Spider man 2 Electro Boogaloo - Memories of flaccid first instalment swept away by powerful and dramatic sequel.

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2014)

Sony's first reboot installment in 2012 was justly criticised for being a poorly scripted rehash of Raimi's original a decade earlier, cheap and tacky looking with hardly any spider action and a poorly motivated villain, a chick flick masquerading as a superhero blockbuster existing solely so Sony could maintain the rights. However, in a rare case of people listening, the second movie is a massive step up in quality and integrity which puts to shame most of official Marvel's underwhelming recent offerings.
The storyline sticks quite closely to that of the comics (something the original trilogy didn't) and closes many of the loopholes of movie 1 while opening a myriad doors to future instalments.
There are four main plot strands here (1) Peter Parker's success as Spiderman and his conflicted feelings about his relationship with Gwen Stacey, especially the vow he made to her dying father, a vow whose casual dismissal now literally haunts him. (2) The succession of Peter's childhood friend Harry Osborn to the OSCORP throne and the dirty politics and inherited genetic condition that killed his father and is now starting to blight him too, leading to the desperate search for a cure that seemingly only Spiderman can provide. (3) The tragedy of lonely and ignored OSCORP tech Max Dillon, whose stalkerish obsession with Spiderman after a chance encounter turns deadly when an unlikely industrial accident involving electric eels turns him into 'Electro', a being of living electricity who can drain a city and control a cities fate. (4) The true story of Peter's parents, who on a pre-credit sequence are shown fighting an evil OSCORP assassin in a Learjet and whose motive for running is revealed by some underground detective work. Book ending the movie is a blink and you'll miss it turn by Paul Giamatti as Russian mobster Aleksei Sytseivich, who is recruited to Osborn's 'League of Evil' as "Rhino" in a mech suit 'Avatar' would envy. But don't get too excited because the film ends just as they are starting to battle!
The acting all round is fine. Garfield, criticised for being too cocky last time, is more mature and grounded this time, and his emotional scenes have real power. He is well matched by Dane DeHaan, who has made a career out of troubled angry loners, and gives Osborn enough pathos to make you pity him even as he does awful things. Emma Stone as Gwen is again excellent, funny and intelligent yet hiding a secret pain that's always there in the corner. Jamie Foxx as Dillon makes for both a sad and pitiful loner, desperate to be even acknowledged by anyone, and an increasingly angry and embittered Electro. His 'master plan' involves making the city bow to him and acknowledge his power, which is sad enough in itself. Sally Field again plays a younger, trimmer, more energetic Aunt May, doing some fiery dramatics of her own. Also appearing are Chris Cooper as Norman Osborn, bitter,dying and green, Colm Feore as the shady OSCORP king maker whose more actual villain than either Electro or The Green Goblin, and an unrecognisable Martin Csokas as a stereotypical sadistic German scientist.
Unlike TAS, the pacing and the mix of action and drama is far better, and it reaches the emotional and dramatic heights of Raimi's trilogy with actors better suited to the material (You do not want to throttle Stone, unlike the whiny selfish needy Kirsten Dunst! And they have the Parker-Osborn dynamic right here, unlike the Raimi series which switched the original roles around with disastrous consequences.) The special effects are OK but not brilliant, and Electro could have been more ground breaking and breathtaking, but surprisingly it doesn't make too much difference here. Kudos must also be given for following through with a faithful enactment of the Goblin-Gwen Stacey storyline, something of an open secret already, hence the heavy Greek tragedy style foreshadowing throughout the movie. They do not sell it short and it delivers the required emotional punch.
A strong superhero movie at a time when such things are increasingly scarce, an astounding step up from the feeble initial instalment that provides fine Summer thrills with a solid dramatic backbone and promises much from director Webb and his team for future episodes.