IT'S THE STRANGE fate of Spider-Men to be dispatched before their time.

Nicolas Hammond played

While Garfield’s time in the role was too short, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 sees him out in style. The
film doesn't offer much new; even ditching the lo-fi, indie vibe that distinguished the previous movie
for a more generic superhero style. Apart from a last-gasp twist that comic devotees have been
anticipating (not revealed here, spoiler-phobes), it's largely the winning formula the series is built
on: an unbeatable three-hit combo of relatable hero, teen romance, and sympathetic supervillainy.
Amazing 2 offers the most polished and refined version of these essential elements so far, and does
it all with an Oscar-nominated cast and set pieces of such epic scale they make fight scenes of
preceding instalments look like a lot of silly pushing and shoving.

Spidey battles a trio of evildoers this time, and once again they effectively mirror and contrast
against the title character. The most prominent and spectacular is Jamie Foxx’s walking firework
display Electro. He begins as a broad stereotype, a delusional, lonesome nerd, and the casual
cruelties of life itself – plus a tank of electric eels - all but force him toward the Dark Side. There
seems to be a stage of his character arc omitted when he fully embraces his fate, moving from
confused panic at his new powers to ice-cold, dead-eyed destruction too quickly. Yet Foxx is never
less than likeable and engaging, portraying an abandoned, downtrodden man whose fall is all too
easy to relate to. More than any villain of the five movies so far, Electro embodies the comedy and
tragedy inherent in the series. You almost don’t want to see Spidey hit him with manhole covers.

While Electro is new to live-action, fellow wrongdoer the Green Goblin is more familiar to
moviegoers; but with a twist. Whereas Willem Dafoe’s 2002 incarnation donned a regrettable
stylized helmet to justify the moniker, Dane DeHaan’s version suffers from a hereditary degenerative
disease that leaves him with sickly green skin and witch-like talons. DeHaan plays alter ego Harry
Osborn like a coiled spring; a young man barely suppressing a life time’s worth of built-up rage at his
negligent father, industrialist Norman (Chris Cooper). Harry walks under a dark cloud and seems
doomed from the moment he first appears. It’s his renewed friendship with Peter that brings a
degree of happiness to his life, and the two bond over shared experiences of parental abandonment
while each secretly investigating the entwined legacies of their fathers. This leads a captivating
aspect to their inevitable clash when it finally arrives; two lost sons, their fates set by absent parents
who nonetheless loom large over them. A tertiary baddie in the form of the rampaging Rhino
appears briefly, but mainly to set up appearances in spin-offs and sequels that never came.

As ever, Peter’s biggest problem is with the opposite sex. He’s found the perfect girl in Emma Stone’s
winning Gwen Stacy; but haunted by a promise he made to Gwen’s late-father in the previous
movie, Peter doesn’t know whether to hold her close or push her away for her own safety. After a
series of break-ups and make-ups, Gwen drops a bombshell – she’s moving to England.

Garfield and Stone are they go together like the Carpenters; their clear chemistry and
improvisational skills allow them to create a sweet, awkward, natural-feeling teenage romance –
they’re so watchable, director Marc Webb just lets the camera linger on them until they get to the
point of each scene. It’s this authenticity (the actors were also dating at the time), and Peter’s
desperate desire not to lose someone else he loves, which make their relationship the centre point
of the movie, rather than an obligation. Equally, it’s the affection and wisdom of loved ones – not
forgetting Peter’s beloved Aunt May (Sally Field) – that Peter has and Harry and Max are desperately
missing.

As for the main man, Garfield is certainly the best screen Spider-Man so far. What he brings is an
emotional commitment to the role of Peter Parker, matched with a perfect understanding of the
weird physicality and comedic nature of his alter ego. While Maguire often played Spidey as just
Peter Parker with his face hidden, Garfield creates an entirely different persona, a trickster and a
wise cracker, mocking and outwitting his enemies. And finally, after five movies with the occasional
quip, the writers have given the webspinner a succession of smart-aleck remarks which are one of
his most endearing traits in the comics.

No discussion of the movie would be complete without mentioning the suit;

Action scenes come in a quite unusual fashion; the film starts with a James Bond-style plane-based
smackdown (featuring Peter Parker's parents, no less), giving you no time to catch your breath
before swinging into a major chase and rescue scene as Spidey chases plutonium pilferers across
sunny NY. After this energetic opening, save for one set-piece, there is no action again until the
multi-villain climax. Thankfully it's a 24-watt corker; an unhinged Electro sucks electricity out of the
city, leaving desperate hospitals without power and unlighted aeroplanes racing unknowingly
towards collision. And then the Goblin turns up…

It’s not perfect. Electro is literally shelved for the middle act of the film whilst Harry tags in – and the
multi-baddie approach is one Spider-Man 3 also came under criticism for, as fans like to see each
villain given extensive screen time. But like that movie, Amazing 2 uses all its villains – all its
characters – to tell a wider story about how life’s losses and mistakes batter us down, and how our
reactions to it define us; whether we buckle under the strain and take out our grief on others, or use
the tragedy to become stronger people. And that’s the conclusion The Amazing Spider-Man 2
reaches; be bigger than your tragedy, be bigger than your suffering. Be there for others. That’s true
heroism.

the losses and emotions that lead us in life, about how we effect those around us, and about how
no-one is born a cackling evildoer, and everyone is worth sympathy.

but the multiple villain approach allows the film to show that everyone is human,
The saddest thing is that the film promises a world of future movies and spin-offs which never arose.
No less than seven supervillains are teased - including future Star Wars actor Felicity as the Black Cat
-

But even if it all seems too repetitive, just enjoy seeing Marvel’s greatest hero in live action, living
colour as we always wanted to see him – wisecracking, playful, talkative, lithe and acrobatic, and
with those iconic, expressive eyes

After five movies, Spidey himself is finally perfected onscreen.

Review provided by the Magic Swirling Ship.

FOUR STARS

He’s

That said, the first two instalments of any movie series are almost always the best; and the cancelled
third Amazing included bizarre ideas about characters coming back from the grave - a veritable
zombie army then, given the frequent fatalities in the first two flicks – so perhaps it’s for the best
this short series ended when it did.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 preserves the most fruitful facets of its predecessor - Garfield and Emma
Stone's love interest Gwen Stacy - whilst ditching its Batman Begins-esque pseudo-realism vibe and
re-introducing popular aspects of Maguire’s Spidey movies. Thus we have cartoonish characters such
as two-dimensional looser Max Dillon (compare to Rhys Ifans’ restrained Curt Connors in the
previous movie), more colour and humour, and even the return of the 1960s Spider-Man cartoon
theme. It makes for a brighter, more immediately entertaining movie, but it loses the distinct mood
and urban aesthetic established in the first Amazing, and the two movies jar stylistically.

Action scenes come in a quite unusual fashion; the film starts with a James Bond-style plane-based
smackdown (featuring Peter Parker's parents, no less), giving you no time to catch your breath
before swinging into a major chase and rescue scene with Spidey pursuing thieves across sunny NY.
After this furious flurry, save for one set-piece, there is no action again until the multi-villain climax.
Thankfully it's a 24 watt corker; Dillon sucks electricity out of the city, leaving desperate hospitals
without power and unlighted aeroplanes racing unknowingly towards collision. And then the Goblin
turns up…
Another problem with resurrecting the approach of the Maguire entries is that it positions The
Amazing Spider-Man 2 as the fifth Spider-Man movie, rather than the second of a unique series.

There are several super villains in this one, but Spidey's real enemy is audience fatigue.

After The Amazing Spider-Ma in 2012 proved succesful but not to the same degree as the
proceeding films - Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy - - Amazing 2 attempts to reintroduce aspects of
that

It's major falling - apart from a lack of new stuff - is it's attempts to use the film as a laucn pad for a
Marvel Studios style series of linked films.

There's top-quality throughout. From a heavily-Oscar nominated cast, to huge set-pieces which
make the fight scenes of the previous film look like minor sucffles.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 takes successful elements from the previous film and polishes them into
a satisfying whole. Whilst not offeri