The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) continues to fight crime as masked superhero Spider-Man while maintaining his relationship with overachieving Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). A promise he made to Gwen’s late police captain father to keep her safe puts a strain on their relationship, as does Peter’s determination to find out what happened to his scientist parents, who disappeared years ago. Meanwhile, Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a lonely, put-upon electrical engineer fancies himself Spider-Man’s biggest fan, but a freak accident gives him the chance to become something more. And Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), Peter’s estranged childhood friend, returns from boarding school to take the reins of the company that ties all of the characters together.

If this past year’s Thor and Captain America sequels showed that even mid-range comic book follow-ups can offer substantial improvement, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 reminds us that will not always be the case. The Amazing Spider-Man was an unnecessary but relatively successful reboot. Its successor is not without some winning elements yet comes across too often as muddled and directionless.

To the movie’s credit, aptly-named director Marc Webb still hits more than he misses on a stylistic level. The film is shiny and slick and the action sequences competently executed. Though the movie feels long at times, the momentum never stalls out completely. Hans Zimmer’s score effectively adds gravity at all the right moments. However, it is undermined by a bombastic soundtrack featuring Alicia Keys and Pharrell Williams.

In attempting to expand characterization, the film’s acting and especially its script strike some false notes. In contrast to Tobey Maguire’s neurotic geek, Garfield plays Peter as brash and (relatively) well-rounded with a New York accent that comes and goes. It’s a refreshing approach, and he does retain some residual angst, but it’s harder to get behind Peter as a character when he is less of an underdog.

Motivation problems trip up the film’s villains as well. Foxx as Dillon/Electro starts off as compelling, lashing out at a world that ignored/rejected/belittled him. But the more powerful he becomes, the more generically megalomaniacal are his intentions. And the character design, while an improvement on the classic lightning-bolted green spandex of the comics, still has him looking like a second-rate Dr. Manhattan. DeHaan experiences a similar decline as he powers up. As Harry, he pulls of petulance while remaining sympathetic. As the Green Goblin, he is wasted: for all of the character’s plot-importance, he makes a very brief appearance and lacks genuine menace. Truthfully, his subplot would have been better served playing out over the course of two movies rather than abruptly terminating at the end of this one.

Aside from the reliably competent Stone (who plays Stacy as fearless and smart) and a tragically short appearance by Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn (sickly, but no less cold or dastardly), the biggest standout here is Sally Field as Aunt May. Whereas other interpretations cast her as a kindly but doddering grandmother-type, this May is a hard-working blue-collar single mother, the type of kind-hearted and strong woman who could convincingly inspire the values Spider-Man is supposed to fight for.

Tragedy strikes toward the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but before Peter or we as an audience can fully absorb it, a sequel hook is quickly shoved into place. The promise of seeing even more villains adapted to screen will raise the hopes of some fans, but were they paying attention to this movie, they should take caution not to lift them too high.

7.25/10