The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Corn and Cheese with a Side of Meat and Dessert

To start out, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (TASM2) was no Captain America 2.  Where I had a really hard time thinking of things I didn’t like about Captain America, TASM2 gave me no such trouble.  But that doesn’t mean that it was terrible.  I just really don’t think anything will top Cap on my favorites list for summer 2014.

I should probably warn you that there will be spoilers ahead.  I’ll give good notice so you can skip over them if you want to.

As the title of this post indicates, there was plenty of corniness and cheesiness.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  For the most part, it fits really well for the character.  It’s when it doesn’t have to do with Spider-Man himself that I roll my eyes.

For example, just about everything about one of the characters is corny.  When he’s first introduced, he has a horrible comb-over, a pocket stuffed full of pens with the possibility of a pocket protector, and stereotypical nerd glasses.  Then there’s a completely preventable accident that gives him electric powers.  (My manager at work sometimes brings in photos of people doing stupid stuff safety-wise.  The whole scenario surrounding the accident would fit right in with those examples.)

There were some things that were really well done with regard to that character as well.  One thing was that eventually he figured out how to travel like electricity, which was a really cool effect.  His progression from a nerd obsessed with Spider-Man, to a border-line Spider-man stalker, to an insane super-villain was pretty good as well.  Though I did wonder where his super-villain outfit came from.

SPOILERS AHEAD

TASM2 was both true to and strayed away from the comic book it comes from.  The parts that strayed were, with one exception, disappointing.  For one thing, Norman Osborn apparently dies before becoming the Green Goblin.  I say apparently because, with super-hero comics, death is rarely permanent.  But how can Norman Osborn never become the Green Goblin?  It’s not right!  Another of the strays, though, was more than welcome.  It had to do with a character that never showed up in costume until the very end of the movie:  the Rhino.  In the comics he’s one of the corniest of the corny, in my opinion.  He’s just a big guy in a rhinoceros suit.  In the movie, the suit was almost a mecha-like armor that actually looked pretty cool.  There were also hints at another of the comic’s cheesy villains, the Vulture—apparently for future use.

(By the way, has anyone ever wondered why there are so many animal-themed characters associated with Spider-Man—from Spider-Man himself to the Rhino, the Vulture, and Doctor Octopus?)

MORE SPOILERS FORTHCOMING

Anyone who is familiar with the comic book knows that Gwen Stacy met a bad end.  There were rumors brought on by pictures of one of the outfits Emma Stone (Gwen) was wearing during filming that she might meet that fate in this movie.  I wasn’t sure if that would come to pass or not, but it did.  And it happened in a way that was very similar to what happened in the comic.  In both media, it was ambiguous as to whether Spidey’s rescue was the cause, or if it was due to injuries caused in the event that lead to her having to be rescued.  Even though it was a tragedy, it was one of the things that I thought was really well done and appropriate for the story of Spider-Man.

THIS PARAGRAPH SHOULD BE SAFE

Another thing that I liked was that the cheesiness didn’t extend to the look of the Green Goblin when he did show up.  The Green Goblin of the Tobey Maguire era of the movies was terrible due both to Willem Dafoe’s over acting and a truly horrible design for his suit.  The new version was more menacing and much easier to take seriously.

There were a lot of things I really like about Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Spider-Man.  For one thing, he does Peter Parker’s awkwardness really well, both in and out of costume.  One of the things that Spider-Man is well known for (or should be) is his corny jokes whole fighting, and Garfield was great at them!

The special effects in the action scenes were well done.  I also enjoyed how Spidey moved, both in travel and in combat.  The inventiveness in his use of his tools was very nice.  I like that there seems to be a good amount of effort on the part of writers and choreographers to do new and different things with action scenes.  It is especially effective in super-hero movies in which you expect a certain amount of gravity-defying and impossible survivability.

SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD

Another thing that I like had to do with the story, or rather with the back story.  It made this movie a true sequel to the last one, having to do with Peter’s parents.  My experience with the comics is that they are rarely if ever mentioned.  But this is one deviation from the comics that I really like.  I like that it is a factor in who Peter is as well as shaping the world that is unfolding in the movies.  I like that it’s a theme that will probably continue to further installments.

To sum up, there were plenty of things that made me roll my eyes and think that the film-makers could have done a better job.  But there were also many things that I thought were well done.  So, even though it wasn’t as good as Captain America 2, TASM2 will be in the plus column of this summer’s films.  If you’re looking for a fun time at the movies, with a touch of tragedy, this one does a pretty good job.

(As an aside, I can’t help but wonder if the director was chosen at least in part for his name:  Marc Webb.)