The Amazing Spiderman 2

One of the secrets / essentials of making the sequel better than its predecessor would be to first retain the director.  Nothing spurs a director (or so I would assume) more than the desire to better her/his previous work.  Of course, this may not be a guarantee but it is definitely a key to raising the probability of success.  Marc Webb sure comes from the earlier school of thought in this part of The Amazing Spiderman.  Amazing indeed.

The Amazing Spiderman was my favourite version of all the Spiderman franchises till then because it was slickly made and took Spiderman to the next level.  TAS 2 finds a new level in several aspects.  Unfortunately it is not perfectly finished and has its flaws – some of which are quite obvious.  It is yet, as good as its predecessor if not better at an overall level.  I enjoyed it.

Lets get the flaws out of the way before getting onto the aspects that were really good.  Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborne is probably the most unconvincing casting decision in all Spiderman movies to date.  Mind you, James Franco was truly sinister in parts and very convincing as Harry Osborne.  DeHaan is just not upto the task.

There were some obvious moments where the Computer Graphics was not upto the mark and the green screen seemed obvious.  What makes it surprising is that most of the movie is just stunning in terms of effects.  How did these 2-3 instances slip notice is inexplicable.

TAS2 begins with Spiderman (Andrew Garfield) upto his “cool” antics such as saving cats from trees and young kids from bullies and of course a stolen consignment of Plutonium from Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti).  An awesome sequence followed by Peter Parker’s graduation ceremony and the continued conflict that he has about his promise to Gwen Stacy’s (Emma Stone) father of keeping Gwen away from all this.

Simultaneously in Oscorp, there is an electrical engineer called Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) who is Spiderman’s biggest fan – in his world of course.  Spidey saves Dillon from being run over and Dillon begins to believe that his is the most important person in Spidey’s world.  An accident at Oscorp lands Dillon in a massive container filled with electric eels and converts him to Electro.

That previous paragraph was probably the most rushed and dispassionate one but I really don’t want to get into too many details or spoilers because there is just so much to the story of Electro and his troubled character.  There is a little bit of emphasis on Harry Osborne and his genetic Retroviral Hyperplasia that has left him all but dead – the only possible cure being Spidey’s blood.

TAS2 shuttles between the very slow to the hyperactive.  The very slow can be dreary but it is essential as well.  So one has to be patient.  The hyperactive is just so brilliantly done that it more than makes up for the slow paced parts.  The last fight sequence between Green Goblin / Harry Osborn and Spidey in a clock tower is superb.  Make this part of your weekend.  7.5 on 10 (8 without some of the gaffes). I loved it.  I am sure you will.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1198238233/?ref_=tt_ov_vi