Movie Review - The Amazing Spider-man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2  $$$

 

PG-13

136 Minutes

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, and Dane DeHaan.

Director: Marc Webb.

 

            Spiderman, Spiderman

            Does whatever a spider can

            Spin a webb – any size

            Catches thieves just like flies

            Lookout here comes the Spiderman

            Oops! That song from the 1967 Spiderman cartoon is amazingly catchy.

   
            This second movie in the rebooted franchise finds Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) dealing with issues related to the death of Captain Stacy (Denis Leary). Namely, the promise to stay away from his daughter Gwen (Emma Stone). Of course, the problem is complicated by Gwen’s argument that she is an adult capable of making her own decision about being involved in the life of a super-hero. Quite the dilemma and the one that is most commonly visited in comic book storylines.
            Then along comes Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) and Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). Max is a lonely electrical engineer and Harry is suffering from the same disfiguring hereditary disease that killed his father. Things don’t go well for either of them and they emerge as the super-villains Electro and Green Goblin. The good news is that they have something in common. They both want Spiderman dead.
            This is how I rated The Amazing Spider-man 2:

1. Fun – What can I say? Spidey = fun. At least when the film is done well and the studio did a good job on this movie. They actually crammed three super-villains into the story with a smaller, but spectacular, appearance from Paul Giamatti as Rhino. The movie slowed-down a bit in the middle which kept it from being as fun as it could have been.

            I gave The Amazing Spiderman 2 a half MB for spidey-fun.
 
2. Story – Even though the story lagged a bit in parts, I felt that those parts were well-written and pertinent to the tale being told.
           A strong story like this is worth a Full MB.  

3. Technical – Plenty of super-sized special effects. The fight scene with Green Goblin was my favorite part of the technical wizardry that went into making this film. I give a Full MB for the technical aspects of this movie.  

            4. Acting – Pretty good overall. Andrew Garfield is excellent as Peter Parker and Spiderman. Emma Stone is very strong in her role as Gwen Stacy. However, Jamie Foxx was more interesting as Max Dillon than he was as Electro and I’m not sure if his acting is to blame or possibly the technical team. Dane DeHaan, I felt, turned in a sub-standard performance as a whiny Harry Osborn.

            The acting in this movie only rated a half MB.

            That adds up to 3 Movie Bucks for The Amazing Spider-man 2. As is the case with almost any super-hero movie, you will want to see this on the big screen. I suggest that you catch it as a matinee or other discount showing.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.