In 2012, audiences were reintroduced to one of the all-time great superheroes ever as the Spider-Man franchise was rebooted. Sending the web-slinger back to high school to tell his origin story, Spider-Man returned with a younger cast, a more character-driven story, and the thrilling action of taking on larger than life villains. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens up the Spider-Man universe as our hero's life changes.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 finds Peter fully embracing his role as Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) while attempting to balance that responsibility along with preparing for his post-high school life as Peter Parker alongside his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). An obsessed fan of the wall-crawler named Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) suffers an accident that created the shockingly powerful villain, Electro, but that is the least of Spidey's concerns as secrets are revealed and events change his world forever.
I will say this film does a good job in opening up the Spider-Man universe, building the foundation for the franchise to stand on its own two feet. More characters from the Spider-Man's world were introduced and if you are a fan of the wall-crawler, you will catch their names instantly. One of the big characters that audiences will be reintroduced to is Harry Osborn, played by the talented Dane DeHaan. While it was good to introduce these characters into the universe, like most superhero sequels, I think it suffered from having an overabundance of characters. The cast was amazing but I think this film suffered from trying to go bigger and better and adding more challenges for the hero.
One of the bright points of this film is the chemistry of real-life couple Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Their chemistry was a good foundation for the film to stand on as the film shifted focus between Spider-Man's enemies and Peter and Gwen's relationship. Because this film is set during Peter's younger years, it had to have its share of teen angst and the struggles of growing up while maintaining a relationship at the same time but I will say that it's a strong point. Andrew Garfield does a good job as the hero, particularly as the wise-cracking, spandex wearing superhero. He does his best work with the struggle of his character between his normal life and his alter-ego. Emma Stone brings her A-game as always, playing the talented and intelligent Gwen Stacy.
Peter's past with his parents, his present as Spider-Man, and his future were intertwined in this film as his character arc continues on to the next film. The producers and creative minds at Sony have to be proud of this film because of what this film started as far as creating a story arc that will arch over into the next sequel along with smaller, unresolved, character arcs. While the plot does get tied up with the multiple villain strands, the main plot does help this film become more stronger on emotion than its predecessor. Despite having too many villains and too much going on during some moments, this film is a wonderful installment and helps bring optimism to the next installment in the franchise.
I won't tease anything for you, my readers. All I will tell you is to go see the movie to start your Summer Movie Season off in the right way.
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