad thing, but there’s really nothing new to it except for more frequent slow motion, which detracts from the very thing that makes Spider-Man action exciting in the first place, the lightning-quick speed. (It also allows more time to notice that it must all be computer-generated.)
Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were the anchor of the reboot’s first episode, and they remain this sequel’s one saving grace. Garfield mixes strength, vulnerability and teenage quirkiness well (even at 30), and Stone is nearly impossible not to like. But while in the first movie we got to see the two’s relationship develop, here it’s a simple back-and-forth between “I love you but we can’t stay together” and “I love you so let’s stay together anyway”. Both actors do well with what they’re given, but the dialog often has a soap-opera-like expository tone without the nuance of real conversation (or a well-written script).
Jamie Foxx’s talents are wasted on a two-dimensional, almost imbecilic character, and the role given Paul Giamatti goes beyond wastefulness to near-travesty. That an actor of his talent would be cast to play a utterly mindless thug with a bad Russian accent reinforces the notion of a studio having too much money to spend for all the wrong reasons. As has often been mentioned, there’s too much story twined together for a single movie, but more problematic is that it just isn’t told very well, with rushed developments and plot holes so plainly obvious that it’s clear that storytelling was nothing of a priority.
Despite the numerous flaws I was content to write this one off as another mediocre Spider-Man movie to follow the previous one, until in an attempt to turn the franchise into a villain-heavy Avengers-killer they destroyed the one good thing about the series, moments later returning to big-budget (and rather ridiculous-looking) action and effects as if nothing happened.
Astute viewers may notice the product placements for Sony’s Trinitron and Vaio lines in the film. It appears symbolic that both are dead or dying brands.
2 1/2 stars
