Spoiler Alert – this movie is good! Go see it!
I will cover the plot, and most of what happens, so if you don’t want to
know before you see the movie – see it first, then read this (you should see
it).
SpiderMan was created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Steve
Ditko. He has always been one of (if not
the most) popular of Marvel’s characters, mostly because of his
relatability. Peter Parker is a quiet
nerd who has lost his parents and is raised by his elderly aunt and uncle. He gets sudden superpowers when bitten by a
radioactive spider. First using those
powers to make money, he fails to prevent the death of his beloved Uncle Ben,
and realizes that “With great power, there must also come great
responsibility!”, which is perhaps one of the best lines ever written, comics
or not – thank you Stan Lee! This story
was beautifully covered by Sam Raimi’s 2002 movie, but even better in the 2004 sequel:
This second Amazing SpiderMan is far superior to the one
released 2 years ago – at least I think so.
That one was a bit clunky, Rhys Ifans was horribly miscast as Dr.
Conners, and it was rebooted way too quickly after the Sam Raimi stinker that
was Spider Man 3. The reboot got several things right; number one and two of
that being Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.
This story picks up where the last one left off. Peter is trying to fulfill the promise he
made to the dying Captain Stacy of keeping Gwen safe by keeping SpiderMan away
from her. Unfortunately, Gwen is not
making that easy, so Peter is haunted by the ghost of Captain Stacey who shows
up and frowns at him every time he gets near Gwen. Due to his SpiderMan responsibilities, Peter
shows up late to his high school graduation, and just misses Gwen’s
valedictorian speech, which is a shame, because it was full of
foreshadowing. Meanwhile, the dying
Norman Osborne brings his estranged son Harry back from boarding school to
leave him his company, and also to gloat that the disease that is killing him
will soon begin to kill Harry – wow, what a terrible guy.
Spiderman saves humble, geeky, overlooked and ignored Oscorp
electrical engineer, Max Dillon from being hit by a car, giving Max the fuel to
start fixating on Spiderman. Norman
dies, most of the Oscorp employees get the afternoon off, but Max’s snooty
boss, Mr. Smythe (that should come back in the next one) tells him to go fix
something in their electrical room. Max
falls into a vat of electrical eels – becoming Electro (who first appeared in
Marvel comics in 1964, and was an electrical engineer struck by lightning while
fixing a power line – no eels). He seems
to be dead, but then wakes up in the Morgue as pure electricity but weak, so heads
out into the city, and quickly finds out he needs to ‘charge up’. He causes a commotion in Times Square, which
puts his face on all the screens, which he loves, because finally everyone can
see him. SpiderMan shows up, and does
remember Max, and tries to help him, causing SpiderMan to go up on the screens
instead of Max, and since he’s already crazy, that pushes Max over the
edge. Oscorp locks him away.
Harry becomes obsessed with trying to beat his hereditary
disease, and when his childhood friend Peter stops by to offer condolences
about his father, they rekindle their friendship. Harry eventually puts together that Peter
knows SpiderMan, because he takes his pictures, and demands that Peter get him
some of SpiderMan’s blood, believing that it will save his life. Peter finds his father’s secret lab, and
learns what he and Norman Osborne were up to, and that his father loved him
very much, and did not abandon him as he had previously thought. Meanwhile, Aunt May starts working to become
a nurse – presumably to give Sally Field more to do. Meanwhile (there’s a lot of Meanwhile action
in this flick), Gwen gets offered a scholarship to Oxford, so she is preparing
to go to England. She breaks up with
Peter, because he’s wishy-washy about committing to her due to the guilt about
her father. Harry learns that the spider
serum he wants is in the Oscorp “Special Projects” vault, and just as he gets
ousted by the Oscorp board, he breaks out Electro for assistance in getting to
the vault. Electro gets to charge up,
and Harry injects himself with crazy spider serum – this allows him to go Green
Goblin-y and steal a glider and suit from the special projects vault.
Peter realizes he needs to commit – finds Gwen on her way to
the airport, and tells her he loves her.
He’s so excited to see her that he doesn’t realize she’s wearing the
exact same outfit that she wore in a very important issue of the comics. He tells her he’s going with her to England,
but then Electro attacks, and they have one of the most visually interesting
fight sequences in the movie. Gwen
demands to help, causing the ghost of Captain Stacy to show up and really frown
hard at SpiderMan. He defeats Electro –
just in time for the new Green Goblin to show up, and take one look at SpiderMan,
and Gwen next to him, and realize that it’s Peter. They have a huge fight, which ends as it is
supposed to, with Harry off to intense psychological repair at Ravencroft
Institute, plotting with the mysterious Mr. Frears to create the sinister six,
and Peter in a bit of a depressed state.
Aunt May offhandedly mentions that the world needs SpiderMan, so he goes
out and battles the Rhino. At no point
does his new neighbor next door come over to let him know he just hit the
jackpot – Tiger. But, surely in the next
movie (Shaliene Woodley was cast, and shot some scenes, but Webb decided they
didn’t quite fit).
Director Marc Webb seems to be settling into his role, and
this movie is better than the first. It
flows better, has even better action, and the effects blend well with the
story. Webb seems to really understand
the characters – and while some of the decisions in the first one upset me
because they re-worked the origin story, we’re past that part in this one. I
have to say, my absolute favorite moment in the movie is when SpiderMan saves a
young boy and his science project from a group of bullies who have him cornered
and break his project. SpiderMan not
only scares away the bullies, but fixes the project, introduces himself to the
boy, and walks him home. This is a very
short scene, but it is exceptionally perfect for the character and it brought
tears to my eyes. It also pays off later
in the movie.
The actors are also all settling into the roles, and again –
the casting is very good.
- Andrew Garfield continues to play the role with the joy you’d expect from someone who has been a die-hard SpiderMan fan all his life. He continues to do amazing charity work using the costume to bring joy to kids, and he really does a great job of being SpiderMan. His perfect chemistry with Emma Stone due to their real-life relationship is fantastic, and really pays off in the flick. They work well together, and Stone’s feisty version of Gwen is fabulous. You absolutely believe she would be able to help with the web-shooters, but is also tired of Peter’s nonsense.
- Jamie Foxx plays Max Dillon, and I have to say – sometimes I forget that he has an Oscar. He is a talented actor – and I think it’s on display in this movie. At the beginning, Max is so pathetic, you really feel sorry for him. When this powerless man finally gets some power, you understand the flip he makes. Then of course, he goes psychotic and takes it too far, but up to that point, I was empathizing with him!
- Dane Dehaan is creepy and excellent – if you didn’t see Chronicle – rent that now. You never really believe that he could ever be a good guy, he radiates malevolence. It was interesting to see he and Peter reconnect, which was well done, but you are not surprised when he goes bad. And no, the goblin make up doesn’t look as bad as you thought it would.
- Sally Field has less moments in this one than she did in the first one, and I wasn’t sure about the subplot of her nursing studies. It just provided the grounds for May and Peter to have an argument about laundry. I did enjoy when she – clearly well aware that he’s SpiderMan – mentions strongly that the world needs SpiderMan, and he needs to be out there. Subtle, Aunt May – real subtle.
- Colm Feore plays the evil head of Oscorp who bosses Harry around a bit. His character is named Donald Menken, but there are many who speculate he will become the Vulture.
- Felicity Jones plays Harry’s assistant, Felicia – which he says just enough times to make me repeatedly ask if her last name is Hardy and when that will pay off. It didn’t – but hopefully it will in the next movie. After all, SpiderMan will need help to take on the Sinister Six.
- Paul Giamatti is barely in this movie. For all the pre-hype of him playing the Rhino, he’s got two scenes – clearly setting up for the Sinister Six plans.
- Campbell Scott plays Richard Parker and he and Embeth Davidtz as Mary Parker get one preliminary action sequence on an airplane that sets up the movie.
- Kiwi actor Maron Csokas pops up as Dr. Ashley Kafka (running Ravencroft), and seems to look a lot younger than the last time I saw him. He’s crazy in this, and that’s fine – but I would have cast him as Kraven, so I think it’s a missed opportunity. I always think of him as Borias from Xena, no matter how many other things he shows up in.
- Also – that brief Aidy Bryant cameo was not enough Aidy Bryant.
It’s really good, it’s really fun, and it really moves. The Electro effects are really cool, and
Garfield and Stone are great. There were
some complaints that it had too many endings – but I would disagree with
that. It’s long, but I didn’t feel the
length. I will say, that comparing it to
other things I’ve loved this year – when Captain America 2 ended, I immediately
wanted to see the next one…When this ended – I thought, “Hey, that was great!”,
but did not immediately crave the next one.
I do wish Sony would let the rights go back to Marvel so that we could
see Peter interact with the Avengers.
9 out of 10 – again, it’s probably higher than it should be
because my expectations were really low, but I did love it. Gained points for the tease of the Sinister
Six – it’s not really a tease, it’s more of a declaration. Lost points for Dehaan being so creepy. Gained points for Chris Cooper playing Norman
Osborne – lost points for his claws…yikes.
Gained points for that scene with the kid – which is one scene that sums
up everything Spiderman should be! Also - bonus points for putting Gwen in the right outfit for her climatic scene.
Bonus Video 1: Electro from the 90s SpiderMan animated
series – still the best one.
Bonus Video 2:
Chronicle trailer.
Bonus Video 3: Cast
Interviews
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