The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Review — Flawed But With Ambitious Ideas

In my Spidey film rewatch, I now move on to the Amazing Spider-Man 2, a Spidey film that’s divisive like Spider-Man 3 and does have it’s defenders and haters. I always liked this film but there are various issues with it. Sony got very ambitious and wanted to set up a lot of spin-offs from this film and make a film universe about every character connected to Spider-Man. While there are some cool ways they could tackle this, these spin-offs never came to be and the Amazing Spider-Man 2 unfortunately suffered from a lot of ideas and a lot of changes behind the scenes. A lot of things in this film feel off and you can tell some elements were edited down or cut out entirely.

Even the trailers for the Amazing Spider-Man 2 had deleted scenes that teased other subplots and Shailene Woodley’s scenes as Mary Jane were completely cut except for one shot where we see the back of her head towards the end of the film. They really tease a lot of future projects like the now cancelled Sinister Six film which I was excited for as it was gonna be written and directed by Drew Goddard who did Cabin in the Woods, Daredevil season 1, and wrote the screenplay for the Martian. Rewatching the Amazing Spider-Man 2, it is irritating seeing the film teasing things that will never happen or get a pay off to. Though there are some rumors that after Andrew returns as his Peter in No Way Home, they might revisit his film series in another fashion. Despite too many subplots, the cast does a great job in this film, especially Andrew Garfield.

While his arc in the film is all over the place, Andrew really helps cement everything with his performance and he shines a lot as Peter and as Spider-Man. Emma Stone is great as Gwen but I feel like some of the writing in this film accidentally sidelined her as Peter and Gwen temporarily break up as he feels guilt over her father’s death and wants to keep her safe. There are moments in the second act you wish they spent more time together, especially with what happens in the third act. Introduced in the film are a bunch of villains like Max Dillion/Electro played by Jamie Foxx, Harry Osborn played by Dane Dehan, Aleksi Sytsevich/Rhino played by Paul Giamatti, Norman Osborn played by Chris Cooper, and much more. Despite a bizarre introduction and take, Jamie Foxx is fantastic as Electro, especially after he gets his powers.

Though I understand why they made him blue to reference a look he had in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, I really am happy they gave him yellow electricity and a far better look for his return in No Way Home. I was already a fan of Dane Dehan, especially as he played a sympathetic villain in Chronicle. While I think the writing for Harry is kinda wonky in some parts, he really does try his best with what he’s given. He and Andrew’s Peter have some good scenes together and it does lead to an interesting place. Rhino only have two scenes, in the beginning and at the end and while there’s some goofy stuff, he is needed to help to highlight some aspects of Peter’s life.

Chris Cooper has a great scene with Dane’s Harry before they decide to kill of Norman and make Harry the Green Goblin, a move that split a lot of fans. Apparently Cooper’s Norman was supposed to come back as “the Goblin King” for the Amazing Spider-Man 2, implying that Oscorp either faked his death or he will be resurrected. A deleted post credits scene that you find images of online, showed Norman’s head cryogenically frozen like Walt Disney’s head. The “death" subplot with Norman is one of the many ideas in the movie that now feels incomplete and unnecessary in some parts but it does fuel Harry’s desire to not die of the disease he inherited from Norman. Some running themes in this movie are about death, time, and hope and we do see that reflected with a lot of the characters.

Some are tackled unevenly while some moments hit it right on the spot. The director, Marc Webb and some of the cast have said they were frustrated by some of the interference but despite all that, some great elements still remain. The action in this movie is fantastic and there are some beautiful visuals and while it had some similar issues to Spider-Man 3, I think the villains are better handled in here than they were in Spider-Man 3. I do think some of the writing got ahead of itself and they also may have answered some things a little too early, especially with the mystery surrounding Peter’s parents. We see their deaths in a plane crash to be orchestrated by an Oscorp employee who might have been a future villain and we see Peter investigating what happened, leading to some startling revelations.

Apparently, Richard Parker made the spiders that bit Peter and it can only give powers to those with Parker DNA, thus making Peter a scientific “chosen one" who was always meant to be Spider-Man. This element was really controversial to a lot of fans as Peter becoming Spider-Man is usually an accident in the comics and in other adaptations. When I first saw this moment and even now, I didn’t know how to feel about it but what really bother me was the fact they revealed so much of the mystery in this film. This mystery shouldn’t have been answered until a few more films, they could have kept building up to it, and made the payoff more shocking but the second act grinds to a halt to do this. Another thing is while Peter discovers this and it does change his perspective on some things, the third act undercuts the impact.

I wish he did his investigating and learned about this with Gwen so he could talk about this with her and we could learn his insight. He tries to tell her about his parents but it’s cut short. Like most interesting ideas in this film. Despite all of this, this film does have a lot to offer. There are some great emotional moments, especially with what happens to Gwen.

While I wished they did her death in a third film or perhaps balance things more out in this film, it does leave an impact on you. The acting is phenomenal and even people I know who hated the Amazing Spider-Man 2, admired this scene and the choice to adapt her death. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 biggest “sin" is being too ambitious but while it teases things that won’t happen or feature ideas that are severely underused, there is some value in this movie. It’s a mess in some ways but I really liked it a lot. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 does do some things right.

I give it 3 stars out of 5 and while it might divide you, I do recommend checking it out. You could find something to enjoy.