The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Teen Ink

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

August 9, 2019
By MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
678 articles 0 photos 8 comments

 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the second movie in the Amazing Spider-Man franchise and continues the adventures of everyone's favorite web-slinging superhero. Peter Parker is now far more confident in his powers and abilities as Spider-Man, causing him to embrace his role as the superhero. Additionally, Peter Parker is also more confident with his relationship with Gwen Stacy and now spends time with her in between fighting New York's worst criminals. However, Peter Parker is about to discover that things are about to get far worse when three villains arise that all plan to destroy Spider-Man and everything he holds dear. While his last challenge with the Lizard was a massive obstacle, it pales in comparison to what is about to come next. With the emergence of a mysterious villain named Electro that has electric powers, Spider-Man must once again face a villain that far outpaces him in terms of raw power. And then just as things are beginning to get worse, an old friend, Harry Osborn, returns, which might prove to be more trouble than Peter originally thought. Meanwhile, another villain comes from the shadows in the form of the Rhino, and when Peter realizes that he now has to deal with three villains that exceed him in power immensely, being Spider-Man becomes that much more difficult. As Spider-Man struggles to manage both of his personas in Peter Parker and Spider-Man, especially when it comes to his relationship with Gwen Stacy, Peter comes to the conclusion that all of the villains are related in that they all have some common ground with Oscorp, which can only mean trouble.


 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 proves to be a visually breathtaking adventure that once again continues the mythos of this franchise's version of Spider-Man. While the movie does succeed in confronting both Peter Parker and Spider-Man with more challenges, which will ensure that the movie has plenty of character development to go along with it, at times it becomes excessive. The concept of having three villains may seem good on paper, but in reality it makes the plot slightly confusing, and the movie just ends up stuffing far too much in. None of the villains are really given that much time to shine, resulting in the movie having three lackluster villains, instead of just one solid bad guy. Because of this, this adventure just feels overcrowded and unnecessarily complicated. 
 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't nearly as cohesive as the original, and it is mostly a result of how the story-driven plot relies far too heavily on complications regarding the incredibly high amount of villains. While the beginning of the movie does manage to reintroduce audiences to what life is like for Peter Parker, including how he must manage spending time with Gwen Stacy and being Spider-Man, the middle of the movie falls up short. Due to how there are three villains in the movie, this portion spends far too much time introducing the villains and attempting to make them worthwhile characters, but there is only so much time that can be used to elaborate upon the villains' backstories. Because of this, the villains are never fleshed out, so this entire portion of the movie ends up feeling somewhat pointless. The enticing ending of the movie isn't necessarily the smoothest, but it does include plenty of action-packed battles that are visually pleasing and sure to at least entertain. Although the fight scenes have solid action, the fact that none of the villains ever become that meaningful prevents the fighting from having any emotional value, causing these moments to turn into just pure violence, which is obviously not what was intended. 
 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have several flaws, but it still manages to boast a fairly talented cast. Andrew Garfield manages to transform into Peter Parker once again, and he manages to bring emotion and intensity to the star role. Emma Stone's portrayal of Gwen Stacy is excellent, and she manages to have an incredible amount of on-screen chemistry with Garfield's Peter Parker to create an amazing acting duo for the ages. 
 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may continue the adventures of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but it never quite becomes as much of a triumphant hit as the original. However, the movie does manage to have both amazingly vivid visual effects and some superb special effects that help to capture all of the fight scenes and bring them to life with ease. Although this movie is far from being a must-see, the movie is still worth watching for fans of the spider-like superhero, so they can formulate their own opinions on how they feel about this sequel. 


The author's comments:

"I know that we all think we're immortal, we're supposed to feel that way, we're graduating. The future is and should be bright, but, like our brief four years in high school, what makes life valuable is that it doesn't last forever, what makes it precious is that it ends. I know that now more than ever. And I say it today of all days to remind us that time is luck. So don't waste it living somebody else's life, make yours count for something. Fight for what matters to you, no matter what. Because even if you fall short or even if we fail... what better way is there to live?" - Gwen Stacy


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