Why The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Is Needlessly Dark
This weekend marked the opening of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in America and a lot has already been said about the film. Instead of falling into another typical review of the titular movie, it is time to deconstruct the most important controversy on the picture that is seldom written about, or even payed attention too. There is a lot of darkness filled in Peter Parker’s life by his very nature. No mother and father to speak of, a dead uncle, and someone who is struggling to make ends meet with his finances. This is a tough reality to face, but this new Spider-Man sequel makes Peter’s life even more difficult for audiences to endure. In the recent comic books, the Spider hero’s life has also been spiralling out of control, but the difference here lies in the pacing and reintroduction of new ideas.
----SPOILERS FOR AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1 + 2 BELOW----
This new Spider-Man saga has nearly ripped away everything great in Peter’s life within the span of just two films. I am referring specifically to the death of Gwen Stacy. This moment was swift and awkwardly placed in the middle of the film. Yes, it happened in the comics, and yes, it was one of the those landmark issues of comics that propelled the medium forward into greatness; but it didn’t quite work the way it was supposed to here. After the death of the only father figure that Peter ever had and the death of Gwen Stacy’s father, Peter was likely experiencing post-traumatic stress that would last most people a lifetime. The movie quickly picked up on this sub-plot by seeding the death that he experienced earlier into Peter feeling like he was recklessly endangering his loved ones. Then, Gwen was murdered in the tail-end of the Spider flick. The backstory in the last film nicely built up towards the death of Gwen, but what purposes did her death serve here? Did it check off the boxes of a corporate executive? Probably, but it also killed off the only other character in the film that was giving a truly mesmerizing performance.
The love triangle in Peter’s college days between Gwen and Mary Jane was so wonderfully explored in the comics for several years. With the recent recasting of Mary, this is a huge wasted opportunity for the new trilogy to explore.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is said to have been the one-year anniversary of Captain Stacy’s death. In the comics, he died in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #90 which came out in November 1970. Gwen Stacy died in Amazing Spider-Man #121, which shipped in June 1973. Meaning that, in the comics he likely had a three-year bridge between these events. In the film, there is merely a year spanning the difference in time with the deaths. After ripping everything away from the hero so incredibly mercilessly while he is still such a young age, at what point does Peter just completely crack and turn into a serial killer? The comics gave plenty of room between these deaths, and gave each of them the weight they properly deserved. Even if someone was unfamiliar with comics, they likely walked into the movie theater this weekend and got the idea that the death was going to take place only thirty minutes into the movie. While it is good storytelling to plant the idea of a death like this one early on, it would have been even more effective if this film franchise was not riddled with the death of loved ones. This takes the proper shock value away from the numerous deaths.
If that wasn’t enough rapidly paced violence and tragedy for fans to ready their pitchforks, Peter’s old friend Harry is now an evil alcoholic Jesse Eisenberg-type character that is on his supposed death bed. Is anybody starting to see a pattern with my issues thus far? This argument is a little one-sided, as everything that is put up on the screen has to be heightened to fit in the span of one motion picture. Twelve months can give fans a lot more exposure to the character, and make it appropriate for more to happen in a comic over a larger amount of time.
The previous Sam Raimi films struck a nice balance between the aforementioned tragedy tied to Peter’s life and mixing up character dynamics so the films still kept viewers guessing. Fans likely don’t want to see those movies slightly remixed for the new generation of films. The truth is, that I also do not feel like we need another set of Raimi films if he is not willing to continue with the series; but there are other ways to craft a dramatic scenario without killing supporting cast members or making them miserable human beings initially, so there is no reason to like them. There is also the potential of putting someone else like Miles Morales behind the Spider-Man outfit. When Harry Osborne starts off being a spoiled, rich kid alcoholic with no clear character progression, viewers are not going to be as interested in his descent into villainy. I felt nothing when this incarnation of Osborne picked up a gun and threatened to kill someone. This scenario would be insane in the context of the comics or earlier films. The performance by Dane DeHaan was fine as the actor attempted to make the most of the material that was given to him. With the writing being this bleak in a movie filled with so much darkness, only Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone’s performances are given the moments brevity truly needed to stand out from other cast members.
Electro was one giant missed opportunity as well, but who honestly didn’t see that coming? The Lizard entangled in the first picture had all the same problems. With another superhero flick so jam packed with human beings cloaked in ambiguous morality, Jamie Foxx’s Electro simply fell short. His sob story was a dime-a-dozen, and not interesting enough plot-wise to appease long time fans of the superhero genre. The writers of this movie had a real opportunity to streamline this villain, and make him more integral to Spider-Man continuity. Instead, he went the way of the Lizard and devolved into a unlikable nerd with a chip on his shoulder. Worst of all, Foxx did not give the performance any stand-out moment to make the villain seem interesting in any manner whatsoever. This was a case of a sob story among several different sob stories; and next to the new Green Goblin, it felt like simple setup towards The Sinister Six.
At the end of the day, this film is weaved together with a bunch of poor villains and pacing issues that almost outshine the outstanding performances by the leads. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tries so desperately to be ‘edgy’ and ‘faithful’ to the comics, that it loses it’s heart. In a world with the Man Of Steel and the Nolan Batman movies, are we obsessed with only making superhero films that are filled with gratuitous shock value and murder? No, because The Avengers exists and is still a really fun movie to hang back and watch with your friends. Since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has so prominently missed the mark with all of the different villains, will you be rushing out to theaters in order to watch The Sinister Six? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
