I was a fan of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy in the early 2000s, and it definitely had its cultural advantages: it proved that superhero films could be taken seriously, and allowed the Marvel franchise to flourish into the major blockbuster presence it is today. Without Raimi, who knows if Marvel could have made Iron Man financially feasibly.
But have you tried to watch those films recently? Since Marvel has taken over the planet with grin-worthy action pictures, the original Spider-Man trilogy has not aged well. In fact, they're so slow that they're barely watchable: when you think about it, the casting is kind of awful, the action is second-rate, and the stories are bogged down by nonsensical excuses to throw in cameos and obvious discoveries.
And in all its heavy themes, people often overlook a simple fact with Raimi's movies: Spider-Man is not the hero to be taken seriously. Sure, Peter Parker has as many social troubles as Bruce Wayne, but unlike the Batman, Spider-Man takes his superhero gig in a lot more stride. He jokes as he beats bad guys, and always manages to outsmart his rather cool rogues gallery of villains. Plus, no other superhero can talk on his phone while continuing to pound evildoers quite like Spider-Man.
That's part of the reason I really enjoyed 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man, because it was really a better introduction to the web-slinger than the other three films. This movie had a much more believable (age, intelligence, and awkwardness-wise) Peter Parker, and Andrew Garfield's portrayal of the hero just made more sense. I found myself much more inclined to sympathize with his character, and his emotional struggles were far more relatable, and, as far as I was concerned, far more interesting. Combine this with an awesome love interest and cool villain, and you get a movie that's fun, lighthearted, and overall more entertaining than the first set of pictures.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 lives up to the positive promise of The Amazing Spider-Man, and ups the game in almost every way. With a shockingly incredible cast and the visual splendor of the best superhero movies, it serves as a solid start to the summer blockbuster season, proving that Spider-Man doesn't need darkness and angst to become critically successful.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 chronicles the post-high school graduation days of Peter Parker and girlfriend Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone, who once again provides a bubbly and charming love interest. (To those of you confused and/or complaining about the lack of Mary Jane Watson, Stacy was Parker's original love interest. It took years for the redhead to come along.) Garfield and Stone have believable chemistry, and they bounce lines off each other with ease and hilarity. However, their love story has a much more constrained path in this picture: after promising her dead father he would keep her safe and away from Spider-Man, Parker faces a moral crisis of how he should proceed. Meanwhile, he struggles to discover the truth behind his parent's disappearance, and soon realizes that his Aunt May (Sally Field, wonderful as always) knows more than she's letting him believe. 
While The Amazing Spider-Man had Spidey facing off against his former mentor Lizard, this sequel has a more popular main antagonist in terms of audience familiarity and comic fandom- Electro, played with live-wire intensity by Jamie Foxx. An obsessed fan of Spider-Man, Foxx's Max Dillion becomes the victim of an experiment by Oscorp, the corrupt corporation led by the Osborne family. Foxx chews the scenery around him, and makes his oftentimes corny puns not so cheesy by truly embodying a lonely man who just wants to make the world to see him. Electro is probably one of the more sympathetic villains in recent comic book history, because don't we all want a superhero to be our best friend?
Also introduced in the film is Harry Osborn, Parker's childhood best friend who returns to New York City to help run Oscorp. Dane DeHaan is actually really good in this role, and takes his predecessor James Franco's work one step farther by making Harry incredibly creepy. Much like Electro, Osborn is a relatable character who merely longs for someone not to abandon him for once in his life. He has enormous pressures- and all he wants is someone he can truly trust.
Now, this may seem like quite a lot going on, with an overabundance of characters and plot lines, but Marc Webb manages to carefully interweave each portion of the story into a cohesive and easy-to-follow web (pun intended). A lot of critics seem to point to this as a complaint, but I would argue just the opposite: Webb gives each character an interesting story and plenty of room to develop. The Spider-Man universe is rich with strong characters, so it was nice to see a director really take the time to introduce and give a wide assortment of characters their day. The only person that's really shafted in the picture is Paul Giamatti's Rhino, who makes more of a cameo appearance in two key scenes at the beginning and end. But even he is fun to watch, despite the fact that he receives so little screen time in this film.
Unlike the original trilogy, which favored an uninteresting and unromantic love story over super-villains and action sequences, The Amazing Spider-Man movies balance out the romance with the fights. Frankly, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst had zero chemistry, and their story was more whiny than anything else. However, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's story is not only fun to watch, but also serves as a nice break from the multitude of action sequences- they keep audiences entertained, but don't detract from the flow of the movie. Everything is related, and all the characters need each other to develop- there's no more of the slow, meandering dribble of the Raimi pictures.
In addition, The Amazing Spider-Man 2's looks are awe-inspiring, with the IMAX 3-D version showcasing the hero's web-slinging through New York City. It puts a smile on your face just to see the protagonist swing through the city in death-defying stunts, and the advanced CGI makes it look believable and cool. If that was not enough, the Electro effects add a factor of menace to the battle sequences. Jamie Foxx looks pretty terrifying in full makeup, and its hard not to want to dodge the electric bolts that he hurls at Spider-Man. There's about one bullet-time effect too many, but after seeing the movie a second time, it actually does add gravitas to some of the later portions of the film. We get used to seeing them, so much so that seeing them towards the end helps us to focus on the plot instead of the effect.
Fans of the comic will be pleased with the numerous references in the picture to future story-lines, characters, and cameo appearances. Audiences will gasp when they name-drop certain people, and there's enough going on both in front of and behind the camera for several more Spider-Man pictures. Friendly, spoiler-free hint: Sony Pictures has already announced a Sinister Six film, and the whole lineup is referenced individually at least once in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Can you find them all? (While there's no J. Jonah Jameson just yet, he is hilariously referenced twice. Here's hoping they cast J.K. Simmons from the original trilogy, as he represents one of the sole good qualities about those films.)
There's a lot about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that critics have complained about, but as far as entertaining superhero films go, I find their arguments mostly invalid. This is an amazing way to start the summer season, as it represents a faithful comic-book adaptation that takes a handful of really awesome characters and gives them ample time on the silver screen. The movie is well-cast in terms of great performances and similar looks to their inspirations, and we can sympathize on a deep emotional level with all characters, even the villains.
If you want an angsty, non-entertaining superhero franchise that wastes its characters and stories, than stick to the Sam Raimi films. However, if you're like me, and want your superhero films to be fun, escapist adventures that put a smile on your face, then head to the movie theaters and see The Amazing Spider-Man 2. You won't regret it.
(Looking for the stars?? Well, from this point forward, I will no longer be giving my film reviews a star ranking. I've heard a lot of complaints about the inconsistencies of the ratings, and find myself convinced by their arguments. As of right now, my best option is to not include a definitive value to my reviews, and have my writing stand on its own to give readers a sense of how I felt about a particular film. I'm open to comments and suggestions, and look forward to hearing what you think!)
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