The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Movie Review)

Rating:

The “1-4-0″: #AmazingSpiderman2 is a heavy teenage romance story a la Twilight franchise, but with superheroes and action bits. Women will like this film.

The Gist: Peter Parker goes back and forth on his relationship commitment to Gwen Stacy, all while fighting two villains, Electro and The Green Goblin.

The Highlights: What this sequel got right was the “amazing” special effects. The CGI Spider-Man looks real as he swings through NYC. Also, I liked how director Marc Webb treated the Max Dillon/Electro character, very similar to Ned Beatty’s ‘Otis‘ in the 1978 Superman film. From the music to the idiosyncrasies. Webb was obviously influenced by Richard Donner’s vision. It worked wonderfully. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone heat up the screen with great chemistry and the fighting sequences are top notch, but devoid of any real significant interest.

The Lowlights: This movie has got to be the most romance infused superhero film I’ve ever seen. I almost gagged a few times from the overwhelming lovy-dovy sap. There is so much of it that the main villains take a back seat to it. This is not good news for the demographic that fanatically follows the franchise – boys and men. Even though the action sequences are visually engaging, the villains themselves weren’t engaging at all. I’m still trying to get over the fact that the only reason Electro wants to kill Spidey is because he didn’t remember his name. Huh? I’d also say too much time was taken with the romance angle sucking valuable time from other vital plot points such as the deserved exposition of The Rhino and some meaningful screen time for The Green Goblin (which I’m sick of seeing in EVERY Spider-Man movie). I mean, we never even got a full hint of the upcoming Sinister Six film. What gives? Writers Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinkner did an okay job, but nothing that made this movie better Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Pay or Nay?: Pay. Even though it’s not better than the first Spider-Man nor Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it provides women with the romance they look for and the CGI action mayhem men grin about it. I saw it in IMAX 3D and I enjoyed the IMAX experience more than the 3D. If it’s not popping out of the screen, then it’s not 3D to me.