Tangled

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2014)

This film is mildly recommended.
As sequels usually prove, the first time is the best. So it goes with Marc Webb's second installment of the Spiderman legend. The Amazing Spiderman 2 is an entertaining but ultimately unsatisfying movie, especially when compared to its wonderful predecessor. (That 2012 film made it to my top ten films list that year.) While there are some nice aerial movements with our comic book hero once again and time is wisely spent on the human interest angle, this latest chapter lacks interesting villains, has many (too many) action sequences that go on far too long, and enough sub-plots to foul up even the most super of superheroes. Nothing connects and the overall effect is tedious and overbearing.
When we last left our Peter Parker / Spidey, (again, very well played by Andrew Garfield), he was still enmeshed in dangerous adventures to rid the world of evildoers and enamored by the sweet and independently minded Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Now, in The Amazing Spiderman 2, Mr. Parker continues to protect the citizenry of New York and pine for Gwen. He is reticent to commit to his true love due to his promise made to her dying father: end the relationship with Gwen for her own safety. The chemistry between the two leads is still palpable, due to the talented actors in these roles, and one care about this young couple and their dilemmas. But it's more of the same with less impact.
Peter still has abandonment and father issues after being left behind for his Aunt May to raise, but he has lost a bit of the boyish charm and seems rather smug and cocky in this outing. (Sally Field does yeoman-like work in her small but pivotal scenes as his doting guardian.) Spiderman still fights a good fight, but his swagger and pouty expression seems interminable.
Director Marc Webb keeps his action moving, but can't control the multiple story lines and narrative structure of the film. The fault is mainly with a lame script by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner that tries too hard. This screenplay by committee approach results in awkward dialog, contrived situations, and lacks any real dramatic tension. It strains when it should soar. Spiderman's clever one-line retorts aren't. The villains come in droves and two out of three are bad, but not in a good way: Electro (Jamie Foxx) is the main nemesis and his character is played sympathetically at times and pathetically for most of the other times; Rhino (a wasted Paul Giamatti) seems like a mere afterthought and lacks any gravitas; the only effective foe is Harry Osborn a.k.a. Green Goblin, who makes his appearance far too late in the film to register much of his full menace, although he is nicely played by Dane DeHaan. (There is also a dreadful evil doctor played atrociously by Marton Csokas. This actor, poorly directed by Webb, delivers his lines in a thick German accent that only Frau Blücher could love.)
The CGI has its moments of awe and wonder in some of its well staged battles, but the imagery of two of its villains, Electro and Rhino, never impresses as it should. (Green Goblin, however, is a compelling force and holds promise for future encounters.) Much of the set design looks too fabricated with much noise and destruction which is so common in the crash and burn bedlam on the big screen these days.
The Amazing Spiderman 2 tries to spin its web of action and suspense, but it hopelessly gets entangled in its own confusing and chaotic plot devices that continually gum up the works. Amazing it's not. GRADE: B-
Visit my blog at: www.dearmoviegoer.com
ANY COMMENTS: Please contact me at: jadepietro@rcn.com