The Amazing Spiderman: 2

James Bond villain Goldfinger had a ‘web of sin’, ‘don’t go in’ warned Shirley Bassey. Now,in the days of the Web (Internet), a director called Marc Webb spins a tale with everyday lovers and an orphaned, masked crime-fighter with super-powers--strength, instant healing and darted ropes and webs that enable him to swing across skyscrapers and to wrap/hold his friends and foes.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (aka The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro) is based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film is being released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D versions. I saw it in IMAX 3D. It serves as a sequel to the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man. James Vanderbilt wrote the screenplay and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci re-wrote it.

Scientist Richard Parker, records a video message to explain his disappearance. Later, he and his wife, Mary, are aboard a private jet hijacked by a man sent to assassinate Richard. With the pilot dead, the plane crashes. In the present, Richard's son Peter (Andrew Garfield) continues to fight crime as Spider-Man. He pursues and apprehends Aleksei Sytsevich, who has stolen a truck containing plutonium vials. During the chase, Spider-Man rescues OsCorp Industries’ employee Max Dillon, who is carrying sensitive blueprints and gets caught in the mayhem caused by crashing cars. While speaking by phone with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), Peter sees a vision of her father, late police captain George Stacy, reminding him to leave Gwen out of his dangerous exploits. Afterward, Peter meets Gwen at their high school graduation ceremony, but insists he needs to keep his vow to her father and must end their relationship.

Peter's childhood friend Harry Osborn returns to Manhattan to see his terminally ill father Norman, CEO of OsCorp. Norman explains his illness is hereditary, and Harry is at the age where its first signs emerge. Norman gives Harry a small device he claims contains his life's work. The next day, Norman dies and Harry is appointed the new OsCorp CEO. On discovering some dark secrets of the company, he alienates the OsCorp board, which has been privy to Norman's secret biogenetic projects for foreign military powers.

Presuming they are now friends, Max becomes obsessed with Spider-Man. While tending to some maintenance in an OsCorp laboratory, he loses his balance and falls into a tank of genetically modified electric eels. They attack him, and he mutates into a living electric generator. Meanwhile, Peter tries to maintain a friendship with Gwen, but she reveals she may move to England to study at Oxford. Before they can discuss it, Max wanders into Times Square and accidentally causes a blackout. Spider-Man attempts to calm him down, but the police fire at Max, making him lose his temper and attack. He soon becomes an unstoppable villain, Electro.

Both Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have done very well. The fact that they are real-life lovers has only added to the intensity of their performances. Andrew was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of a British mother and an American father. He was raised in Surrey, and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His recent successes include (500) Days of Summer (2009) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). He turns 31 this year, but can easily pass-off as someone a decade younger, which is what he is supposed to be in the film. Emma Stone, 25 going on 26, wanted to be a Disney star but eventually got her big break in 2007's Superbad. She is a blonde in real-life, but changed her hair color to suit her role. In 2011, she appeared in three consecutive hits: Friends with Benefits, Crazy, Stupid, Love and her first big-screen drama, The Help. She played Gwen in 2012’s Spiderman too. Such is the chemistry between the young lovers that some half the scenes between Garfield and Stone were improvised. Husky voice with the touch of a lisp and sensual eyes (puffed in a couple of scenes, suggesting late-nights) make her presence hot.

Director Marc Webb, who will turn 40 this year, created a name for himself working primarily as a post-production assistant, in the music documentary, Hype! (1996). He has since worked with musical acts as diverse as 3 Doors Down, P. Diddy and Miley Cyrus, and most recently directed the video to Green Day's "Last of the American Girls.  Marc’s first feature, (500) Days of Summer, starring was a big success. He also helmed The Amazing Spiderman 2012. He points out that major difference in the earlier Spiderman sagas and the present one is, “This is the Gwen Stacy saga. Her storyline in the comic was very specific. It hadn’t been rendered before, and this was the culmination of a huge part of that. It was something we intended to do from the get-go, and build up from the get-go”.

Peter Parker’s human dimensions are well-explored: his pining for the parents who ‘deserted’ him and his love for the two women in his life, the foster-mother/aunt May and the school girl-friend Gwen, who he loves more than anything else. Although the poor aunt working hard to make both ends meet and the beloved deciding to go abroad to study are clichés that have been beaten to death in Hindi films, they are sincerely done. All the villains have logical reasons for their behaviour, with greed being uppermost. But the two main villains have unlikely motives and appear all the more credible on that count. Photography, editing, sound and special effects are of as very high order. 3D images lunging out at you are used in moderation, and have the desired effect.

The original costume and mask from The Amazing Spider-Man was altered. Here, it has lenses in the mask, making the eyes bigger. The web shooters were also modified. The film was mixed in Auro 11.1 and Dolby Atmos. A post-credit teaser scene from X-Men: Days of Future Pas has been added (and takes you by surprise), due to an existing deal between Webb and 20th Century Fox, in which the company allowed Webb to direct the film only if Sony would promote the X-Men film for free. Sony has already announced in June 2013 that two more planned sequels will follow The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with the third film getting the release date of June 10, 2016, and the fourth film expected on May 4, 2018.

Rating: ***1/2

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbp3Ra3Yp74