The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Cast:
Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth
Davidtz,
Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
Director: Marc Webb
141 mins
Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
Director: Marc Webb
141 mins
Following the initial series of the Webbed One, the first outing in the new franchise had realigned the focus with romance in there, and an attractive coupling of current real-life love partners Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone with strong support from Sally Field and Martin Sheen. It also looked and felt more humorous in the initial outing but there was definitely room for further development.
Sad to report then that this, “ T.A.S.M. 2” as a sequel arriving on screen within a couple of years of the first, and if, as we are led to believe, the precursor to films 3 and 4 in the series "Sinister Six" and "Venom”, presently under development doesn’t augur all that well for what is needed to solidify the product.
Before the main action begins, we are offered a very “Dark Knight Rises”-type prologue which clarifies the demise in a plane crash of Spidey/Peter Parker's dad and mum (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davitz). Next up, on come Peter and Gwen Stacy, back together and graduating from high school. However, Peter’s assurance to Gwen Stacy’s pre-demise father as Spider-Man that he’d end their relationship to avoid bringing any further damage to Mr.P.’s daughter is on a wobbly web, as he can’t stay away from the love of his life. In a spectacular car chase instigated by a bonkers maniac (Paul Giamatti), standard wimp and Oscorp engineer Max Dillon (a ridiculously mumbling turn from the quite over-rated Jamie Foxx) has developed a spider crush on the main man. Later this odd eccentric allure is galvanised as he metamorphoses into a quite ridiculous villain who is part semi-nut job/part-electricity. In addition, Peter’s boyhood chum Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) turns up from boarding school at the behest of his dying father, Osborn Snr., boss of Oscorps (an odd choice of cameo from the usually more choosy Chris Cooper). Dad tells son that despite being heir to all this, he is also doomed, before saying his ta-tas.
Following all this, the overriding sense is
that the film is hugely over-egged with non-essential stuff and at not a web
and a prayer away from three hours, it’s far too long an endurance. As is the
way these days, rapid cuts and ferociously fast edits bely the over-use of CGI
imagery as lingering on these scenes would reveal that none of it is even
remotely comparative to reality.
There is very little actual structure to the feature and a definitive plot seems to have been forgotten – too many events, but not enough tangible storyline. The villains are, quite frankly, hopeless and a further personal irritance is Emma Stone’s mannered lisp – some elocution work surely would have made little dent on the obviously excessive budget.
Garfield is without question an outstanding young actor and quite frankly if his contract isn’t a handcuffs deal, he should walk away from this nonsense and concentrate on material more suited to his capabilities. Foxx is a huge disappointment in this, both as the nerdy shy Max, the precursor to and of his re-emergence as Electro, and once he's transformed, although visually interesting – there is no correlation whatsoever between the two personas, nor any fluent reason for his switch from love to hatred of Spider Man.
DeHaan is ok, but his character in very inconsistently written, being a megalomaniac headcase in one scene, then chumming up with Peter in the next. The fact that they haven't seen each other for ten years means that the sense of betrayal in this more mature-years friendship is not at all evident.
The framing of the film isn’t especially inventive either, with a tiresomely frequent reliance on slow-motion bullets from a gun, a process as dated as The Matrix-era CGI it replicates. It’s a pity then that, despite the scrillions spent on marketing the film/franchise, if there’s no radical improvement, then the web and the weaver may well be blown away on a gust of public apathy.
There is very little actual structure to the feature and a definitive plot seems to have been forgotten – too many events, but not enough tangible storyline. The villains are, quite frankly, hopeless and a further personal irritance is Emma Stone’s mannered lisp – some elocution work surely would have made little dent on the obviously excessive budget.
Garfield is without question an outstanding young actor and quite frankly if his contract isn’t a handcuffs deal, he should walk away from this nonsense and concentrate on material more suited to his capabilities. Foxx is a huge disappointment in this, both as the nerdy shy Max, the precursor to and of his re-emergence as Electro, and once he's transformed, although visually interesting – there is no correlation whatsoever between the two personas, nor any fluent reason for his switch from love to hatred of Spider Man.
DeHaan is ok, but his character in very inconsistently written, being a megalomaniac headcase in one scene, then chumming up with Peter in the next. The fact that they haven't seen each other for ten years means that the sense of betrayal in this more mature-years friendship is not at all evident.
The framing of the film isn’t especially inventive either, with a tiresomely frequent reliance on slow-motion bullets from a gun, a process as dated as The Matrix-era CGI it replicates. It’s a pity then that, despite the scrillions spent on marketing the film/franchise, if there’s no radical improvement, then the web and the weaver may well be blown away on a gust of public apathy.
