The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

4.5 of 10

Personal Bias Alert:  Haven’t read the comics, haven’t seen “The Amazing Spider-Man,” likes the cast

            “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” feels like a film battling between what it wants to be and what it’s expected to be.  Modern superhero movies have become dark, character driven affairs with interspersed explosions.  Even the relatively lighthearted Avengers universe is rough around the edges, making their characters prickly and troubled.  Gone are the days when a superhero traded quips with a villain, vanquished him, and went home happily ever after.  The problem is that’s exactly what “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” wants to be, but it exists in a world where audiences would be disappointed by such a simplistic story.

            This lighter tone is especially prevalent in the filmmaker’s interpretation of the Spider-Man/Peter Parker character.  He’s a laidback, friendly hero, which is refreshing in this era.  Other modern superheroes are cool loner types that audiences admire from afar, but this Spider-Man is someone you could fist bump, trade jokes with, and, if he was older, have a beer with.  Andrew Garfield is the perfect choice for this version of Spider-Man.  He’s good at being breezily affable, and it’s hard not to like him.  The other characters are old-school superhero stock:  either sweet, good people or crazy bad guys.  Dane DeHaan’s Harry Osborn is the only one with any sort of arc, but even he’s pretty messed up from the beginning.

            The main baddie is a goofy, derivative character named Max/Electro played by Jamie Foxx.  As Max, he was a lonely, underappreciated Oscorp employee with a crazy obsession with Spider-Man.  As Electro, he’s a glowing blue humanoid with power over electricity.  After an accident turns him into Electro, he stumbles around in a black hoodie trying to figure out what has happened to him, occasionally send out bolts of electricity from his hands.  This I referred to as his “Blue Emperor” faze, because he greatly resembles the Emperor from “Star Wars.”  His obsession with Spider-Man survived the accident, and when he first encounters Spider-Man as Electro, the needy fellow thinks they will be close friends.  Unfortunately, the encounter goes south, and Electro’s love turns to vengeful hate.  His power and control increases, and from then on he becomes a needy version of Dr. Manhattan from “Watchmen.”  All of this would have been fine if there was something about him that was menacing, but ultimately he just felt like a whiny annoyance there to distract Spider-Man from his other more pressing issues.

            These other issues are where the movie falters, overcomplicating the plot and trying to mix in some broody elements that never fit with the rest of the film.  Peter, you see, is having relationship troubles with girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and best friend Harry Osborn.  He’s also still confused about why his parents abandoned him with his aunt and uncle.  These subplots seem to be there to add in those dark tones audiences have come to expect, but they play out at such different speeds that the tone of the film changes back and forth from scene to scene.  One minute Spidey is bantering with a bad guy, and then two minutes later he’s having a heart-to-heart with his dying best friend.  The shifts started giving me tonal whiplash, and it undercuts what I think the film’s main goal is:  to be a fun Spider-Man movie.

            Considering I’ve spent most of this review complaining about tone, it should come as no surprise that the writing gets pretty shaky.  Writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner, all alums of J. J. Abram’s various television series, get the story across clearly, but sacrifice quality in order to do so.  Some of the plot points are simply absurd (Harry supposedly never looked up his father’s illness?), some of the dialogue is pedestrian (“I’m really excited about England!”), and the tone issues have already been discussed ad nauseam.  These guy’s careers have been shaky, but this is among their worst work.

            “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” battles with itself throughout, and the end product is a messy, unsatisfying affair.  It’s neither a fun Spidey film nor a modern superhero epic. Hopefully, the filmmakers pick one direction over the other for the inevitable Spider-Man 3, or they will end up with another waste of good talent.

            Other Notes:

Ø  Let’s break down the absurdity of the Harry Osborn subplot even more:  When Harry’s dying father tells him of his hereditary fatal illness, he says that Harry should start showing symptoms soon.  When he does, Harry goes off the deep end and thinks he needs treatment immediately.  Harry’s father made it into his 60s, so I think Harry had some time to come up with a cure.

Ø  Harry’s assistant tells him about a secret department of Oscorp that is off the books.  Harry finds out more about this secret department by pulling up files about it.  Not so off the books, huh?

Ø  Gwen thinks she has this special knowledge about the backup power grid when all she has to do to turn it on is flip the labeled switch.

Ø  Peter refers to Harry as his best friend.  They haven’t seen each other in eight years.  Peter needs better friends.

Ø  This movie would have gotten a much lower score if not for the ending twist.  It’s effective, but probably not good for the rest of the series.