"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" Movie Review

Promises have the ability to build and the ability to destroy. In Peter Parker's case, his promise to the late Captain Stacy is slowly destroying him from the inside out, to the point of hallucinating. Peter sees Captain Stacy every now and then, which reminds him that he promised to keep Gwen out of his dangerous life. But he couldn't keep that promise. He loves Gwen and doesn't want to give her up. Is he being selfish? Possibly. But after losing his Uncle Ben and then Captain Stacy, is it so wrong to want Gwen back in his life?

Max Dillon has the opposite problem. He's a nobody, until he gets electrocuted and bitten by eels which turns him into the villain Electro. Jamie Foxx is probably the best part of this film. Going from insecure whiner to crazed psychopatch is not easy to do but Foxx pulls it off nicely.

Dane Dehaan plays Harry Osborne, who has returned to New York City after hearing his father Norman is on his deathbed. Norman's sickness is genetic and Harry believes he needs Spider-Man's blood to save him. Instead, he uses the blood of one of the experimental spiders in a secret lab in Oscorp. The result: he becomes the Green Goblin. Dehaan was horribly miscast. He was too quiet of a speaker. He tried using a deep voice which did not suit him well at all. He tried and failed with the tongue flicker that worked well for Heath Ledger's Joker. Dehaan's look after turning into the Goblin was terrible. I realize they tried to make him scarier and meaner but he only looked laughable and sounded like a spoiled brat. Sorry, Mr. Dehaan, but James Franco was a better Harry Osborne and Willem Defoe was a much better Goblin.

The good parts of this film do outweigh the bad. The story itself propels itself along even though it is somewhat hindered by the dialogue and the opening and ending scenes, The fist fight between Spider-Man and Electro is quite the spectacle, but not as tremendous as the final battle scene between Spider-Man, Electro, and Green Goblin. The emotional content is touch and go, until the end, where it completely pours it on thick and saves the film.

In conclusion, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was not as amazing as the first. While the first exceeded the Sam Raimi trilogy in many ways, this one tries to be overly smart and dumbed down at the same time, which causes major problems.