The critics got this one wrong...this is one of the best SM films yet

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2014)

TASM2 is an easy movie to hate before even seeing it. It represents many things that are wrong with the modern movie industry. It represents disloyalty to Sam Raimi, the director of the original and highly successful Spider-Man trilogy, who wanted an extra year to make Spider-Man 4 so he could get it right but was fired by Sony. It represents Hollywood's tendency to throw the same, minimally altered story lines and characters at audiences year after year in order to avoid the risk of releasing an unfamiliar but potentially refreshing new movie. It represents the commercialism that is increasingly necessary to float big-budget movies, what with the three sequels to 2012's TASM announced shortly after that movie's opening weekend, and now a Sinister Six spin off, teased in the post-credits scene in TASM2. Having grown up watching the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy myself and seeing each of them in movie theaters multiple times, I would seemingly have every reason to write off Marc Webb's SM movies as redundant and unworthy of my attention, and yet I was disarmed of every such thought while watching TASM2. Strip away all the ominous things about the movie industry that TASM series represents, and you'll realize TASM2 is a very well-crafted superhero movie, not as innovative or airtight as Nolan's the Dark Knight movies, but every bit the equal of Raimi's best SM movies and superior, I'd argue, to the recent batch of Avengers movies.
Like those Raimi movies and TASM1, TASM2 is thematically rich as well as being a feast of eye candy, visual effects, action sequences, and sexy guys in spandex. Never being satisfied with just being a simple tale of good vs. evil, TASM presents a compelling tale in which people must make decisions that are in the moral gray zone and then face the consequences of those decisions. This movie recalls The Dark Knight in that regard. We sympathize with both the heroes and villains and, like the characters, often realize that there is nothing anyone could do in certain circumstances that could solve every problem. The only choice the characters have is to do what they feel is right in the moment and hope for the best. Such is the case when Peter is faced with the dilemma of helping his old friend, Harry Osborn (brilliantly portrayed by Dane Dehaan—who is James Franco again?) by giving him some of Spider-Man's blood, which may save him from the disease that killed his father, or alternatively kill him if the blood turns out to be incompatible. What Peter ends up choosing isn't important—it's easy to see how a riveting tale could result whichever action Peter decided on. Poor Peter is in the precarious position of risking the lives of everyone who is close to him by endangering them, and this leads us into caring about each of the characters much more deeply than what I'm accustomed to during a superhero film.
Harry Osborn eventually turns into the Green Goblin, and the other main villain is introduced early. He is Electro, played by Jamie Foxx, and he spawned from the brilliant but socially awkward electrical engineer Max. Electro's setup is admittedly very weak. While it's easy enough to sympathize with a highly intelligent and innovative person who doesn't receive the positive social interaction he craves, Max takes this to ridiculous levels by literally plotting to kill Spider-Man simply because he doesn't remember his name after saving him from being run over by a car. This plot depends on Max having the mentality of a child, and this makes the motivations of his villain a bit of a facepalmer. The Green Goblin thus becomes the film's saving grace. Unlike Spider-Man 3, which also clumsily handled its villains, the Green Goblin comes in at just the right time to deliver a badass climax to the film that helps us forget how weak the Electro storyline ever was. Harry doesn't die in this movie, and at the end we see him plot with some other bad guys to plan revenge, and I can't wait to see how that plays out in TASM3 (or the Sinister Six, whichever movie arrives first).
The elements of the production of the film besides the plot are generally quite good. Andrew Garfield gives the best performance of Peter Parker and Spider-Man that I've seen thus far in any Spidey movie, alternating between social awkwardness, guilt, hero, and comic book humor with admirable grace. His chemistry with Emma Stone is quite strong (surely helped by the fact that they are now dating in real life) and their relationship is far more heartfelt than Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's in the Raimi movies (although they were unfortunately never able to do anything as iconic as the upside down kiss in Spider-Man 2002). The visual effects and cinematography work together to give the film an almost cartoony vibe. This is not a bad thing: seeing Spider-Man swing around NYC has never been so fun, and the humorous camera angles often employed give us a real appreciation for what it must feel like to be the famous web-slinger. Hans Zimmer's score is surprisingly strong. Three major themes are easily noticeable, the first being a new Spider-Man theme that, while unnecessarily replacing James Horner's theme from TASM, is nonetheless given several rousing performances that are sure to cement the theme into the minds of all the fans of these movies. I would welcome Zimmer to return to TASM3 if he wishes to continue his work on the franchise.
Overall, TASM2 was one of the most exciting superhero movies I've experienced in theaters, and it had the thematic and intellectual clout to back up the eye candy. While the meta factors governing its production and existence are all troublesome, the movie transcends all that nonsense to give a rousing and highly recommended viewing experience. 8/10