Some Wonky Dialouge and Underwhelming Villains Can't Stop Spider-Man From Stealing the Show

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2014)

In 2012, Marvel kicked off a reboot series for their flagship character, Spider-Man, after Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series had been shut down. After debuting with a solid first entry, Sony announced plans to create a cinematic universe of its own within the confines of just Spider-Man property. Enter The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a film with some occasional issues, but the best adaptation of Spider-Man to date.
Now when I say that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the best Spidey adaptation yet, I don't necessarily mean the movie as a whole, I'm referring to the character Spider-Man himself. The absolute largest strength of this film is watching Spider-Man in his true comic book form. Complete with all of his wit and humor, super strength, incredible spider sense and even his wonderfully executed costume, this is the best depiction of the superhero Spider-Man in cinema history. My eyes were glued to the web-head every moment he was on screen. It was like he was pulled him right from the comic books, nailing the way he cracks jokes, fights and swings through New York. It goes to show that when your title character is as purely entertaining as Spidey is in this film, your audience is going to respond very positively.
Now backing Spider-Man's great adaptation is a solid plot, which portrays deep themes, and arguably the most emotional climax ever in a superhero film. The story of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 picks up where its predecessor left off and the film does a great job of filling in the audience with the first film's story without slowing down the movie too much. With so much going on, including the movie's main plot which revolves around the mysterious and threatening Oscorp, the terrific romantic subplot between Peter an Gwen, along with a slew of characters in the film, the movie is mostly well balanced. The theme of hope is a major theme in the movie, one that is displayed excellently, giving the film a level of emotion few superhero films can match. There is some inconsistent pacing at some points, and I was disappointed by another lack of a true appearance by The Daily Bugle. But outside of a couple pacing hiccups, and the embarrassingly ridiculous ending with The Rhino, the movie flows well enough to keep your attention throughout.
It wouldn't be a superhero movie without action, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 delivers on that front. The action is exciting, intense and often very vibrant and colorful, thanks to some incredible CG effects. Also, the hilarious wit of Spider-Man makes almost every action encounter entertaining on a different level.
The main villain of the film, Electro, is portrayed in his Ultimate comic book form, and this challenged the special effects team to create a memorable CG-enhanced character. Electro is a good villain: powerful, smart, and full of rage and he posses as a heavy threat to everyone's favorite wall crawler. However, Electro often is underwhelming and underdeveloped, and has some laughable dialogue. Could have had a better written Elector, but it could've been a lot worse.
For our second villain, we have Spidey's arch nemesis in the Green Goblin, a mediocre portrayal of the character, at best. Despite very minimal screen time, and underdevelopment, Green Goblin was a dark, dangerous and mostly enjoyable enemy. However, Goblin was undoubtedly rushed into the movie for spoiler-filled reasons and to get the ball rolling on the Sinister Six film. Green Goblin's alter ego, Harry Osborn, is done brilliantly and integral to the film, but Goblin himself was brought in too quickly to pull any weight behind the character. Overall, Spidey's villains are fun enough to watch, but struggle to maintain consistency throughout the film.
The cast of the film is loaded with star power and the talent on screen is not wasted. Andrew Garfield reprises his role as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and his performance of Peter Parker was also fantastic. Garfield does a stellar job in displaying all of Peter's emotions, as well as capture his comedic side, giving a much better performance than in the first film. Opposite Garfield is the beautiful and talented Emma Stone, who once again plays Peter's love interest in Gwen Stacy. Stone's performance gives us the sense that she's in her prime, giving a spectacular performance. The relationship between Peter and Gwen is a strong one indeed, displaying numerous different emotions throughout the film. The chemistry is top notch, as dialogue flows seamlessly between the two. I could go as far as to say that this is arguably the best all around romance in a superhero film yet.
Star Jamie Foxx plays Max Dillon, AKA Electro, and gives a solid performance with what he was given. Foxx plays Dillon well, despite the characters lack of depth. Finally, Dane DeHaan plays Harry Osborn, Peter's old childhood friend who has returned to New York. While his performance as Green Goblin was decent, his presentation of Harry Osborn was even better. Harry plays a large role in the movie's story, and DeHaan gives a mature, enticing performance. The cast is great to say the least, the emotions drive the movie, and the actors giving off these emotions are splendid.
Spider-Man is easily one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all-time, and most would argue he ranks among the top three along with DC's two juggernaut heroes. It was essential that Spider-Man got the movie that he and his fans deserved, and while the film occasionally stumbles on poor dialogue and off-beat pacing (like the atrocious Rhino ending), Spider-Man himself and the action and wit he delivers catapults the film into greater territory, with just a few issues holding The Amazing Spider-Man 2 back from being the best Spider-Man movie of all-time.
8/10