If You weren't aware I will ruin things for you with this review so if you haven't seen it here's your warning, if you don't care too much anyway then press on you hardened powerhouse you.
Marc Webb's second outing for the upcoming 'spiderverse' may not actually be amazing, but when it's good it's pretty great.
Andrew Garfield has Spider-Man nailed now, he's quick with the quips and seeing him climb, swing across the New York skylines and pretty much doing whatever a spider can is visually stunning, Webb keeps you close and at times you really get a sense of what it's like to don the spandex. His Peter Parker however is a mixed bag, the happy go lucky and fun loving side is hard not to like, he oozes charisma especially alongside co-star Emma Stone as the chemistry between the two sparks. On the other hand the will they won't they couple often jackknife into overly angst ridden relationship babble you'd most likely read on a cringey Tumblr post. It's a little hard to watch at times.
Emma Stone brings a more human element to the whole ensemble, although she ends up a damsel in distress for the most part she gives as good as she gets to Peter, all the super powered hi-jinks rarely seems to unnerve her, any problems that arise she either charms her way through or beats it with great intelligence. If you're a comic book fan then what some of you assume will happen actually does and it. Is. Brutal. Webb absolutely nails one of the most iconic scenes of Spider-Man lore.
Not even Batman broke that badly...
The films main flaws sadly is with its villains, much like Spider-Man 3 it's main problem is that too many villains ends up cluttering the narrative and although at least two of the three bad guys have a good set up, they have little to no pay off, often being dealt with in less than a minute. There's really not much to say about Paul Giamatti's Rhino, a Russian mobster who chews the scenery like it's his last meal yet he's said in interviews this was his intention so I guess we can forgive him for that?
A real shame that Oscar winning Jamie Foxx has so much talent to be wasted on a character with such little substance. He plays Maxwell Dillon, an electrical engineer for the dubious Oscorp industries, Max is meant to be a sympathetic loner style character but is a little too odd to really relate to or feel much for, his apparent isolation from everyone around him sets up his characters transition into an electrically charged super villain bent on destroying Spider-Man but as visually electrifying as he is (there's an excellent Times Square scene) the character just fizzles out into a disappointing end.
I love puns.
If you have never seen the movie Chronicle I recommend you go see it first of all, but the creepy kid with super powers from that appears once again as a creepy kid with powers. Dane Dehaan plays the sometimes charming sometimes sociopath Harry Osborn returning to New York to take over Oscorp from his dying father Norman. We discover that Harry has also inherited the affliction that destroys his father and is desperate to get his hands on old friend Peter Parkers blood as he believes it's all that can save him. Dehaan is suitably creepy, his chemistry with Andrew Garfield feels genuine while they're still chummy but his eventual transformation into the Green Goblin (the change scene is great, the overall appearance however is more Billy Idol with gangrene) is a little rushed. I'm pretty sure he has only three minutes of screen time and although he makes Spidey struggle he's quickly dealt with.
There is quite a nice set up for these guys though, at least a few of them.
Overall it has enough action beats to wake you out of some of the slow paced teen angst segments and disappointing sub plots (looking at you Parker parentals) an unforgettable third act and a hope filled ending gives it enough to warrant intrigue in Sony's 'spiderverse'
But lets be honest we'd prefer him in The Avengers right?
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