The Amazing Spider-Man 2

 THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

Director : Marc Webb
Year : 2014
Genre : Superhero
Rating : **1/2

Spidey once again returns to cinema screens in 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2', the sequel to the massively underwhelming 2012 failure 'The Amazing Spider-Man'. Once again directed by the aptly named Marc Webb' 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' continues the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) who now seems to have met his match in the form of the shocking Electro played by Jamie Foxx. As well as dealing with his new nemesis, Parker must also juggle his secret life as a hero with his relationship with his girlfriend Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone), his aunt May (Sally Field) and his estranged best friend Harry Osborne (Dane DeHaan). 

Much like the needlessly maligned 'Spider-Man 3' directed by Sam Raimi, 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' tries to tackle many different plot lines simultaneously and while some work to a certain degree, others really do not. Garfield brings a sarky, cocky and charismatic hero to screen, contrasting very well with Tobey Maguires more stoic and empathetic Spidey from Sam Raimi's superior trilogy, Emma Stone is wonderful as the bubbly and dedicated Gwen Stacey who is much more likable and personable than Kirsten Dunsts' frankly horrible Mary Jane Watson and Jamie Foxx has good fun but seems rather miscast playing the lightning throwing Electro. However just like the aforementioned 'Spider-Man 3', 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' has far too much going on. By trying to juggle Peters' internal struggles about the death of his parents and uncle with three different villains (If you thought Sam Raimi wasted Venom, wait till you see how The Green Goblin is treated!), the inclusion of a pretty pointless subplot about Harry Osborne endeavoring to get Spider-Mans' blood to cure himself of an incurable disease (a very interesting idea which could have easily constituted a movie on it's own) as well as forming the early foundations for the upcoming 'Sinister Six' movie, director Marc Webb quickly turns 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' from a very entertaining and colourful superhero film into an disorganised, frantic and indecipherable mess. The battles between Spider-Man and Electro were more than enough to fill screen time, the rest just wasn't needed at all.

I was very much looking forward to 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' despite the fact that I named it's predecessor as one of the absolute worst movies of 2012. The trailer looked great and the prospect of Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan playing Electro and The Green Goblin respectively, was almost too good too be true. Sadly, it was. While the special effects are top notch and the acting by the cast is unanimously great, 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' suffers from the fact that the story is too chaotic to really connect with the characters or the completely jumbled narrative. By trying to cover as much as is physically possible and by trying to remain as faithful as he could to the source material, Marc Webb has really shot himself in the foot and rather than pulling me in to the drama of Peter Parkers internal and external battles, I was continually taken out of them thanks to a yawn inducing screenplay, one dimensional antagonists and a running time that exceeds the two and a half hour mark. If this series is going to have any of the resonance of Sam Raimi's fantastically entertaining trilogy, 'The Amazing Spider-Man' franchise has to focus on character development rather than mindless, numbing action scenes that really do nothing but slow up the narrative and stretch the films to breaking point. I cross my fingers that 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3' will do better and learn from the mistakes from it's predecessors because if not, this series will go down as one of the most disappointing in the history of the superhero subgenre.