The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan Movie Review

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

A Damaged Spider

It's not easy for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) as he tries to juggle being Peter and being Spider-Man. On top of that he has to try and keep it a secret from Aunt May (Sally Field) whilst Gwen's (Emma Stone) father has made it clear he didn't want Peter putting his daughter in danger. But Peter not only finds himself dealing with every day villains but also a new bad guy in the form of Electro (Jamie Foxx) who is connected to Oscorp which is now being run by his old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) who is suffering from the Osbourne curse.

Thinking back to my childhood I was a fan of Spider-man, probably more down to my surname being Webb than anything, but since then it has to be said the appeal of Spider-Man has waned some what. It isn't that the "Spider-Man" movies have been bad but they are quite limited in their scope. That for me is the trouble with "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" as whilst it creates a story which sees Peter torn between his two lives, searching for answers about his father and having to deal with a new villain which links back to Oscorp it all ends up too familiar.

Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Now in fairness I am being a bit harsh as the soul searching side of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" as Peter finds himself split between the excitement and being the hero to the masses and his feelings towards Gwen are well worked. You can real sense the torment which Peter feels between doing what is right and what he wants whilst needing those answers about his father. Not only that the building up of a back story surrounding the Osborn family curse as well as Peter's father's research is good. There is certainly some depth to this 2nd movie which prevents it from being pointless.

But whilst you have this depth that familiarity of hero against bad guys, Spider-Man and Oscorp, and so on is still always there and always grabbing your attention. And so of course a big part of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" becomes special effect driven, can the effects surpass the previous movie without going too far in to the realms of the ridiculous. And there are times when not only does this feel like purely a showcase for those effects but they veer too close to being too out of this world. Of course there will be those who disagree and probably would have liked more of the special effect driven action and less soul searching but each to his own.

What this all boils down to is that "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is an equal to the previous movie which means it is entertaining. But once again this movie demonstrates the limitations of Spider-Man as a movie character.


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