*** Spoiler Alert! Don't read if you haven't seen the film!***
The biggest problem I have with this sequel is that it seems more concerned with creating a universe than telling a story. The movie is riddled with name drops and hints at bigger things to come and the story that is happening is kind of shoved to the side. The tone of the movie is also strange. The first movie set up a very serious tone and was dark and brooding, which was really the biggest thing that separated it from the Raimi films, but this film was a lot more humorous and cartoony and on the lighter side for the most part. Not to say there isn't some dark in this movie either but it's not as prominent this time around. Spider-Man is supposed to be a more lighter character but I appreciate some dark tones to the story but it could have just been more balanced in the script.
While the film has been touted as having three villains it really only has one and a half. Electro is the main adversary and is well performed by Jamie Fox but is just absent from too much of the movie. Rhino bookends the movie with small action scenes at the beginning and end of the film. The Green Goblin, who is Harry Osborn as Norman dies early in the film, feels very shoehorned in and easily could have been reduced to a post credits appearance to set up for the next film. Instead we get a short fight with an unsatisfying ending that is overshadowed by a bigger event, the death of Gwen Stacy, which was an excellent scene. It always felt up in the air as to whether it not they would pull this move in this movie or the next but they pulled the trigger to a successful and heart wrenching scene. If only the story was rearranged a bit so we could have had more time with The Goblin, and then the scene would have been more impactful. It honestly feels like all of the villains get pushed aside in this movie. Spider-Man's first showdown with Electro in Time's Square is an amazing scene and then Electro is defeated and locked away until the ending. While he feels incredibly menacing you never feel a looming threat because he's never present. The bigger issue comes with The Green Goblin, who is only the Goblin for about ten minutes. Luckily all of this is held together by incredibly stellar performances.
The first time around I never felt like Andrew Garfield filled out the role. This time around there was no doubt that he is the perfect Spider-Man. Emma Stone was great in the first film and continues to be so here but this time around their chemistry is undeniable. Probably because this time around they were dating in real life. Jamie Foxx doesn't get the screen time he deserves but he makes the best out of it and brings his A game. Dane Dehaan is a great Harry Osborn and is an actor I've grown fond of since seeing him in his previous super heroesuqe film Chronicle. His transformation into the Green Goblin isn't earned from a script perspective but he delivers a performance worthy of a film of any caliber. There isn't much to say about Paul Giamatti's Rhino other than that he is clearly having a lot of fun in the role. I hope he gets to do more in future films but in the meantime his small contribution to the film was fun to say the least.
While the movie struggles to find its identity and seems more concerned with building a universe than telling a story, it's still a good Spider-Man film and a lot of fun to watch. It's not perfect and won't blow you away unless there is some action on the screen but Marc Webb is still a worthy director for the series but I wish the script would have gone through one more rewrite with a finer toothed comb. It's one of the best looking movies I've ever seen and the action exceeds many of the other comic book movies, but the script just can't keep up. Hopefully with Amazing Spider-Man 3 we will get a little more focus and less of the bigger picture they hope to create.
I give Amazing Spider-Man 2 a 3 out 5. Good, not great.
