His name might be Marc Webb but the director of the second installment of the aforementioned unnecessary reboot to the franchise (check out my review of the first one to get more on that) doesn’t seem to have a great understanding of Spidey as such. Its not the ‘Adventures of Spiderman’ Mr. Webb..it needs to be woven around an emotional core, a central identity or rather dual identity of Peter Parker and what it stands for - an overarching plotline. As you may have guessed, the sequel, like the original, offers none of that
Instead, you get the by now familiar Marvel treatment. A cheesy start and even more frustrating follow through to almost the interval stage of the movie, save for one ‘electric’ showdown sequence that pretty much saves the first half of the movie. If there’s one thing the Marvel franchise seems to have mastered – its how to depict action in a superhero flick. Jaw dropping visual effects not being enough, the action now gets slowed down enough for you to follow how Spidey pulled off what he did. Neat trick and fits perfectly into the Spidey scheme of things. Wish Sam Raimi had thought of that
Unfortunately, that’s the only part that seems to have been thought through in 148 minutes of very little web slinging action. As for the 3D, I didn’t find much of it other than those few and far between glorious moments when the camera fixes its onto Spidey and you get his dazzling and breath taking view of the New York skyline and skyscrapers. But that’s it. Even the much watchable Emma Stone doesn’t seem to lift the film enough though the chemistry between Parker and Gwen is also quite ‘electric’
Andrew Garfield in any case is too cool to look the part of geeky Peter Parker but to give him credit he tries his best despite that. The villain, I was told is stronger this time around. Sure he is, but the finale or a sorry excuse for it that you get to watch seems to belie that expectation as well. The movie is in ‘build-up’ mode for so long that you hope that either the climax is really worth it or maybe they save that for a separate movie. Unfortunately, neither of the two happens.The story tries to make some bold moves which seem completely out of place and leave you wondering why that had to happen (perhaps someone wanted out of the franchise??)
Maybe I am too biased. If you hadn’t given us the Sam Raimi version of things maybe I would’ve been okay with what’s been handed to us in this franchise. But unfortunately, I’ve seen the real Spiderman 2 and this one doesn’t even try to come close. The franchise continues to swing but misses each time – the Spidey action and awesome effects is all I can recommend for the sequel as well. Oh..and don't stick around for the end credits..there's nothing there..just some action sequence from X-Men: Days of Future Past at mid-credits
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