The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Film & TV

Thursday April 24, 2014 Comments

Comments Print article

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro is as audacious as it is entertaining. While it may not reach the dizzy heights of Marvel’s best movies, it still packs in enough lavish action, special effects and comic-book japes to satisfy fans of the genre.

There’s a great deal of conflict of the usual sort, with explosions, web flinging, the saving of innocent bystanders and the like – all taking place against the backdrop of a city in turmoil – and Peter Parker’s relationship also on the rocks. It’s almost a case of too many crooks threatening to spoil the plot.

The actors don’t usually have much to work with in a superhero blockbuster, but this one is worth watching for the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter Parker/Spiderman and Gwen Stacy. Dane DeHaan impresses as the Green Goblin, and Jamie Foxx sensibly underplays and lets make-up and wardrobe provide the chills for his super-villain, Electro.

Like director Marc Webb’s previous Spiderman film, the emphasis is on style over substance, but this time the sheer warmth of Garfield and Stone’s on-screen interaction means the drawn-out narrative is easy to pass over. It’s exactly the sort of sequel one would expect from Webb: smart direction, congested screens teeming with fire, electricity and violence, and all the time Spiderman fighting his inner demons.

Overall, it’s a tried and tested formula with arguably nothing original. However, it’s a fun ride.

More InDaily film reviews:

The Invisible Woman
Like Father, Like Son
Any Day Now
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Noah
Half of a Yellow Sun
I, Frankenstein
Need for Speed

Make a comment View comment guidelines

Jump to next article

Support local arts journalism

Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.

Donate Here

Comments

Show comments

Will my comment be published? Read the guidelines.

. You are free to republish the text and graphics contained in this article online and in print, on the condition that you follow our republishing guidelines.

You must attribute the author and note prominently that the article was originally published by InReview. You must also inlude a link to InReview. Please note that images are not generally included in this creative commons licence as in most cases we are not the copyright owner. However, if the image has an InReview photographer credit or is marked as “supplied”, you are free to republish it with the appropriate credits.

We recommend you set the canonical link of this content to https://inreview.com.au/inreview/film/2014/04/24/amazing-spider-man-2/ to insure that your SEO is not penalised.

<h1>The Amazing Spider-Man 2</h1>

<address><a href="https://inreview.com.au/contributors/stephen-davenport/" class="author">Stephen Davenport</a></address>
											
							<p><i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro</i> is as audacious as it is entertaining.  While it may not reach the dizzy heights of Marvel’s best movies, it still packs in enough lavish action, special effects and comic-book japes to satisfy fans of the genre.</p>
<p>There’s a great deal of conflict of the usual sort, with explosions, web flinging, the saving of innocent bystanders and the like – all taking place against the backdrop of a city in turmoil – and Peter Parker’s relationship also on the rocks. It’s almost a case of too many crooks threatening to spoil the plot.</p>
<p>The actors don’t usually have much to work with in a superhero blockbuster, but this one is worth watching for the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter Parker/Spiderman  and Gwen Stacy. Dane DeHaan impresses as the Green Goblin, and Jamie Foxx sensibly underplays and lets make-up and wardrobe provide the chills for his super-villain, Electro.</p>
<p>Like director Marc Webb’s previous <i>Spiderman</i> film, the emphasis is on style over substance, but this time the sheer warmth of Garfield and Stone’s on-screen interaction means the drawn-out narrative is easy to pass over.  It’s exactly the sort of sequel one would expect from Webb: smart direction, congested screens teeming with fire, electricity and violence, and all the time Spiderman fighting his inner demons.</p>
<p>Overall, it’s a tried and tested formula with arguably nothing original.  However, it’s a fun ride.</p>
<h5><a href="#more-indaily-film-reviews" aria-hidden="true" class="aal_anchor" id="more-indaily-film-reviews"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="aal_svg" height="16" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg></a> More InDaily film reviews:</h5>
<p><a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/04/17/invisible-woman/">The Invisible Woman</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/04/17/like-father-like-son/">Like Father, Like Son</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/04/10/day-now/">Any Day Now</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/04/10/grand-budapest-hotel/">The Grand Budapest Hotel</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/04/03/noah-bedtime-story/">Noah</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/04/03/half-yellow-sun/">Half of a Yellow Sun</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/03/27/frankenstein/">I, Frankenstein</a><br />
<a href="http://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2014/03/13/need-speed/">Need for Speed</a></p>
							<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://inreview.com.au" target=_blank  rel="canonical">InReview</a> under a Creative Commons licence. Read the <a href="https://inreview.com.au/inreview/film/2014/04/24/amazing-spider-man-2/" target=_blank  rel="canonical">original article</a>.</p>
							<link href="https://inreview.com.au/inreview/film/2014/04/24/amazing-spider-man-2/" rel="canonical">

<p><a href="https://inreview.com.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InReview</a> is an open access, non-profit arts and culture journalism project. Readers can <a href="https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2E9q0000008PVN/inreview-sa-20222023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">support our work with a donation</a>. Subscribe to InReview’s free weekly newsletter <a href="https://inreview.com.au/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p>
							<img src="https://inreview.com.au/pixel2.png?cc_article=amazing-spider-man-2" width="1" height="1">

Copied to Clipboard