The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (FILM REVIEW)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Headline:
Your Friendly Neighborhood Webslinger Engages New Adversaries in Scintillating
Sequel
If the idea behind a sequel to a summer
blockbuster is to up the ante in terms of bombast and intensity, then The Amazing
Spider-Man 2 certainly fits the bill. This installment is bigger and better and
louder and longer, featuring more villains, next generation special f/x, more captivating
action sequences, and even a fully-blossomed romance between Spidey’s alter ego
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).
The picture’s point of departure is
a flashback filling in a bit of the back story about how Peter became an
orphan. We learn that his parents’ (Campbell Scott and Embeth
Davidtz) died aboard a doomed private plane hijacked by an assassin (Bill Heck) with an agenda, but not
before his scientist father managed to email an explanatory message and
critical computer file via satellite.
Fast-forward to the present, Peter
and Gwen’s high school graduation day. We see a frustrated Gwen searching the audience
for her boyfriend as she delivers a sentimental valedictory speech at the
podium.
We soon learn that he’s been delayed
in Manhattan where
as Spider-Man he’s trying to retrieve a shipment of stolen plutonium from a
Russian mobster named Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti). In the middle of the
chase, he coincidentally saves the life of Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), an engineer
at Oscorp, the company responsible for supplying the city with electricity.
After securing the vials and apprehending
the perpetrator for the police, Peter rushes off to his commencement ceremony,
arriving right in the nick of time to receive his diploma. However, he has no
idea that he hasn’t seen the last of Aleksei and Max who are fated to return
later in the adventure after a combat suit of armor and a freak accident enable
them to morph into the villainous Rhino and Electro, respectively.
But
first, he grudgingly ends his relationship with Gwen in deference to her dad (Denis
Leary) who doesn’t want his daughter dating a trouble-seeking vigilante. Next, Peter
finds himself summoned to the offices of childhood pal Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan),
who has just inherited Oscorp Industries, but is suffering from the same hereditary
affliction which claimed the life of his recently-deceased father (Chris Cooper).
Harry futilely solicits Peter’s help
in locating Spider-Man, hoping that a blood transfusion might cure his affliction.
Of course, that ain’t gonna happen. So, instead, he has to settle for the venom
of genetically-altered spiders, which transforms him into another diabolical Spidey
nemesis, the Green Goblin.
That makes a trio of worthy
adversaries for the webslinging superhero to dispatch in creative fashion
before the curtains come down. Provided you’re patient enough to sit through
the closing credits after 2½ hours, you’ll even be treated to a tease of X-Men:
Days of Future Past, opening later this month, courtesy of a Jennifer Lawrence
cameo as Mystique.
A “Marvel”-ously entertaining franchise
that miraculously just keeps on giving and giving!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated PG-13
for PG-13 for action and sci-fi violence
Running time: 142 minutes
Distributor: Sony
Pictures
To see a trailer for The
Amazing Spider-Man 2, visit:
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