Directed by: Mark Webb
Writers: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane Dehaan, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Embeth Davidtz, Campbell Scott and Chris Cooper
In my previous review, when I wrote about Marvel`s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, there is something that I pointed out that I now regret. I said that “Whatever Marvel makes is absolutely fascinating and very interesting.” Yes, that was before I watched “The Amazing Spider-Man-2” The Rise of Electro”. Sadly, there is only one way to describe our beloved web-clinger and that is a ‘catastrophic disaster’. Despite the fact that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone try hard to distract us from the real issues of The Spider-Man franchise, it still bothers us throughout movie and makes us want to leave the theater as soon as possible. The only thing that stops you from doing that is the name of the movie, “The Amazing Spider-Man.” After spending two hours watching Mark`s Webb`s “Spider-Man”, you will come to realize that The Spider-Man is not all that Amazing.
“The Amazing SpiderMan” begins with Richard Parker (Campbell Scott) recording himself on video. Later he leaves his son at his Mom`s house and in the next scene we see him flying in an airplane with his wife Mary Parker (Embeth Davidtz) when he dies… The reason I am telling you the beginning of the movie is because it looks really promising and you think that after that great opening Spider-Man would continue in that way and I mean in a ‘Great Way’. That would have happened in other Marvel movies, but not this one. This film ends where it begins. I just can’t buy an emotional scene that is interrupted by a blue electric guy.
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are a well-known writers who wrote scripts for very popular movies such as “The Legend of Zorro”, “Mission Impossible III”, “Transformers” and “Star Trek”. Each has an impressive track record that speaks for itself. I totally understand why they were chosen to do it once more, for Spider-Man. As a result, Alex and Roberto brought us a very different Spider-Man, who thinks he is quite amazing, cool, powerful, and invincible.
Andrew Garfield as an actor has some potential. If he keeps working on himself, he can achieve many things, and to even become one of the best actors in Movie History. But, what seems odd to me, is that we see in Spider-Man, or the way he performs Spider-Man- Robert Pattison in “Twilight”. And we all know how awful Robert Pattison was in that vampire-love-story movie. Andrew Garfield`s Spider Man acts like he is the coolest guy in the whole world and that he can do things that others cannot.
I pretty much agree with him. He can swing up and around the breathtaking architecture of New York City, fight against Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), and date the lovely Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone). With all of these together it should make a spectacular film. But Mark Webb has ruined the character of Spider-Man. In other words, he made Spider-Man think that he is ‘The Center of The Universe’. Forgetting a simple fact- that the people of New York need a mature and responsible hero, who will not hesitate to serve and help the citizens of New York City. That is who Spider-Man is supposed to be.
From a technical and visual effects perspective, The Spider-Man movie is spectacular as usual. Every scene that involves an action scene is executed very well, and looks just stunning. But having all these special effects does not help “The Amazing=Spider Man” to earn any extra points. Sometimes, some special effects were unnecessary, and could have been avoided.
From a writing perspective, I have nothing to say, except one thing, “If there is a way to kill the Spider-Man character, then the writers of this film have achieved the unachievable by “killing” our Spidy Guy in every single scene. With such poor and uninspired writing “The Amazing Spider-Man” has a chance to win the Worst Screenplay Award. I understood everything, but a few scenes almost left me speechless, such as when the bad guys randomly shot their weapons and none of the people standing behind the police barricades moved. They all just kept standing there watching while Spider-Man fought with the supervillains. If I were there, I would have given them pop-corn and Coca-Cola to make their appearance at the shooting scene more enjoyable.