Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★½ 

Disclaimer: reviewer is not what one would refer to as a “fanboy.”

My only knowledge of how the stories in these comic book movies work is solely based on what the filmmakers bring to the table each time. That and a quick search of Wikipedia before and after the screening never hurt either. I can also say that I’ve never been really big on the Spider-Man adaptations that have been brought to the screen in the past. “Spider-Man 2” in 2004 is the one very big exception. That’s still one of my favorite superhero movies of all time, placing fourth on my Best Ten of 2004 list.

Outside of that, the series has been pretty stagnant. “Spider-Man 3” in 2007 killed Sam Raimi’s interest in it with Sony not even wanting to continue on with him and Tobey Maguire. So they did what any of us would have done: they rebooted it. Also, they had to make another movie pretty quick or else they’d lose the rights to the franchise. That might now have been so bad. The rights would have gone back to Marvel Studios. Then we could have had Spider-Man hanging out with Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America. Oh well. I bet they really do regret selling the rights to some of their most valuable property now.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” in 2012 was yet another bland telling of the Spider-Man character. This time, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) was updated to the modern times (since 2002-2007 was oh so long ago). Now we have Spider-Man keeping up with his loved ones via cell phones and searching the Internet for clues with Bing (who uses Bing?). He also seems like a bit of a hipster. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it. Or maybe I’m just getting old and have nothing in common with the high school kids these films are about.

Nevertheless, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” opens the summer movie season this year on a weekend that’s been pretty much synonymous with comic book action movies for the last several years. Here we find New York criminals being hunted down by Peter Parker, once again played by Andrew Garfield. One this particular day he’s running late to his high school graduation because he’s trying to stop a mad Russian criminal named Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti) from stealing plutonium from Oscorp.

But things aren’t going so well for him and his girlfriend Gwyn Stacy (Emma Stone). He promised her father (Denis Leary) as he was dying at the end of the first film that he’d stay away from Gwyn to protect her and that’s weighing heavily on his mind everyday. Every time he kisses her, he can see her father in his mind, watching him and judging him – literally.

If there’s one problem that too many superhero movies outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe run into it’s the overuse of villains in their films. We’ve already met Sytsevich. Now enter Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) and Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan). We know from the original series with Maguire that Osborn is best buds with Peter Parker who will later resent him and attempt to kill him. Dillon is a new one for us non-fanboys.

Dillon loves Spider-Man. He’s obsessed with him. When Spider-Man saves his life one day, Dillon can’t believe it. When taking a ride up the elevator with the beautiful Gwyn Stacy, he can’t believe she remembers his name. He wants to be liked. He wants to be needed. He wants to be remembered. All this is a bit difficult for him since Oscorp has used his new power grid designs and gave him no credit for it.  Eventually an accident happens which turns Dillon into an electrically charged energy bomb. He calls himself Electro.

It would be rather easy to get the story completely oversaturated at this point with what appears to be three different villains. However, everything is pretty evenly spaced out. Personally, I was surprised with the handling of the story. A script from the likes of Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner usually spells convoluted disaster (see “Transformers” and their much-loved-yet-much-maligned TV series “Lost” and “Fringe”). Spider-Man only faces one villain at a time rather than all three ganging up on him on different fronts.

But that’s about the only thing they did right. When the film isn’t showing high-octane action sequences of nothing but CGI, the movie is nothing but plotting exposition. We’re treated to scenes of people talking that don’t do much to drive the plot forward. I suppose everything might be trying to set up what will ultimately be “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” or the spinoff series featuring the Sinister Six. But this is “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and it should be handled as its own stand-alone film. That’s the problem with most of these mega film franchises: they’re always looking ahead to the next film instead of focusing on this film.

 Could you imagine how dull all these movies Marvel Studios have been putting out would be if they only existed to set up the next “Avengers” movie? Sure, not all of them are great, but they all stand by themselves. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” never feels to be a film all on its own, but rather a piece to a larger picture that might ultimately not be very satisfying.

And maybe that’s what director Marc Webb likes about these scripts. Maybe he prefers to see the characters evolve and grow throughout the entire series, however long it may be. His only other big movie outside of the new Spider-Man franchise is “(500) Days of Summer” which was nothing but growth and evolution of characters. That might work well enough for one movie, but if they keep it up for an entire franchise, that might be rather dull.

Still, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” pays off well enough when they’re in the midst of action sequences. And that’s really what people are paying for, right?  Webb uses the CGI to lift his action sequences up to a level that’s exciting for every viewer. But who isn’t tired of CGI by now? The climactic battle sequences of this film feel like big screen cartoons. Filmmakers can integrate live action and CGI better than this. We’ve seen it before with Christopher Nolan in his Dark Knight Trilogy or Joss Whedon in “The Avengers.” So it can be done.

It’s hard for me to say this is a bad movie though. The 100 drawn out minutes of muddy exposition are indeed boring, but there are some good moments (especially one great scene in particular between Peter Parker and Aunt May, played by the great Sally Field); the other 40 minutes are quite enjoyable. There are some tense moments and the action sequences are well put together (even if it’s from a team of animators rather than a film crew). Looking ahead at a summer full of unimpressive titles, I guess it’s a good thing that we started out on a half way decent note.

Review: Draft Day

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

“Draft Day” is a film that helps provide a little bit of insight into how a front office works on the first night of the National Football League’s draft. It’s a film football fans should be able to embrace. But for those who don’t care for the sport one way or another, it’s still going to be something you can like. It’s a simple premise – only taking place over the course of one day – and works very well thanks to a very concise story told very well.

Sonny Weaver, Jr. (Kevin Costner) is going to have a heck of a day. It’s the day of the NFL draft and it’s his second year as the general manager of the Cleveland Brown. The team’s owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella) really wants him to make a splash. Sonny figures this means trading away his first round draft picks for the next three years to Seattle in exchange for this year’s number one pick. The top pick in the draft is thought to be Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from the University of Wisconsin Bo Callahan (Josh Pence), a once in a lifetime type of quarterback. This, of course, doesn’t sit well with Cleveland’s new head coach, Coach Penn (Denis Leary) who had his heart set on a top running back from Florida State Ray Jennings (Arian Foster – yes, that Arian Foster).

While most of us are probably very familiar with the whole NFL Draft process thanks to ESPN’s unflinching coverage of the event each year, the behind the scenes action is probably a little less known. I’m sure it’s unfamiliar territory for screenwriters Scott Rothman and Rajiv Joseph as well. A lot of work goes into designing the perfect draft board for all 32 NFL teams every year. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that each team has a small group of people already ranking the prospects for next year’s draft before this year’s draft even starts. “Draft Day” makes it look like Weaver is the only person in charge of all the decision making processes. But then again, it’s a movie. We’re always asked to suspend our disbelief to an extent.

This is all done for dramatic purposes and I understand that. This is a film where your expectations will determine how much you like it. If you’re looking for a film that’s going to give you a detailed overview of all the inner workings of NFL franchise’s draft day procedures, “Draft Day” isn’t it. However, “Draft Day” is still a very enjoyable movie. It takes the best dramatic moments of what probably happens in a draft room, and blends them into what ultimately amounts to very solid story.

Not only is Sonny the GM, but we’re also are treated to see much of his personal life as well. There’s his private relationship with the Browns’ salary cap manager Ali (Jennifer Garner). He’s also just lost his father Sonny Weaver, Sr. who is a Cleveland legend, coaching the Browns for years. Living in a father’s shadow isn’t easy, especially when the father is beloved by an entire city. The ongoing feud between Penn and Weaver occupies a good chunk of the story. Leary plays the roll well, one that I imagine is very consistent with many NFL head coaches and general managers. The only thing not believable about Penn is that he used to coach the Cowboys where, according to Penn, “they win.” He flaunts his Super Bowl ring every chance he gets. Except for the Cowboys have been the definition of mediocrity for the better part of a decade now, but I digress. There’s Weaver’s mother (Ellen Burstyn) who’s there to help add to the stress of Sonny’s day. She succeeds, part because of the character, but mostly because it’s Burstyn in the role.

There are too few scenes involving Costner and one of the potential draft picks, Ohio State linebacker Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman). The few we are treated too are some of the best scenes in the film. Boseman is a budding star and we should all be on the lookout for him to take Hollywood by storm. Many will remember his fiery performance as Jackie Robinson in last year’s “42” and we have his role as funk legend James Brown to look forward to this summer in “Get on Up.”  For a supporting role, his character is really well developed even in so few scenes. All the draft prospects are, for that matter. Once again showcasing the great writing by Rothman and Joseph.

However, there are many clichéd filled moments that clutter the script, particularly in characterization.  Weaver’s intern (Griffin Newman) is a walking cliché placed here only for the purposes of breaking up the dramatic moments with some humor. But there’s already enough genuine humor written into the script. Credit that to director Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”) for being able to bring out the humor in the script and delicately balancing it against all the dramatic moments. This is one of his best films in years but let’s be honest, he hasn’t exactly been turning in gems for close to 20 years.

Still, “Draft Day” is surprisingly well done for a film that could have easily have fallen flat on its face. Most of this is thanks to the very well developed screenplay from Rothman and Joseph. For first time film writers, they really nailed it. There’s enough football in this film for football fans to like it, but there’s also a lot of personal drama and conflict for the non-fans. There’s nothing else really to it than that. Sometimes the simplest stories can have a lot of complex elements to it and be enormously satisfying in the end.