For this is a film that bites off a lot more than the one before it. More than it can comfortably handle, certainly, but it does have a go at righting some wrongs. For instance, it has a second, more successful attempt at delivering on the tagline to the first film. It continues the relationship between Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker. It deals with other matters left behind from the last film. And it squeezes in room for the introduction of Jamie Foxx’s Electro. Meanwhile an early action sequence suggests that Webb has a better handle on such moments this time around, and that’s proved when we finally get the unleashing of Jamie Foxx’s Electro later in the film. Bristling with electricity, and with at times an uncanny resemblance to Mr Freeze, Electro might be a thankless role for Foxx, but his inclusion does add spectacle. Electro doesn’t really deepen the film too much, but he’s nonetheless entertaining to watch, and a cinematic foe. Still, whilst Electro is billed as the antagonist, you don’t get as much time with him as you may be expecting. In fact, you don’t get as much time with Spider-Man as you may be expecting. Instead, there are numerous new story threads to add to the old ones carried over from last time. Of those new ones, we do get the transformation of Max Dillon into Electro, and we do get his motivation for his disliking of Spider-Man as well. It doesn’t feel like it has too much weight to it, but it is clearly in place. That said, Electro does take second place to Harry Osborn, boardroom politics and even a moment of dirty laundry at one point. The balance feels just a little muddled. Yet there’s no getting away from the fact that there’s too much here. In the build up to the film’s release, there were fears that there were too many villains, and they wouldn’t fit into the film. Those fears generally prove unfounded though: the antagonists aren’t perfect, but they’re clear and unfussy. Where the film creaks is in its middling attempts to juggle everything else, with some parts of the narrative getting more shrift than others. A debate about whether Spider-Man is a good or bad thing is quickly dispensed with before it’s begun, for instance, yet Gwen and Peter spend what seems like a lot of time mainly going over similar ground to before (it’s to the genuine credit of Garfield and Stone, whose chemistry remains strong, that these moments still engage). J Jonah Jameson, meanwhile, is relegated to an email. On the plus side, the action is a lot more coherent and interesting, with sequences that let you see and enjoy what’s happening. Garfield and Stone are excellent, leading the generally very good performances, and the film also has a few hearty guffaws in there. Furthermore, without going into detail, a good chunk of the final act is excellent. In fact, that’s where the film is really very strong indeed. Helpfully, there are no CG monstrosities this time either. And where The Amazing Spider-Man 2 makes its mistakes, it feels like they’re less as a result of a poisoned chalice handed down from the boardroom, and more down to a genuine attempt to make a movie with a bit more identity to it. We should note this though. It was with no shortage of irony that at the screening we attended, the assembled throng was specifically asked to stay spoiler-light on their reviews, as we have done here. Unfortunately, such instructions come off the back of one of the most revealing marketing campaigns for a blockbuster movie in recent times, and if you’ve been exposed to it, it does feel like it impacts the watching of the film. It arguably even hurts it just a little. Not every one of The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s secrets has been sacrificed on the altar of the promotional work, but as we sat watching, we couldn’t help but feel there were one or two moments we’d have preferred to discover in the movie for the first time, rather than as another clip or image released to the internet beforehand. That holding back the surprises in question would have added some extra punch. That said, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is still a step forward, and both a welcome and necessary one for the franchise. It might still leave a good deal of room for improvement, it might ultimately be less confident and successful than Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and we’re still some way away from the peak of Sam Raimi’s trilogy here. But it does feel as though Marc Webb has taken on an overladen screenplay, and put a more successful stamp on it this time around. It might not be amazing still, and it remains frustrating, but at least this time the new Spider-Man movie is quite good as well.
