My Review for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Contains Spoilers)

Alright, so due to the excitement of last weekend, I must review The Amazing Spider-Man 2! I’ll break this up into categories:

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Parker Family History:

The film starts off with what happened before/between/a continuation of what viewers saw at the beginning of the first film. Richard Parker is at Oscorp, seemingly killing his genetically-enhanced spiders, deleting all of his files on his computer, and packing the briefcase he leaves behind. Back at the Parker residence, Richard is in the basement recording a video when he is suddenly interrupted by the calling of his son after witnessing the break in. After dropping their son off at Aunt May’s and Uncle Ben’s, Richard and Mary Parker are aboard a plane and almost immediately attacked by an assassin. Richard stops at nothing, even as the plane is crashing, to use his computer to upload files to “Roosevelt”, which he successfully does before the plane plummets. In the present, Peter sees his dad’s briefcase in his closet daily until curiosity once again overcomes him and causes him to map out his entire life around a family picture, as well as doing some research on whatever “Roosevelt” might be. When Aunt May finds his map, she eventually gives in to Peter’s curiosity by telling him that, after his parents’ funeral, government agents came to their home, telling Ben and May the genetics research Peter’s dad and Norman Osborn were doing was very valuable, which is why he ran off with it. Peter thinks this doesn’t make any sense. In anger, Peter rips the map down and throws around his father’s things, finally shattering his calculator, which has many train tokens hidden inside. This leads him to figure out that Roosevelt is an abandoned station. He visits, puts a token in, and the tracks open to lift the train containing Richard Parker’s secret lab. Peter looks around until he finds a computer booting up the video Richard recorded at the beginning of the film. In this video, Peter discovers his father’s motives were to prevent his research from being used for biological weaponry by the foreign military organization funding it as well as the falsified evidence Norman Osborn has against him because he refused, instead of what his Aunt May was convinced of. He adds that there’s something else Norman doesn’t know, and that’s the human DNA planted in the spiders was his own, and is probably why Peter responds so well to the bite and becomes Spider-Man. Most of all, he left to protect his son, who means more to him than anything. All in all, this was interwoven nicely into the film, and the resolution of it was epic in that everything made sense with events that have already occurred. I have a feeling, though, that this is not the end…

Spider-Man Himself:

The first moments viewers see Spider-Man swinging throughout NYC, they know they’re in for the ride of their lives. The use of CGI and camera angles is something to be admired, but the times when CGI isn’t used (which is actually kinda often) are even more admirable. His costume and attitude are much closer to the Spider-Man we true believers all know and love. The public has mixed views on him, but this is largely disregarded. His ego is played with a lot in the movie, being somewhat inflated in the beginning and deflated with the conflicts he faces. In his battle with Electro, one of his web shooters is destroyed due to the electricity, which requires much deliberation for him to adapt them to afterwards, and doesn’t actually do so until the final battle against Electro when Gwen helps him magnetize them. When he loses Gwen, though, he is the most vulnerable emotionally, which compromises his ability to be Spider-Man. This is until Gwen’s speech, just like he once did for others, renews his hope and restores a greater meaning into being Spider-Man.

Just A Couple of Misfits:

When we first see Max Dillon, it is clear that he is invisible to everyone around him, which makes it ironic that he is the film’s essential villain. His blueprints blow out of his hands as he’s walking through the bustling streets of New York and no one cares to notice. His yearning for attention surfaces when he is rescued from a taxi flying his way by the superhero Spider-Man, who, by professing his usual hopeful attitude onto a misfit like Max, generates a bit of an obsession. He reads too much into his interaction with Spider-Man, which leads to a pretty big disappointment. It’s no accident, though, that Dillon is left alone to take care of an electrical issue that initiates his transformation into Electro. It doesn’t take long for Electro to realize he can simply absorb electricity, making his way to the most electrical spot in NYC, Times Square. When he’s threatened by a police officer, his power is revealed when he backs into traffic and lifts a truck coming his way with the electrical powers emanating from his hands. Electro, in fear of what’s happening, pleads with the NYPD until he realizes all of the screens show him, as he thinks he is finally being noticed by everyone. His anger takes over, especially when Spider-Man arrives and thwarts him from killing a sniper that shot at him. This flips the switch in Electro’s head, thinking Spider-Man is “selfish”, that he set him up…and most of all, that he’s his enemy. Electro finally understands the true nature of his power and utilizes it in villainous destruction and conflict for the rest of the film. When Electro does break free from Ravencroft after being put there after the Times Square incident, he achieves a sort of absolute power by literally becoming electricity. This seems like a great feat, especially considering he’s able to channel through the entire city. When it comes to the final fight, Electro has the home field in that he and Spider-Man are fighting at a power station he designed for Oscorp. A moment that was pretty funny was when Electro was shocking Spider-Man back and forth between power towers to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider, and is almost like a testament to the comical nature of most of Spider-Man’s villains. Rhino, although seen the least in the film, is there for his potential role in future films, and although he wasn’t as menacing as I would’ve hoped, he seems like an interesting first candidate of whatever Oscorp’s got up their sleeve. As for Harry becoming the Green Goblin, he has a special place in my heart.

The Theme of Time:

The theme makes itself apparent immediately with an opening of rotating gears of a ticking clock, Richard Parker’s watch. Richard, while recording the video he’s going to upload to “Roosevelt”, wishes he had more time. The rushed nature of the opening shows that, whenever time is of the essence, it plays a key role in establishing intensity, which found very smart and intriguing for Marc Webb to bring to the forefront. Even the mention of it grabs the viewers’ attention, such as during Gwen’s (valedictorian) graduation speech, when she says “time is luck”, which, with her speech in its entirety, speaks volumes about her own fate. When Gwen meets up with Peter some time after their break-up, she says it’s time they start being friends, and although the moment is beautiful, it is the moment where Gwen’s life is at risk once again. Towards the end, when the flight attendant clocks 4 minutes until impact of the planes intensifies the entirety of the Electro battle by orchestrating its suspense. The theme reaches its climax at the clock tower. Gwen is dropped, Peter catches her, pumpkin bomb blows up, Peter grabs her hand and sets her down on the gears, glider destroys the gears, Peter zips a web to her hand. The final attempt comes when the web gets severed in a rotating gear, Gwen falls once again, and the clock breaks in Peter’s attempt to jam it. The slow motion moment in which Gwen is falling with the gears surrounding her and Peter diving and sending a strand of web towards her that looks to form into a hand is cinematically impeccable. Unfortunately, the web doesn’t attach to her in time (which is basically what this whole theme revolves around) and the whiplash created by the web causes her to slam her head on the ground, killing her instantly.

Peter and Gwen:

Dealing with your boyfriend being Spider-Man has become second nature to Gwen Stacy, like when he’s running late to graduation at the beginning of the film. The heated moment of Peter kissing and dipping Gwen hooks viewers in immediately. Their behavior and dialogue henceforth enhances the initial chemistry viewers saw in the first film…but Peter can’t shake the visions of Captain Stacy, whom Peter promised he would stay away from Gwen due to the threat Peter being Spider-Man would have on her life. Gwen makes it apparent later on that Peter has been on and off with her many times before because of this promise. Despite Peter’s concerns, the constant nature of them has brought her to frustration, and she breaks up with him. Regardless, Spider-Man watches over Gwen day in and day out, until one evening, he receives a phone call. The moment the film cuts to Gwen standing alone with “Song for Zula” by Phosphorescent playing was a moment that gave me goosebumps because it was so perfect and set the tone for the two of them for the rest of the film. Although Gwen wants to try to be friends, their chemistry doesn’t allow them to a single second after setting up their ground rules without seeming like a couple. As soon as they’re about to kiss, Gwen reveals that she might be moving to England, as she was offered an opportunity at a scholarship to Oxford. They run into each other at Oscorp when Gwen discovers they’re covering up what happened to Max and is being chased down by Oscorp security and have a cliché (as Peter says) yet sweet, romantic encounter and share a kiss. What was cool about this scene was their dynamic in getting out of the jam Gwen was in, Peter comically distracting security and Gwen making a clean getaway while being humored by what Peter was doing. On her way to her last Oxford interview, Peter swings to Gwen, rushing to talk to her. Gwen tells Peter they might be going different paths, and Peter, although upset, finally realize that just might be true. Gwen calls up Peter as he is leaving the abandoned train station to tell him she got into Oxford, but she is leaving without saying goodbye because she does love him. Peter can’t let this happen, so he webs “I Love You” onto the bridge, she notices from the cab, and he swings off with her. Peter tells Gwen that she was wrong about them going different paths and that she’s he’s path and he’ll follow her wherever she goes, even England. They’re interrupted when danger is afoot, as Electro has cut power to the entire city. Their dynamic during the situation, such as Gwen’s help in magnetizing Peter’s web shooters, or when Gwen shows up at the power grid and runs over Electro to tell Peter it’s her choice to help him, no matter how dangerous it gets, is fun to watch. Things take a turn for the worst, as audiences see Captain Stacy one last time, which hints at her eventual unexpected death, which devastates Peter and audiences watching. Peter visits her grave year-round. It was a montage of sheer melancholy that truly showed the everlasting love Peter had for her.

You’re My Boy:

When Peter runs to hug his Aunt May after the graduation ceremony is over, and the dialogue that follows reflecting on Uncle Ben, shows just how much their bond has grown since the events of the first film. Although Peter still has to hide the fact that he’s Spider-Man from her, their interactions in Peter’s attempt in keeping this secret are highly comical like when she’s trying to get into his room as he is struggling to take off his suit, or when she wants to do his laundry since, when he does it, everything turns blue and red. The most significant moment between Peter and his Aunt is when she finds the map that Peter made in his room. It’s because she questions it that Peter knows that she knows something since she always avoids the subject of Peter’s parents when he brings them up. She says that she’s done all the things a mother should do for their child, and that Peter is blinded by the idea of his parents when, really, Peter’s her boy. Peter recognizes this and says that she’s everything and that she’s more than enough. This scene brought a tear to my eye because it was so touching, and it was something that I never thought I would feel when watching a Spider-Man film.

Interesting Tidbits:

Some interesting tidbits include the mention of J. Jonah Jameson, characters such as Felicia and Smythe, who were the closest legitimate references to Black Cat and Spider Slayer respectively, the clock tower reading 1:21 after Gwen’s death, which was the comic book issue in which she died, and the confirmation of “Man in the Shadows” being Gustav Fiers, who forms the Sinister Six in the comics.

My Cinematic Experience:

Having seen the movie twice this weekend, I’ve been at the perfect elevation (in row H) and aligned perfectly in the center of the screen (in between H11 and H16). The quality in IMAX and the scenes that utilized 3D were nothing short of amazing and I loved every minute of it all. Nuff’ said.

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