There seems to be very little halting the torrent of super-hero films dominating our screens. It started as a trickle, with Burton’s Batman films (and those two afterwards that we don’t talk about anymore) followed a decade later by Raimi’s Spider-man films (and that one afterwards that we don’t talk about anymore). And then Marvel Studios became a thing. A big, hulking, juggernaut of a thing that just doesn’t seem to be stopping. Even DC, a company that truly gives the big M a run for their money in the print world, is poking it’s head out from behind the barricades and wondering if they can possible replicate what Marvel has achieved.
Another company that wants to emulate Marvel’s ‘cinematic universe’ success is Sony. Holders of the rights to Spider-man (bet Marvel’s regretting selling him off now) they are slowly trying to build their own Spider-man cinematic universe. The Amazing Spider-man 2 graced our screens this month, and there was a lot to make up for after the lukewarm attempt that was The Amazing Spider-man. Andrew Garfield’s first outing in lycra saw him face the Lizard, not the most prolific of Spider-man enemies, or the most threatening. But then it was an origin story, and it did a reasonable job of establishing Garfield as our web-slinging hero, and introducing Emma Stone as the inevitably doomed Gwen Stacey.
Number two threatened to repeat the mistakes of the past. Raimi’s Spider-man 3 introduced the world to a new way of ruining a film, often referred to as ‘too many villains syndrome’. Yet surprisingly that wasn’t the downfall of Garfield’s second outing. What brought our handsome hero down instead was poor writing. Jamie Fox’s Electro was an excellent choice for the big-bad. With powers verging on God-like, there are points at which an audience will truly wonder how good old Spidey could possibly beat such a threat. Oh. He just did.
The Amazing Spider-man 2 may not have fallen short because of too many villains, but it did fall short because of too much conspiracy. Peter’s father’s connection to Oscorp was something that was introduced in the first film, and although it was clearly an attempt to make the Spider-man universe richer, all it achieved was taking up valuable screen time with a plot that was, for most inconsequential, and served as a weak device to turn Harry Osborne against Peter.
That screen time would have been much better spent building Harry and Peter’s relationship, and developing Fox’s character. His switch between good and evil was so sudden, and so extreme, that it could only be put down to Max Dillon being utterly insane, which doesn’t appear to be what the writers were intending. Equally so, Harry and Peter were portrayed as long estranged friends. The audience were given two scenes of them rekindling their old friendship before Harry snapped. Again, a character who was clearly unhinged. It’s a sad return to the big flaw in Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. What motivates the bad guys? Not a huge amount unfortunately.
But enough negativity. There are positive aspects to the film. It’s visually stunning. It’s funny. It’s probably the closest we’ve ever seen to the comic-book Spider-man on the big screen. And Garfield and Stone’s chemistry on screen in contagious. So why on earth would you kill her off?
Every comic-book fan knows that Gwen Stacey dies. However, did that mean she had to be killed off in film series? Why shoot yourself in the foot by killing off one half of an amazing partnership? No matter who they cast in number 3 as Mary-Jane, they won’t be able to replicate the enjoyment of Garfield and Stone together on the screen. That said, the death of Gwen Stacey is actually what saves The Amazing Spider-man 2 from taking a seat with its predecessor in the carriage reserved for the average superhero films (a car occupied by the likes of The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2). Anyone in the know has been made to think that Gwen’s got away with it. The pair stand on the very bridge where she meets her fate in the comics, and nothing happens. It makes the final battle against Green Goblin feel a little crow-barred in. (Or maybe Hobgoblin? We’re never told… Either way, Harry’s laughter as he flies in is chilling and horribly ominous). But the scene is so perfectly directed, and so well performed by Garfield, the loss feels as desperate and tragic is if you were Peter himself.
Over the next few years, we’ll be venturing back into the Spider-man universe, not only in The Amazing Spider-man 3, but also in Venom and Sinister Six, a film that will spring from the end of Spidey’s latest outing thanks to Harry using his father’s technology to put together a band of villains powerful enough to take down the Spider-man. At the moment, the Spider-man universe feels a little under-cooked, but then that’s in comparison to the Marvel universe which has had 9 films (10 come the end of this summer with the very exciting Guardians of the Galaxy being released). Maybe in three films time, it’ll feel a little different.
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