BY Camille Borodey
Orientation editor
The best part about Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Peter Parker is that he makes the character his own, and I do not feel it necessary to compare his performance with Toby Maguire’s. Maguire was a loveable nerd in Sam Raimi’s original film series, but Andrew Garfield is a better actor, who has a stronger ability to play emotional scenes, allowing the movie to go deeper into Peter’s emotional struggles.
Marc Webb’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” includes a fun cast, but the film has too many plots that could have pushed into the third installment of the film.
The main villain of the movie is Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), an employee at Oscorp’s who is obsessed with Spider-Man. While tending to an electrical issue at work, Max gets into an electrical accident, and – you guessed it – he turns into a an mutated electrical villain, Electro.
In attempts to defeat Spider-Man, Electro teams up with Harry Osborn (who later turns into Green Goblin).
With his greasy hair and pale face, Dane DeHaan makes Harry Osborn a sleazy villain, but his transformation into Green Goblin feels rushed. Harry was only just introduced in this movie, and I was not invested in his relationship with Peter enough to care.
On that note, props to the makeup department for making Harry look absolutely menacing as Green Goblin. In the 2002 Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin looks more like a slightly deformed power ranger.
Although Electro seems to be the main villain for most of the film, the final battle between he and Spider-Man felt anti-climatic, for it’s the battle between Green Goblin and Spider-Man that changes Peter Parker’s life forever.
It’s the romance between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) that carries the movie. In the movie, Peter feels conflicted on his relationship with Gwen because he knows he could put her in danger. Garfield and Stone interact in such a natural way that I wonder if they’re improving their lines (they’re a real life couple).
Stone’s quirky, snappy attitude compliments Garfield’s endearingly awkward personality. Webb makes Gwen Stacy feels like a better female love interest than Mary Jane Watson. Gwen is she’s not just a damsel in distress, but she’s an intelligent character with her own ambitions.
While Peter faces relationship drama and villains, he also finds himself investigating what happened to his parents after he was dropped off at his Uncle Ben and Aunt May’s as a child. Sally Fields offers a gentle presence as Aunt May.
Unlike Raimi’s franchise, the film goes much deeper into Richard Parker’s past at Oscorps and how Peter was able to transform into Spider-Man. I appreciate Garfield’s dramatic acting abilities, but the movie my have had one too many scenes of Peter sulking over his parents.
The film offers some awesome special effects, and director Marc Webb seems to be a fan of the slow motion shots.
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” felt about 10 minutes too long, and isn’t as much fun as 2004’s Spider-Man 2. The scenes with Peter slinging through New York are visual fun, and the chemistry between Garfield and Stone hold the movie together. Webb’s adaptation captures the loner superhero that is Peter Parker, but the movie find itself tangled in a web of plots.
