Andrew Garfield has already proven his worth as Spider-Man/Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, and he’s back in the second instalment doing his bit to keep New York safe and crime free.
The main villain in this instalment that he comes to blows with is Electro, played by the man of cool himself, Jamie Foxx. His shockingly impressive performance – from invisible Oscorp Industries worker Max, to the result of an accident involving electric eels - just adds to the exciting story behind the character.
However, Marvel were being greedy - obviously not having learnt from the over-egged pudding that was Spider-Man 3 - they felt the need to give us yet another villain with another reason for us to fear for Spider-Man’s safety. When we are introduced to Harry Osborne, we see him as a spoilt brat with a broken relationship with his dying dad – which seems to scream villain - but when we see him reunite with childhood pal, Peter Parker, and find out he’s dying we see a more vulnerable side to him. This soon changes as he develops a vendetta against Spider-Man for not helping him with his illness, which of course pushes him to team up with Electro and become the Green Goblin.
It’s not over yet in villain options, adding to these two iconic villains is Rhino quite pointlessly stampeding in to join the party, which really is the point where this film just takes a massive step over the edge into Loonyville. Unfortunately, the amount of guys wanting to kill Spider-Man overwhelms the film, making it feel more like three films crushed into one, rather than one epic movie.
However, the visually stunning effects from Electro’s powers and make-up used to make the Green Goblin look, well… like a goblin, certainly made up for it. It was hard for your eyes not to become glued to the screen during the fantastically choreographed battle scenes.
We also have one of the most realistic and yet beautiful love stories in comic book history with Emma Stone returning as Gwen Stacy to give another layer to the film and Peter Parker. You’d have to have a heart of stone to get to the end without letting even the smallest of tears out.
Although the ambition behind the plot hasn’t necessarily paid off, the acting performances, visual aspects and heart-warming relationships make this film well worth going to see, even if it’s just for the comedic pleasure of seeing Jamie Foxx with a comb-over and goofy teeth.
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