The web-slingin' wall-crawler hits the screens once again in this follow-up to Marc Webb's 2012 reboot of the series. Andrew Garfield returns as Peter Parker, who squares off against the villainous Electro, played by Jamie Foxx. Emma Stone heads up the rest of the starring cast, which includes Paul Giamatti, Dane DeHaan, and Chris Cooper. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane
DeHaan, Chris Cooper, Paul Giamatti
Release Date: May
02, 2014
Rated PG-13 for seq. of Sci-Fi Action/Violence
Runtime: 2 hr. 21 min.
Genres: Action/Adventure
Review:
I’ll start this review like I’ve probably started the 4
other Spider-man reviews before it. I’ll
never been much a fan of the character, I’m not sure why but he’s just never
grabbed my attention like DC’s Mount Olympus
of heroes or the X-Men for example. I did
enjoy the first two Sam Raimi and despised the third. The first film in the rebooted series didn’t
hit the mark for me even though I liked Garfield and Stone in their roles. The 2nd go around doesn’t fair
much better. The film suffers from some
truly awful writing filled with stale dialogue and plot holes just a tad too
large to ignore. It’s never a good thing
when certain segments of the film remind you of 90’s era Joel Schumacher Batman
films. As a whole the film feels like a
throwback but not in a good way. While
most superhero films are trying to infuse some deeper meaning into their
stories or at the very least some fun, this one seems content to give us a few
CGI heavy set pieces and the most basic of back stories for the villains and
call it a day. In between this all we
get an overdose of Parker and Stacy’s romance which is solid but overdone. It’s propped up by Garfield
and Stone’s chemistry which makes the whole thing more watchable than it should
be but they can’t save this bloated mess of a film. I personally have no problem if a film is 2
and half hours long as long as it earns that runtime, this one doesn’t come
close to deserving its runtime, not by a long shot. It would have been better served with a more
focused storyline and villain instead of trying to lay the groundwork for
future spinoffs and sequels like the planned Sinister Six films. The Amazing Spider-man 2 is purely for
diehards and anybody wanting to see Paul Giamatti scream out intelligible
dialogue in a 2 minute cameo.
D
Man, gotta say, we just do not agree on this one at all. My friends and I all went in with middling expectations and came out more than impressed.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that your initial lack of interest in the character might have made you hate this one slightly more than usual.
I would put this one right behind Spider-man 2 from the original trilogy for me.
Good review nonetheless! We just simply disagree this time!
Yeah man think we are just on the other side of the fence on this one. I didn't hate it but I really didn't enjoy it either. I still like Garfield in the role but personally just think the material hasn't been up to snuff for his run.
DeleteAgree with you across the board. I think I may have been too generous with my rating. The cast really saved it for me otherwise I'd be right up there with Scott Pilgrim on the overrated scale!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you mentioned Paul Giamatti as his performance was probably the most confusing thing about the entire film
film.
We complain but I bet we'll both be there on opening day for the next one! K :-)
I kept wanting to like the film but after I walked out and went home I couldn't help but think it was a big old mess. Yeah what was up with Giamatti, I couldn't understand a single word he said and he showed up randomly at the start and ending, so strange....
DeleteSidenote my wife laughed out loud when the Green Goblin showed up and I didn't blame her....the cheese was strong....
The Green Goblin was so bad! I don't blame Mrs H for laughing
DeleteI'm guessing Giamatti is in the next one, hopefully he will tone it down.
I couldn't either, it was pretty bad. Yeah I think Giamatti is signed for a few movies, I just hope he tones it down enough to where I can understand him!
DeleteI'll see what I think of the movie before disagreeing with you. I liked the first four movies for different reasons. Hopefully I will like this one. I love camp, so maybe this movie will work for me. Also LOVE plot holes. I can point them all out to my husband after the movie! YAY!
ReplyDeleteIt's campy Dani so you might enjoy it! There are some massive plot holes, it's a great time just asking some very obvious questions throughout! Thanks for reading!
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