Few would argue that the superhero movie is one of the most popular and commercially-viable genres in recent years. It hadn't been all that long since the Tobey Maguire-starring Spiderman series when a new version appeared a couple of years ago with "The Amazing" now preceding the title and new cast of youthful talent. It was a success, hence the demand for a sequel and here we find "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" featuring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in an action-packed successor to the original in this series.
The film also stars Jamie Foxx, who conjures up a fearsome foe in Electro. He became this superhuman after the mortal being he originally was ("Max Dillon") falls into a large vat of electric eels in the genetic engineering firm (Oscorp) where he works. Dane DeHaan is Harry Osborn the heir to the Oscorp corporation, who turns into The Green Goblin thanks to another misguided genetics mishap. One of these enemies would have been enough for one movie, but this film packs two or three dangerous villains into the story which thrusts the film into overlong territory once it surpasses the two hour mark.
I saw this film in UltraAVX 3D but wasn't too impressed with the special effects. The 3D doesn't stand out all that much and doesn't break new ground. I wasn't overtly blown away by the 3D and wouldn't have missed anything had I seen this film in the regular mode.
Garfield and Stone have chemistry and are pleasant in their demanding roles. Unfortunately, the characters aren't too psychologically complex as we have become accustomed to with characters from "The Dark Knight" series of films.
Furthermore, there is too much baffling, scientific, back-story jargon which thwarts any attempt by regular movie-goers to fully immerse themselves in the story: the whole backstory and flashback sequences to Peter's father, Richard Parker and his death is confusing and not clearly or impeccably written.
The choices made at the end of the film by the screenwriters are disappointing and will leave many viewers cold. It is not that we have to expect all story threads to be tied-together and happy endings to result, but it has almost become a cliché for such super-hero stories to refuse to leave the viewer totally satisfied without the inevitability of another sequel or some valuable character to meet their demise.
Although I liked a lot of the action sequences and the story was wholesome and enough to keep me interested throughout, it doesn't hold up in comparison the best of the genre and is altogether forgettable. It is time to focus on more psychologically complex heroes and movies that aren't bogged-down by their own self-importance and confused technological jargon.
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