An advertisement for Spidey's future

Rating: 6/10 (11 May 2014)

Marvel Studios' long term strategy has payed off, so it's no surprise to see rival studios try their luck doing the same. Most challenging for Sony, as they own the rights to a single character: Spider-Man. Fortunately for the studio, Spidey has a wide array of allies and adversaries to choose from to construct a shared realm. Such characters will need to be introduced first to familiarize the audience with their personalities and groom them for solo debuts. The crafting of a larger Spiderverse begins with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which hosts a plethora of new characters and a threesome of rogues to enrich Peter Parker's life. Problem is, for a freshly rebooted franchise that still needs to prove to the audience the validity of the rebooting process, the time to start such universe building isn't ripe yet. As a result, the second Amazing Spidermovie feels like a convoluted, incoherently structured piece.
In the sequel, Peter Parker has come to terms with his powers and responsibilities acting as New York's guardian, as he struggles to uphold his promise to the deceased father of his love Gwen to stay out of her life to keep her safe from the harm that comes with being Spider-Man. A strong-spirited woman, Gwen is determined to embrace the dangers involved with dating Peter, or to move one with her career. This results in many scenes of engaging lovers' quarrels that reveal Marc Webb's strengths in directing identifiable romantic affairs. The chemistry between Garfield and Stone is still solid, though the same cannot be said for the writing of the former, as Peter has moved on from being a socially awkward nerd to a self-absorbed punk. Though his alter ego is modelled after his comic book counterpart more closely and convincingly than ever – webslinging moves, wisecracking puns and all – Peter feels like he has changed a little too much. While Stone's performance remains a joy to behold, Garfield's oftentimes evokes more irritation than affection.
Spidey's knack for getting those he cares about in trouble is proved as he's confronted by three villains in this movie, each with his personal baggage and history that needs some exploration. The main antagonist Electro is given the most balanced bit of background, in which he is revealed kind of as Peter-Parker-gone-bad. A lonely and socially isolated geek, his plunge in a vat of genetically engineered electric eels grants him powers beyond his dreams, but as he hopes to stand out from the crowd, the masses reject him, forcing him to go on a electrostatic rampage to get back at the world. Though Foxx's performance, sometimes over-the-top while at others more contained, leaves something to be desired, Electro's colourful sparkle shows make for a fancy visual style not seen before.
Unlike Harry Osborn. In Raimi's trilogy of movies, Harry was given an arc all his own over the course of three movies. Here the same story is told in a single film, in a much abbreviated form that does no justice to the decades of comics in which this friendship/rivalry evolved. When his father dies as a result of a degenerative illness that runs in the family, Harry gets reacquainted with his childhood friend Peter. An elaborate backstory is only inferred, so it is hard to care about their relationship. Harry becomes CEO of OsCorp where he finds himself thrown into an arena of intrigue, as he tries to find a cure for what killed his dad and will end his life prematurely too. The only cure appears Spider-Man's blood. As the disease starts to corrupt both his body and mind, Harry's friendship with Peter turns sour when his buddy will not help him to acquire that pivotal transfusion. Eventually Harry transforms into the maniacal Green Goblin, hellbent on wrecking Peter's life when he discovers his secret identity. DeHaan proves up to the task of portraying the sympathetic Harry, and he also visibly shows to have a blast playing the Goblin, making his contributions to the acting front more sizable than Garfield's, though both are driven by feeble writing.
Last up is Rhino, whose presence feels more of an afterthought to get that universe building going, as he adds little of relevance to the plot otherwise. Appearing only in the beginning and at the end, donning large battle armour, the character proves an example of how not to introduce characters if you want the audience to invest in them. It is made clear Rhino is the first member of Harry's team of villains, a plot line which will carry over in the next film, as well as in the announced Sinister Six spin-off. This attempt at foreshadowing backfires on this film on its own.
Compared to the trailers, this film feels to be lacking entire story threads that would have driven the plot into a different direction. Scenes between Harry, his father and Peter promised more intricate relations between the characters. Likewise, characters' scenes were dropped, including the introduction of Mary Jane, while others were shortened dramatically, like Harry's secretary Felicia suffered. The fact is, with multiple foes, a tumultuous love life, and a continuing search for his roots and the fate of his parents carried over from the predecessor, there was more than enough substance to the plot already without the studio's obvious insistence of setting up future films as well. Few of the many plot lines get their chance to stand out amidst the convoluted whole that now is The Amazing Spider-Man 2. There's some fine action scenes and shows of superhero spectacle, while the webslinging never looked better. But the film too often feels like coming up short. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 branches off into an advertisement for upcoming films, hurting its own ending, despite the tragic climax which under less padded conditions might have made this the emotionally most powerful Spiderfilm as yet. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is robbed of its right to exist as a separate entity.