After the positive response to The Amazing Spider-Man
reboot, expectations were high from the sequel, especially after the addition
of Jamie Foxx to the cast. But as the credits roll, the fall from expectation
to reality is steep, much like the fall a central character suffers.
While the action sequences and general acting are good, the
number of villains and limited character development make following the plot a
bit of a mental exercise. Why does Electro (Jamie Foxx) conveniently go from
harmless to evil? How does his transformation from human to super-villain work?
Why are there three villains stuffed in the same movie when the same idea
failed miserably in Spider-Man 3 that featured Spider-Man’s most captivating
rival, Venom? Without clear connections and overlapping story elements,
director Marc Webb leaves the movie spinning without any focus.
Granted that as a comic book character Electro is no Venom,
but considering how good the hero behind the makeup and computer-generated
imagery is, the limited character development appears to be a waste of talent
on the writers’ part. Perhaps the screen time allotted to Harry Osborne played
by Dane DeHaan could have been better spent showing Electro’s slide to evil,
making the transformation more believable. The same applies to Paul Giamatti’s
Rhino, who will probably make an appearance in sequels as a more prominent
character.
The Peter Parker-Gwen Stacy storyline is well done and comes
as a respite from the fight scenes, but even here, a chance to move Spider-Man
into a more ‘human’ hero with real-world emotions and weaknesses is wasted.
Anyone familiar with the ’70’s Spider-Man storyline will be stunned when they
come across the twist in the storyline after which Peter’s teenage angst and
some of his childish behaviour is largely brushed aside as opposed to in the
comic book storyline.
The amount of green screen involved in the action scenes
also alienates the older viewer. Many superhero movies have avoided this by
having a few action sequences with the hero out of costume, including the
previous Spider-Man installments, but in this movie’s defense, that becomes
difficult when the villain is a glowing electrical construct.
Spider-Man is the unofficial mascot of Marvel Comics, which
makes it appropriate to compare it with DC Comic’s Superman, another
financially successful movie that left most fans polarised. But where Superman
won outright was setting a platform for character development in future movies.
The most recent Marvel Comics movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier was
also a phenomenal success because of the mix of comic book canon and original
writing, leaving even loyal readers gasping in some scenes. In The Amazing
Spider-Man 2, however, there are few, if any moments of awe.
This might also be because Spider-Man (along with the X-Men)
is not part of the main Marvel Cinematic Universe in which The Avengers and
movies featuring the superhero team members all star. Unfortunately the
licensing issues resulted in the comic book storylines losing their edge which
cost the movie in the form of lost fans.
