The Amazing Spider-man 2

What's it about? It's about Spider-man. He's Amazing. Having seen off Lizard in the previous film, Spider-man begins this sequel very much in full flow, swinging around and thwarting crime and also holding down a relationship with Gwen Stacy, despite having promised her dying father that he would stay away for her safety. Meanwhile, Max, a nerdy, lonely and anonymous employee at Oscorp, accidentally fries himself while trying to make repairs to an inordinately sophisticated engineering set up and (as is the usual outcome for science experiments and medical procedures within the Spider-man universe), he becomes "Electro" - a creature of pure electricity, hungry for power. At around the same time, Harry Osborn, a childhood friend of Peter Parker's, arrives in town to take over the running of his father's company. Harry has grand plans, including trying to find a way to stave off the rare but devastating genetic disease that ravaged his father. The solution may lie somewhere in Peter's new physiology, which itself turns out to owe a debt to his late father's life's work. It's complicated. There's a lot of building of mythology to cover the next few films. And probably a bit too much of everything, all things told.

What's it like? Okay, so it is a little bloated and it feels like far too much is being squeezed in. At times the problematic spectre of Spider-man 3 and its excess of villains looms large and always there is the distinct memory of Spider-man 2 (the one with Dr Octopus), which kept things lean, exciting, engaging and comprehensible. That's not to say that TAS2 is a failure, far from it. The relationship between Parker and Gwen Stacy is believable and involving and Parker's feelings of guilt at having dishonoured the dying wish of her father is well-conveyed by having Parker see Gwen's dad here and there with a disapproving look on his face. Andrew Garfield is an excellent Parker and Spidey, both awkward/nerdy and confident/flippant when the characters require it. Despite a suit that robs him of facial expressions, Garfield convinces just as much as Spidey as he does as Parker, even if director Mark Webb continues to seem much more at home with character interactions than action set pieces.

Admittedly high-quality CGI work dominates those action set pieces, which robs them of a certain amount of heft, but the human stakes are sold by the cast so that we do at least continue to care about the outcome. As a twitchy, ultimately malevolent Harry, Dane DeHaan is excellent and we are easily convinced by the rapport that is quickly established between Harry and Peter. The building of Peter's backstory and specifically the secrecy and mystery of his parents' disappearance is teased but not frustratingly so - we are given enough to satisfy without the film showing its hand too clearly.

We also get a fore-taste of what Oscorp is going to be up to over the next couple of films, with the current appetite among films for franchise-building and multi-film story arcs tending to overload the film when it could do with being lighter on its feet, but this is the cinematic air we breath these days, so we had better get used to it. Exciting and funny, entertaining and engaging, but not ultimately hugely memorable or life-transforming, The Amazing Spider-man 2 is good but not great.

Should I see it? If you like this sort of thing, then it will go down a treat. If not, this will be unlikely to make a convert of you. There are certainly better and more entertaining comic book properties doing the rounds this year, but there is something enduring about the appeal of Spider-man. Although there is a lot of back-story and mythology presented here, what is lacking is subtext, depth and meaning. The eyes are dazzled, but the mind less so. The themes from the series' current high-water mark, Spider-man 2 of duty, insecurity, burdensome responsibility and loss of power are lost here amidst all of the noise, leaving us altogether less engaged. Although Garfield sells the weight of the consequences of his choices, it feels like an afterthought, an add-on, rather than a vein running through. Not every film can be Schindler's List or The Shawshank Redemption, full of meaning, weight and subtext, and there is of course a place and time for entertainment, but this outing for Spidey felt hollow in the end and the gruesome countenance of the Green Goblin really upset my usually fairly robust 8 year-old to the point of him wanting to leave the auditorium, so exercise the usual 12A discretion in relation to younger children.

The Amazing Spider-man (2012)

What's it about? Peter Parker, orphaned as a young boy, now living with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May is trying to get by at school. One day, during a visit to a gene-splicing facility run by Dr Curt Connors, he is bitten by a spider and everything changes - super powers abound, as do tragedy, trials and adventure.

*****

What's it like? It has only been ten years since the last time the Spider-man franchise was launched and a mere five years since the curtain came down on Sam Raimi's very successful trilogy with the flawed but entertaining Spider-man 3 (you know, with Sandman, Venom and all that stuff). Some would say that it is too soon to re-launch with another origin story, especially with it touching on the same bases as last time around - same school bully (Flash), same spider, same powers, same character arcs - but to its credit this manages to be its own creature. Reverting to the comic-book web-shooters instead of Raimi's organic version, giving us Gwen Stacey as Parker's love and trying to give a more over-arching story regarding the fate of Parker's parents all help put clear water between this and the Raimi/Maguire trilogy.
Director Mark Webb (whose last film was the excellent (500) Days of Summer) handles action and character beats with aplomb, even if the villain (Connors turns into Lizard as a result of trying to re-grow his lost arm) suffers from a cut in the special effects budget this time around (Spider-man 3 cost $300m, this a mere $80m). The film takes its time in moving through Parker's story arc and Andrew Garfield, despite being 28, makes for a far more convincing nerdy high school kid than Tobey Maguire ever did. The chemistry between Parker and Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey is affecting and perhaps the most successful aspect of the film, although Garfield deserves kudos for delivering Spider-man's witty quips even through the limitations of a spandex suit.
An improvement on the first and third Spider-man films but falling short of Spider-man 2 (though there is no shame in that) this is excellent entertainment and has a little to say as well. Well worth your time.

*****

Should I see it? That depends on whether this is your sort of thing, I suppose. There is no strong language as far as I can recall and although Lizard and Spidey have a few pretty meaty scraps, the violence is kept the right side of the film's 12A certificate. Lizard would be unlikely to scare or upset anyone other than the very young, though the theme of losing parents may be hard to process for the young as well. Thematically, the ideas of coping with school, standing up to bullies, using your strength and opportunities responsibly and protecting the vulnerable are all worth examining and talking through with family and friends and so the film presents a opportunity to dive into that realm. There are deeper, more meaningful films out there, but this is far from a superficial exercise. Watch it and engage with it.