Ensign Lestat's Film Log, 26/05/14
What was I thinking? Seriously? Did I really expect that over the course of one film and a couple of years, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would magically become watchable, or even interesting?
Part 2 was preceded by a host of teasers and trailers that promised some incredible action. What we got was a soppy, melodramatic talkie with next to no character development. And did I mention that it was campy?
[Spoilers ahead, but you knew that]
I get that Spidey (Andrew Garfield) likes to chatter and banter with the villains, but one doesn't need to put his entire repertoire of witticisms into one two-and-a-half hour film - it gets tedious after a while.
Actually, this film really should have been called the Amazingly Tedious Spider-Man, because this film mostly felt like an exercise in tedium.
I know I'm being harsh, but you cannot blame me. It felt like there were a lot of points the film wished to explore but decided to stop short in all of them, because... love story!
Here's everything that was wrong (and a couple of things that were right) with the film:
1. Apparitions - Peter keeps seeing Gwen Stacy's (Emma Stone) dead father who died in Peter's arms in the first film. This is supposed to be a warning about breaking the promise he made to the man about keeping Gwen out of this Spidey business. It's not followed through. The guy just pops up at odd times, and Peter keeps doing his thing. The only time it's supposed to be significant, it doesn't even feel like it. Or by then I didn't care, so I didn't notice the poignancy.
2. Aunt May - I think Sally Fields is an exceptional actor who's being wasted in a role that is not in the least bit meaty. Aunt May in the Raimi films felt like an important and essential cog in the wheel. Here she literally just appears from time to time, and is significant only in one scene. Even in the denouement, which usually places all the key characters in some jeopardy before they are saved and/or save someone, just shows her doing her job. What were they thinking?
3. The Daily Bugle - Is all but absent in this film. No J. Jonah Jamieson. And hardly a glimpse of Peter's photography skills. The paper shows up a couple of times and Peter's connection to Spidey through it is an integral plot device, but yeah, that's pretty much it.
4. Gwen Stacy - At least she's intelligent, which is her only positive attribute, because she gets zilch to do in this film. The sole purpose of her character appears to be as a distraction, mainly from the main action. She and Peter go in to these long winding talks which are repetitive and usually have no background. They keep going round and round in circles with their relationship, before, I think, finally making a decision, which comes to nought anyway. Usually character deaths are bracketed by giving extra weightage to the person - you see their importance and worth and value, and then, tada, they are gone. The writers of this film, however, felt that the only way to show Gwen's importance was by making her a whiny nag. No, I kid you not. She appears unable to support her own decision to continue with a vigilante, nor able to decide to end it and move on. It's disappointing to say the least, as this will be the last we see of her as a main character in the series (I assume), and it didn't end well.
5. The PA - What was up with that utterly facile PA character Felicia (Felicity Jones)? I understand her scenes were cut, but I failed to see the point of her in this film at all, because she added absolutely nothing to it in the two final scenes she did appear in. She gives Osborn some information, but that is it. What's the point of so many known faces if they've got nothing to do? Or are they ALL waiting for Part 3?
6. The Parkers - The Parkers (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz) get an extended scene at the start of the film. But they die transferring information to their secret lab, and the information is just one thing - it's important, but it's only one thing, that needn't have been sent via video link - which doesn't play a vital role in the film, but just has to explain why Peter became Spidey, and everyone else went crazy. Another instance of wasted characters.
7. The Bads - The problem with a lot of films today is that they have way too many characters. In ensemble casts it makes sense, The Avengers for example. But, as with the last Raimi film, as well as this one, there are way too many bad guys, each getting less time than is requisite of characters of their stature.
Where the Lizard turned out to be a rather banal villain in Part 1 (despite the wanton destruction it left in its wake), here we have a lot of bad guys who we don't get to learn much about.
First up, we glimpse Paul Giamatti as a seriously over-the-top thief. He gets dispatched in no time, and then doesn't appear till the very end. He's Rhino, by the way, the most bizarre codename in imagination, and one that he rather proudly announces during his two seconds of screen time. Why would he do that? More importantly, how much did they pay him to say it? I will get back to why a known name plays the Rhino in a minute.
Jamie Foxx as Electro was actually rather superb, mostly because of his utter melancholy and the distress that he expresses throughout. The creation of Electro is done in a classic and old-school style - an accident that we can see coming from a mile away - that it is at once jarring to see it in 2014, as well as a fitting homage to an old storyline. He depicts his initial schizophrenia before becoming Electro disturbingly well. And even the CGI and makeup on him later can't quite hide that melancholy set deep within his character. His exchange with Harry Osborn was particularly brilliant, because it shows just how much he wants to confirm his worth to anybody and everybody. Electro's action sequences are the only ones of note, and the effects were fabulous during that climactic battle.
I really wished they'd just stuck with one bad guy here - Spidey bad guys, especially in all the films, have all been tortured creations, always at the cusp of redemption but never quite able to make that final leap. Electro was ripe for the taking - anguished at his lot in life, yet torn by rage when Spidey inadvertently steals his sole moment of glory. It could have been a perfect excuse for a rage fueled battle, but it is cut shot because of the introduction of yet another villain.
Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) is supposed to be the real villain of the piece, but he appears and dies almost immediately, and reappears in old videos later. Harry is an important cog in the wheel, and will perhaps be an integral part of the Part 3 plan.
I'll say it now, I was upset at the casting of Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn. He doesn't look anything like the comic book character, and since Harry is supposed to be really good looking, DeHaan was the last person on my list of potentials. Remember, James Franco was Harry in the previous trilogy and that's where I noticed him. He is without a doubt gorgeous, and DeHaan was a serious let down.
So, you can imagine my surprise, when, after the film, I heard myself saying Dane DeHaan was the best part of this film. Eh? How did that happen? It's easy actually. Harry in this film is stricken with a deadly and debilitating family disease which drives him to find a quick cure. His initial plan is to use Spidey's blood, but when he discovers Oscorp has a stock of treated spider venom, he uses it on himself. His Green Goblin isn't quite scary, but it is a departure from what Harry looks like for the majority of the film.
Harry is shown as desperate in this film. But what's believable about the character is how DeHaan uses his charm to work the other characters around to his side. Again, there is very little of this in the film, and it would have done well to show more of Harry interacting with others.
I don't find DeHaan good looking at all, but after watching this film, and having also seen him in Kill Your Darlings I've realised that he is very alluring. I don't know if it's the way he holds himself or if it's this strange sexual energy that he exudes, but he makes himself very alluring. That sexual energy of his is very distracting, however, and I wouldn't be surprised if Garfield pondered aloud Peter experimenting with his sexuality because of DeHaan. When Harry and Peter are together, one can't help but wonder if Harry's feelings towards Peter are distinctly unaligned from Peter's feelings towards Harry. There's a point where Harry hugs Peter, which comes across less charming and more creepy, because of that vibe that DeHaan's Harry gives off.
I hate to say it, but, hopefully we'll get to see more of DeHaan's Harry in the next film. That will be the only reason I watch it, actually.
8. The Sinister Six - So, if we're to understand correctly, the Sinister Six are going to be the adversaries of Part 3. I know nothing about Spider-Man, but I think I've come across the Six in an Ultimates comic. We already know Rhino's in it, because the film ends with Spidey engaging Rhino in the middle of New York. I hope that Green Goblin heads them, because more of DeHaan's allure in the next film may just diminish Garfield's ineffective Spidey. We also saw Doc Ock's arms and Vulture's wings, so they're likely to be there. Not sure about the others, but Venom's name is knocking about, and all hell will probably break loose if he doesn't show, so that's five taken care of. I'm not speculating who will fill the last spot. By the time this log goes up, I'm sure the names will be out.
All in all, this is a tedious film, that appears to have cut out the good bits (read: action) and left in the soppy stuff. I'm fine with love stories, as long as they're plausible and interesting. This one is boring and repetitive. Lots of scenes were cut from this film, so that means this film was actually supposed to be longer than it already is! That's distressing, to say the least. If there's a Part 3, please someone find new writers and a new director - this franchise needs an injection of innovation.
What was I thinking? Seriously? Did I really expect that over the course of one film and a couple of years, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would magically become watchable, or even interesting?Part 2 was preceded by a host of teasers and trailers that promised some incredible action. What we got was a soppy, melodramatic talkie with next to no character development. And did I mention that it was campy?
[Spoilers ahead, but you knew that]
I get that Spidey (Andrew Garfield) likes to chatter and banter with the villains, but one doesn't need to put his entire repertoire of witticisms into one two-and-a-half hour film - it gets tedious after a while.
Actually, this film really should have been called the Amazingly Tedious Spider-Man, because this film mostly felt like an exercise in tedium.
I know I'm being harsh, but you cannot blame me. It felt like there were a lot of points the film wished to explore but decided to stop short in all of them, because... love story!
Here's everything that was wrong (and a couple of things that were right) with the film:
1. Apparitions - Peter keeps seeing Gwen Stacy's (Emma Stone) dead father who died in Peter's arms in the first film. This is supposed to be a warning about breaking the promise he made to the man about keeping Gwen out of this Spidey business. It's not followed through. The guy just pops up at odd times, and Peter keeps doing his thing. The only time it's supposed to be significant, it doesn't even feel like it. Or by then I didn't care, so I didn't notice the poignancy.
2. Aunt May - I think Sally Fields is an exceptional actor who's being wasted in a role that is not in the least bit meaty. Aunt May in the Raimi films felt like an important and essential cog in the wheel. Here she literally just appears from time to time, and is significant only in one scene. Even in the denouement, which usually places all the key characters in some jeopardy before they are saved and/or save someone, just shows her doing her job. What were they thinking?
 |
| Sally Fields as Aunt May |
4. Gwen Stacy - At least she's intelligent, which is her only positive attribute, because she gets zilch to do in this film. The sole purpose of her character appears to be as a distraction, mainly from the main action. She and Peter go in to these long winding talks which are repetitive and usually have no background. They keep going round and round in circles with their relationship, before, I think, finally making a decision, which comes to nought anyway. Usually character deaths are bracketed by giving extra weightage to the person - you see their importance and worth and value, and then, tada, they are gone. The writers of this film, however, felt that the only way to show Gwen's importance was by making her a whiny nag. No, I kid you not. She appears unable to support her own decision to continue with a vigilante, nor able to decide to end it and move on. It's disappointing to say the least, as this will be the last we see of her as a main character in the series (I assume), and it didn't end well.
 |
| Peter and Gwen - one long merry-go-round. |
6. The Parkers - The Parkers (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz) get an extended scene at the start of the film. But they die transferring information to their secret lab, and the information is just one thing - it's important, but it's only one thing, that needn't have been sent via video link - which doesn't play a vital role in the film, but just has to explain why Peter became Spidey, and everyone else went crazy. Another instance of wasted characters.
7. The Bads - The problem with a lot of films today is that they have way too many characters. In ensemble casts it makes sense, The Avengers for example. But, as with the last Raimi film, as well as this one, there are way too many bad guys, each getting less time than is requisite of characters of their stature.
Where the Lizard turned out to be a rather banal villain in Part 1 (despite the wanton destruction it left in its wake), here we have a lot of bad guys who we don't get to learn much about.
First up, we glimpse Paul Giamatti as a seriously over-the-top thief. He gets dispatched in no time, and then doesn't appear till the very end. He's Rhino, by the way, the most bizarre codename in imagination, and one that he rather proudly announces during his two seconds of screen time. Why would he do that? More importantly, how much did they pay him to say it? I will get back to why a known name plays the Rhino in a minute.
 |
| The... ahem... Rhino |
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| Electro |
Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) is supposed to be the real villain of the piece, but he appears and dies almost immediately, and reappears in old videos later. Harry is an important cog in the wheel, and will perhaps be an integral part of the Part 3 plan.
I'll say it now, I was upset at the casting of Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn. He doesn't look anything like the comic book character, and since Harry is supposed to be really good looking, DeHaan was the last person on my list of potentials. Remember, James Franco was Harry in the previous trilogy and that's where I noticed him. He is without a doubt gorgeous, and DeHaan was a serious let down.
 |
| The new Harry Osborn - Dane DeHaan. |
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| The Green Goblin |
I don't find DeHaan good looking at all, but after watching this film, and having also seen him in Kill Your Darlings I've realised that he is very alluring. I don't know if it's the way he holds himself or if it's this strange sexual energy that he exudes, but he makes himself very alluring. That sexual energy of his is very distracting, however, and I wouldn't be surprised if Garfield pondered aloud Peter experimenting with his sexuality because of DeHaan. When Harry and Peter are together, one can't help but wonder if Harry's feelings towards Peter are distinctly unaligned from Peter's feelings towards Harry. There's a point where Harry hugs Peter, which comes across less charming and more creepy, because of that vibe that DeHaan's Harry gives off.
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| Harry and Peter. |
8. The Sinister Six - So, if we're to understand correctly, the Sinister Six are going to be the adversaries of Part 3. I know nothing about Spider-Man, but I think I've come across the Six in an Ultimates comic. We already know Rhino's in it, because the film ends with Spidey engaging Rhino in the middle of New York. I hope that Green Goblin heads them, because more of DeHaan's allure in the next film may just diminish Garfield's ineffective Spidey. We also saw Doc Ock's arms and Vulture's wings, so they're likely to be there. Not sure about the others, but Venom's name is knocking about, and all hell will probably break loose if he doesn't show, so that's five taken care of. I'm not speculating who will fill the last spot. By the time this log goes up, I'm sure the names will be out.
All in all, this is a tedious film, that appears to have cut out the good bits (read: action) and left in the soppy stuff. I'm fine with love stories, as long as they're plausible and interesting. This one is boring and repetitive. Lots of scenes were cut from this film, so that means this film was actually supposed to be longer than it already is! That's distressing, to say the least. If there's a Part 3, please someone find new writers and a new director - this franchise needs an injection of innovation.
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