The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro
Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx
In cinemas now
WELCOME to the second reboot’s sequel.
The slapstick ethos of Spider-Man has always run deep, but I think there’s a little too much of it this time around.
Andrew Garfield pulling down Paul Giamatti’s pants with a web? Just too childish for a movie full of violence and action.
Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) stands on her own throughout the film and is essentially its driving force.
As Spider-Man mopes about, she gets into Oxford and saves the day when Spider-Man didn’t have the knowledge needed to do it himself.
While we didn’t return to Spiderman 3 emo-moping Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield treads a close line with the character this time around as he pouted his way through the middle third, the “go to the toilet” section, of the film.
The over-arching plot was a little flimsy, but Stan Lee didn’t make his superheroes for their backstories, after all.
Jamie Foxx was given very little room to expand his character, the supervillain Electro, but he was quietly terrifying in the right moments and was a fitting addition to the superhero movie stable.
Dane deHaan plays Harry Osborne about as well as a jaded, genetically degenerative billionaire playboy can be.
Imagine Iron Man without the charm.
Don’t get me wrong, I was perfectly happy watching this movie – it’s a classic popcorn action film, but it’s not one to be revered like The Avengers, nor will it stand the test of time like its predecessor or even the last run of web-slinger films by Sam Raimi.
It’s a solid enough film, but like a spider’s web, it will be brushed aside effortlessly.
– Jarrod Potter
