The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx
Directed by: Marc Webb
Rating: I Liked It

I don't know if this is a fair assessment of the movie or not if I'm being honest. I kind of feel like I've been jaded in the way of movies for this year, because I've already seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I'm afraid I'm going to compare the rest of the year's releases to it, and that's a high mark to hit. So, keep that disclaimer in mind as you read onward. 

First, I should say that I liked the first of this series really well. I don't have the same problem of extreme hatred that many do for the original Toby McGuire trilogy, but I feel like The Amazing Spider-Man definitely improved on things in a lot of ways. I don't necessarily think that this film was a step backward, but it didn't really feel like a step forward either. 

One of my favorite things about Spider-Man are the cheesy jokes and one-liners. However, in this go around, I felt like things were a little too far in the way of the funny. Spidey's lines were still OK, but some of the lines that Electro (Foxx) delivered were just too corny for even a Spider-Man film. I don't know if that was because of Foxx's delivery or if it was just not the best writing, but a lot of it felt forced and cheesy. For that matter, Foxx's performance overall as Electro was just mediocre to me. He's a great talent, but this was not his role. 

It may just be that he's too cool to the play the loser turned super villain, and one of the most important aspects of a successful movie in my eye is the casting. Marvel and Disney have done a great job with that concept in building the MCU, but I don't know that Sony is having the same success. The only casting that was outstanding in any way was that of Garfield in the title role. He makes a good Peter Parker/Spider-Man. While Sally Field does a decent job as Aunt May, the rest of the cast is lackluster in their roles. Also, as much as I like Paul Giamatti...not as the Rhino. No one performs badly, but they're just not perfect for the part whereas so many other comic book films are nailing the casting, making for completely unforgettable characters. 

To step away from the cast, the plot of the movie was pretty good, the timing and script, not so much. Parts of the movie that should've been longer weren't, and parts that should've been shorter felt excessive. Harry Osborne (Dane DeHaan) and Peter's friendship grew too fast with little to no interaction or development at all. They spent three short scenes on screen together before Harry started claiming that Peter betrayed him. The Gwen Stacy side of the story was good but felt a little underdeveloped. There was just too much going on behind the main story.

Two stories, especially when one is hidden, as in Winter Soldier, can compliment one another. Three or four stories in one movie, or just too much attempted character development in the background can distract from the main focus, and that's what I felt like happened here. It's possible that the production team was just expecting audiences to fill in a lot of gaps with what they know from the previous movies and comics, but if you do that, you're crossing source material.

Since I'm already way over my self-set 500 word limit, I might as well mention a few things I did like. I enjoyed the first-person views of Spider-Man's swinging through the city. I love the back story we get with his parents, because it doesn't impede the front-and-center story, only adding depth to it. I like that the Rhino is a mech suit, even though it doesn't look all that great. Well, that's about it. 

**SPOILER ALERT**

The last fight scene of the movie did help the film recover somewhat, but it wasn't enough to drag it out of the trenches in my opinion. Really, it wasn't even the fight scene that did it. I was drawn in mostly by the suspense of finding out if the film stayed true to the original, comic-book fate of Stacy. It did, and I think that's really, really important in the development of Spider-Man's development as a hero. Again, the whole scene wasn't enough to salvage everything. 

If you have some extra time and really want to see a movie in the theaters, this wouldn't be a bad choice. You might even like it a lot better if you haven't seen the magnificence that is the newest Captain America film. If you're going to the movies specifically to see this expecting something amazing, you might be disappointed. Sony is really going to have to step up their game in the story and script departments to catch up with the other companies making similar films.