The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Review

We now reach the end of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise with the second film and here is my review for the film. The premise of the film sees Peter Parker dealing with his difficult relationship with Gwen Stacy when Oscorp causes more issues for Spider-Man. 

Main Character

Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man and he is really good. I actually think this is a really strong performance and he delivers really well as both characters. Peter goes through a lot and really struggles with the consequences from the previous film another thing I really enjoyed was seeing Peter actually as a genius which is done really well here. After the first film Spider-Man is now seen as a positive part of society and that leads to his own issues especially when it comes to his connection with the villains. 

Supporting Characters

Emma Stone is back as Gwen Stacy and even though there are elements of the plot that I didn't enjoy about her I can't deny how good she is in the role and how good the chemistry between her and Garfield really is. In terms of the romantic element they are easily my favourite one out of all The Spider-Man ones and it adds so much to have a couple you actually care about. Sally Field is pretty good as Aunt May, her character is the most oblivious in film history but I liked her dynamic with Peter as they do have a good chemistry. But the rest of the cast aren't particularly good and I am looking at the villains, Jamie Foxx plays Max Dillon/Electro and this is one of those performances that is so bad that you end up laughing at it, he plays this nerdy guy who gets turned into a supervillain. He is just filled with awful one liners and laughable motivations that just really doesn't work. Dane DeHaan plays Harry Osborne/Green Goblin and he is also pretty bad. He is really shoe horned into this film, and it starts off okay but he just becomes really over the top and cliché and then things get even worse when he turns into the Goblin. 

Story 

The story is easily the worst part of the film, it is all over the place and makes no sense. The film tries to focus on so many different story arcs but none of them get the time for the audience to get invested in. The ending is also terrible, the film has a clear ending but it decides to go on for another 10 mins or so and it really drags down the overall quality of the film. 

Script 

The script is just about passable, the humour with Spider-Man is really good and it is nice to see a confident version of the character on show. The dialogue between Gwen & Peter works well because the two of them have natural chemistry, not because of the actual writing. The overblown narrative is a huge issue and the drama just doesn't land as much as it should apart from a couple of moments. 

Style 

There are some very entertaining action scenes here and web swinging has never looked better. The Spider-Man costume is brilliant and seeing him in action is a lot of fun. But the looks of Electro, Green Goblin and Rhino are all awful and make a mockery of these characters. The pacing of the film is really hindered because of the amount of story arcs and length of the film. 

Overall

Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is an average film. There is just way too much going on and it over reaches which is a big reason why this version of the character ended the way it did. 

Rating - 5/10