Summary
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2's web-swinging scenes are praised for their cinematic excellence and thrilling choreography.
- Andrew Garfield's snarky Spider-Man quips in the film draw comparisons to his comic book counterpart, adding charm to his portrayal.
- The film teases the Sinister Six, but the potential storyline was sadly left unexplored due to the franchise being canceled.
10 years after its release, there are 10 moments from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that still hold up as both a Marvel adaptation and a film. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was meant to set up the future of Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, but it ended up being, unfortunately, its final installment. The film also had a mixed reception from viewers and critics, with many praising the cast and performances but criticizing the film’s arguably overstuffed narrative. Like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has grown on many viewers in recent years.
Ultimately, The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was canceled, leading Sony to negotiate integrating a new iteration of Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline and resulting in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man debut in Captain America: Civil War. Andrew Garfield did eventually return to the Spider-Man role, however, in the multiversal Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw him team up with Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland’s respective Spider-Man iterations. Garfield’s return renewed interest in his version of Spider-Man and a potential revival of his film series, as well as further endearing viewers to his last solo movie.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Is Still Underrated 10 Years After Its Divisive Release
It has been 10 years since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released, and while it has its faults, there is a lot to like in the Andrew Garfield movie.
10 Andrew Garfield’s New Suit Looks Like A Mark Bagley Illustration Come To Life
Andrew Garfield's Suit Swings Straight From the Comics
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man wears two primary costumes in various appearances. The first was completed in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and it provides a relatively naturalistic DIY take on the classic Spider-Man suit while remaining visually spectacular. The suit deservedly won over many viewers, but The Amazing Spider-Man 2 introduces a new suit after the film’s opening flashback.
Canonical spinoff materials like The Amazing Spider-Man: Cinematic Infinite Comic and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game explain how and why Spider-Man made a new suit and that he keeps his original suit from 2012 as a spare costume.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gives Spider-Man a highly comic-accurate costume that is heavily inspired by the illustrations of Mark Bagley in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. The suit includes new web-shooters, large white eye lenses, and new logos for the chest and back of the outfit. This costume was universally praised and appeared again in No Way Home, remaining Garfield’s main Spider-Man outfit.
9 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Has Some Of Spider-Man’s Best Swinging Cinematography
Spectacular Cinematography Takes Flight
Spider-Man famously traverses New York City by swinging on web lines, a mode of transportation that has translated to film exceptionally well. Using a combination of computer-generated imagery and practical stunt work, the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy broke new ground by believably depicting Spider-Man’s web-swinging, setting an excellent example for future Spider-Man films. While all three Spider-Man movie franchises have brought Spider-Man’s web traversal to life excellently, many viewers single out one moment in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as being particularly well-choreographed.
The scene’s cinematography, which features unique POV angles, gives viewers an unprecedentedly intimate perspective of Spider-Man’s web-swinging.
Spider-Man’s introduction showcases his new suit and sees him swinging through Manhattan, eventually pursuing a truck hijacked by Aleksei Sytsevich. The scene’s cinematography, which features unique POV angles, gives viewers an unprecedentedly intimate perspective of Spider-Man’s web-swinging. The exhilarating sequence was a fitting reintroduction to Garfield’s Spider-Man, starting the film’s main narrative on one of the best possible notes.
8 Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man Snark Feels Straight Out Of Ultimate Spider-Man
Capturing The Essence Of A Fan-Favorite Spider-Man
Another signature trait of Spider-Man across all mediums is his signature sense of Borscht Belt-style humor. In the comics, Spider-Man doles out quips as often as he does webs, keeping criminals off-balance as well as masking his fears and insecurities. All three film iterations of Spider-Man include the classic trait to some degree, with Garfield’s version making it more prominent than his predecessor and successor.
Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is criticized for having arguably too few quips, but he makes up for this in his canonical video game expansions, which makes Maguire’s Spider-Man far snarkier.
This is especially apparent in The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s opening action scene, which has Spider-Man irritate Alexsei Sytsevich throughout their encounter. Spider-Man even doles out quips to Gwen Stacy when she calls him during the car chase. Garfield’s particular style of humor as Spider-Man is especially reminiscent of Spider-Man as Brian Michael Bendis wrote him in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics.
5 Things Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man 2 Got Right
Andrew Garfield's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was overstuffed, but it was not a bad movie, as the film got some Peter Parker fundamentals right.
7 The Amazing Spider-Man 2's Montage Reminds Viewers of Spider-Man’s Naturalism
Showcasing The Realities Of Balancing Heroism
In Act 1 of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter and Gwen break up, in part due to Peter’s conflicting feelings about his promise to Captain George Stacy to keep Gwen safe. Following their separation, Peter is shown fighting crime throughout New York for a time. In addition to showing the smaller and more relatable side of Spider-Man’s escapades, the montage also highlights his kindness, having him protect a child from bullies in one scene.
A key element of Spider-Man’s appeal since his 1962 debut is his naturalism. Peter Parker is, for the most part, an ordinary New Yorker, with the biggest difference between him and the people he saves being his superpowers. The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s montage shows the day-to-day minutia of being Spider-Man, and how even upholding Uncle Ben’s principle of great power and great responsibility can become mundane some days.