We all know that Peter Parker never has much luck with the ladies, but on the big screen, his love is smoldering! Who would have guessed that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a romantic comedy? The second entry in Sony Pictures’ second Spider-Man series is all about the love shared between an arachnid boy and his high school sweetheart. Sure there are a couple of super-villains thrown in for good measure, but that’s just what you have to deal with when you’re dating the Amazing Spider-Man!

Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I don’t mind at all that Sony Pictures wants to make a mega-franchise out of their Amazing Spider-Verse. As far as I’m concerned, director Mark Webb and actor Andrew Garfield absolutely get Spider-Man. They get the humanity. They get the drama. They get the pure thrill of being Spider-Man. They seem awkwardly obsessed with Peter Parker’s dad, but that can be forgiven when the rest of their movies are so good!

I loved the first Amazing Spider-Man movie, and praised it for the nuanced, personable portrayal of Peter Parker. The same focus on Peter returns for the sequel, and once again I have to point out that the young Andrew Garfield is light years beyond Tobey Maguire in not just his skill as an actor, and his range, but just in how he embodies the character. Garfield easily carries the film, injecting Peter and Spidey with the right amount of humor and love for his family and fellow man. He’s joined by a returning Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, who just lights up the whole film whenever she’s on screen. The chemistry between the two actors is some of the best I have ever seen in film or television, and they really do make this movie into more of a love story than a superhero flick.

But it’s also, definitely, a superhero movie. And while those elements aren’t the strongest part of the film, they are still highly enjoyable. Like I said, Garfield is fantastic as Spider-Man, especially in costume. Not only is he legitimately funny, but he has such a great rapport with pretty much everyone he meets. The special effects are also top notch. The web-slinging is wildly fun and the fight scenes are pretty epic, but I would have to say that the movie’s trio of new villains – Electro, Green Goblin and Rhino – don’t live up to expectations. All three are solidly portrayed and fulfill their roles in the film, but they never amount to much themselves beyond giving Spidey something to do in costume.

But even if the villains are kind of clunky, and even if this film uses one of my most hated fiction tropes of all time, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 succeeds on the strengths of Spidey and his love story alone. Who would have thunk it?

Join me after the jump for the full review! I will try to keep SPOILERS to a minimum!

Read the rest of this entry →