The perfect Spider-Man film
I have been a fan of Spider-Man for as long as I can remember, he is the hero that every kid identifies with, and he's also the most fun. 'Fun' is the word I would say most describes this sequel to 2012's Spidey reboot/remake/whatever you want to call it. There's over the top action sequences, cheesy one-liners a plenty and an amazing (excuse the pun) performance by Andrew Garfield as our web-slinging hero at the centre of it all. Don't get me wrong though, as fun as the film is it does also have some serious emotion and some truly dramatic moments which will really shock you, the finale especially is an emotional roller coaster!
After saving the city at the end of the first film Spidey is now a hero in the eyes of the people of New York, apart from a certain Daily Bugle editor who gets a nice mention in this film. His life as Peter Parker isn't going too bad either, he's back together with Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) and he's just graduated from high school so what can go wrong? Well the introduction of 2 new villains, and Gwen's plans to jet off to England might do the trick. Oh, and there's still the mystery of what happened to Peter's parents! I think it's safe to say that there is a lot going on in this film.
The many different sub plots do prove to be one of the film's downfalls and leads to some underwritten and very cliché characters who we just don't care about. One of these characters is a Dr. Kafka who is just painful to watch! Picture in your head a stereotypical mad German scientist and you get this guy, he's camped up even more by Marton Csokas's over enthusiastic performance which ends up just being very distracting.
One actor who really shines in this film though is Dane DeHaan, a name people may recognise from the film Chronicle. Here he plays Harry Osborn, heir to the Oscorp company and old friend of Peter Parker. He's been living the playboy lifestyle travelling the world with supermodels but when he is forced to return to New York he must face the weight of responsibility of owning such a massive organisation and along the way stumbles upon some of Oscorp's dark secrets. Harry goes through a lot in this film, to mention specifically what he has to deal with would mean entering spoiler territory which I want to avoid, but DeHaan copes with it magnificently showing Harry as self confident, desperate and full of rage when he has a horrifying transformation in to one of Spider-Man's arch enemies (something the trailers have surprisingly not tried to cover up). He is the standout of this movie and I feel there is more to come from him in this franchise!
Jamie Foxx's Electro is the main villain of the film and I feel he is a character that sadly just falls slightly short of the potential he had. Electro starts life as Max Dillon, an Oscorp employee who is scarily fanatical about Spider-Man, so much so that he thinks they are best friends. A freak accident turns him into a man made of electricity and the CGI for his character is brilliant, the scenes involving him and Spidey are some of the most exciting to watch in the film, I found myself watching in awe as these two battled it out at the movie's finale. Electro is a great physical threat for Spider-Man but I just feel his personal story seems too forced, especially in the early moments when we are supposed to feel sympathy for him, I personally felt uneasy supporting him in the moments he is talking to himself pretending his hero has come to wish him happy birthday. It was creepy more than anything, which I guess is right for a villain but not one we are supposed to be so sympathetic for.
What I feel makes this film special is the way it is just so much fun, at many times through out the movie I was reminded of the 90's Spidey cartoon that I grew up watching, that cartoon understood the Spider-Man character and so does this movie. There are also several scenes that feel like they came straight from a comic book, one image of Spider-Man facing Electro gave me chills, the same way I felt watching The Avengers when the team finally assemble (best movie scene ever!). The scenes are given a lot more depth in 3D so I would highly recommend viewing the film in this format despite the extra cost, it is well worth it just for seeing Spidey swing around New York and make the most of these incredible visuals.
The film has several key themes that it tries to press through to the viewer such as time, love and revenge but the one I feel works best is the theme of hope. Spider-Man sees himself as a symbol of hope for people of all ages, there's a nice scene early in the film where he saves a young boy from being beaten up by bullies then walks him home, it's just such a typical Spider-Man thing to do! We see this boy again later in the film when he stands up to Paul Giamatti's Aleksei Sytsevich, otherwise known as Rhino, the boy does not fear him and faces him head on. It's a brilliant scene which shows the strength of hope and the hope that Spider-Man has given him, and when Spidey does come and save the day it's well with the wait.
This isn't the best superhero film ever, there are plenty of problems with this film but these do not stop your enjoyment of the film. It's a magnificent, action packed, emotional and thrilling movie which perfectly captures the Spider-Man character. If you make it to the end without shedding a tear then you're made of strong stuff. The performances by the young trio of Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Dane DeHaan are some of the best in any superhero film I have seen, they make this movie so make sure you go see it!
8.5/10