A film that proves that good performances can save a film

Rating: 6/10 (19 August 2014)

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not a great movie nor is it an awfully bad one. Although to many this film is as bad as Batman and Robin I personally believe this film was just simply 'good' but with many problems. For every pro there's a con.
In this second installment in the rebooted Spider-Man series leading man Andrew Garfield reprises the role of Spidey/Peter Parker and proves that he truly owns the role. What really saved this film for me was Garfield's performance. Garfield understands the character and how to bring him to life along with the help with director Marc Webb. One thing I've noticed with many of Garfield's performances is that he works well with other actors and actresses. I always enjoyed his on screen chemistry with Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network and now I can add Emma Stone, Sally Field and Dane DeHaan to that mix. Since the first Amazing Spider- Man I was always convinced with Garfield and Stone's chemistry. For a second I literally thought they were dating. Eventually after the first film the two actors started dating. Garfield is one lucky man. His chemistry with Field also works in so many levels. Field truly felt as if she were is caring aunt just as good as Rosemary Harris in the Raimi trilogy. The biggest standout to me was Garfield and DeHaan's chemistry. Just like Tobey Maguire and James Franco, Garfield and DeHaan acted as convincing best friends. So pretty much the main strength for this film are the performances and on screen chemistry.
One thing that has never disappointed me in a Spider-Man film (including the awful Spider-Man 3) are the action scenes. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 truly delivers some fun and beautifully shot action scenes. Marc Webb truly seems to understand how Spider-Man's powers work and visually brings them to the screen showcasing how skilled of a superhero Spidey is. Spider-Man's web-swinging in this film is without a doubt the best we've ever seen. At the end of the film you may feel as if you have gotten the feeling of vertigo.
One question that always runs through my mind is which Spider-Man series is better: Sam Raimi's series or Marc Webb's? MY answer: with the exception of the third film, Raimi had the better films, however, Webb's had a better leading actor. Webb's direction in this series so far has been a bit questionable. It feels as though Webb is a bit ill confident and unsure on where to take the film. It can literally go 5 ways.
The decision to have 3 villains bothers me. Now here's the thing, it's not that it's bad that there are 3 villains, it's bad that they didn't use them well. You can have 12 villains in a film but if you carefully make sure that each character is used well enough you can still have a great movie. First of all Rhino should NOT have been in the film. Second, Max Dillon's back story is not strong enough at all to justify him becoming a super villain nor do the audience feel empathy for him. And third, Golbin SHOULD have been the main leading villain. This is Spider-Man's arch nemesis! He's partially responsible for Gwen Stacy's death and therefore he should have been the main antagonist.
This film suffers the problems that Iron Man 2 suffered and that it felt more like a set up film. Iron Man 2 was criticized for feeling more like a set up for The Avengers. Since The Avengers was a proved success Iron Man 2's cons were seemingly forgiven. Amazing Spider-Man 2 sets up Sinister Six. Problem is now if Sinister Six fails then all this set up work has been done for nothing.
Overall even though this film has it's many share of problems it's still a solid entertaining film. The action scenes dazzle and Garfield steals the show with his performance. The film suffers problems that Raimi's Spider-Man 3 had and that is badly used villains and overstuffed plot, however, Amazing Spider-Man 2 at least did the overstuffed plot better and that everything is connected is done for a reason. At this point all we can ask for now is for extreme improvements for the next Spider-Man film. In this day in age it seems as though Spider-Man is no longer the cool kid in the superhero movie block, under shadowed by the likes of Iron Man, Batman, Superman, and Thor. Hopefully Amazing Spider-Man 3 will remind us all why we love Spider-Man.
7/10
-Gerry T