‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’ sumobra sa drama, nagkulang sa aksiyon

“THE Amazing Spider-Man 2” is heavy on the drama but light on action. This is one achievement that cannot be duplicated by Kris Aquino’s son: when “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” opened last Wednesday, all seven cinemas of Glorietta is playing the movie including all four of Greenbelt 3 so siguro hindi na maku-quote ang so called Oprah of the Philippines that her son’s second movie grosses more than “Spider-Man 2”, `no?

Coming from a 12 noon presscon in Quezon City that day, good thing there was light traffic sa EDSA so we were able to breeze though Makati and get a ticket sa 2:25 p.m. screening ng movie sa cinema 7 ng Glorietta 4 and yes, in hot afternoon, it’s all seat taken one of the very few times we were not able to pick a good seat.

Right after their high school graduation, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) split up with girlfriend Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) bilang pangako ni Peter/Spider-Man sa namatay na ama ni Gwen na si Captain Stacy (in flashback na lang na si Denis Leary).

Meanwhile, nerdy engineer from Oscorp Max Dillon (Jaime Foxx) had an accident and he was changed to Electro. The story started where he is friends with his idol Spider-Man but something happened so he became his enemy number one for this second installment of the reboot.

Another meanwhile, bumalik from boarding school si Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) as dying na ang kaniyang amang si Norman Osborn (Chris Cooper) as he transferred everything to his son including Oscorp. Ang problema, Harry is dying too and he needs the help of his childhood friend Peter to get Spider-Man’s blood to heal him. Failing to get this, Harry becomes the new Green Goblin.

The first “Spider-Man” reboot in 2012, we questioned Marvel’s reasoning dahil Tobey Maguire’s “Spider-Man 3” is just 2007 so five years lang ang difference nito.

We are still wondering for the early reboot but we’re liking this version now kaysa that of the original because of better acting.
For one, Andrew and Emma are very believable as teenagers to think mid 20’s na si Emma at 30’s na si Andrew.

That is – has a formidable duo of Oscar winners na standard na yata ngayon for superhero movies – dito sina Jaime Foxx na Oscar Best Actor and si Sally Field na double Oscar Best Actress winner bilang si Aunt May – helps the movie in the acting department.

Surprisingly, we also like Dane’s fresh acting kahit ayaw namin ng mukha niya as too comical to be dramatic. And yes, we find Andrew and Emma lacking in chemistry to think they’re really a love team off screen.

Maybe this is a case of too much drama perhaps. Speaking of drama, heavy ang drama ng movie specially sa shocking twist ending, something that is not being done in a superhero movie and so we cannot do a spoiler on what happened in the end.

Kaso with a lot of drama going on in the second installment of “Spider-Man” parang nagkulang naman sa action. Consider the last installment of “Captain America The Winter Soldier” where there is action every 10 minutes yata. Sa “Spider-Man 2”, you only get heavy action in the middle when Electro first appeared and the climatic ending kaya pala “underwhelming” ang description ng US critics dito.

Again, we’re not complaining personally ha, dahil as far as special effects is concerned, the movie is amazing and worth the adjective title.

Ang layo na ng development ng special effects sa movie a gliding superhero does look like one, hindi obvious na graphics.
Overall, we like the movie. Kulang sa action but satisfying sa drama.

Besides, this is the kind of movie that is termed as critic-proof. Kahit ano ang sabihin ng biggest critics out there, kikita at kikita ang movie as there will always be a million fan boy around the world to support this.

At least it gave us a “shock ending” so we are really looking forward for the final installation. Speaking of part three, always ina-advise namin, once the closing credits begin, do not immediately go out of the theater.

Marvel also gives a teaser on what will happen next. For part three, another Oscar winner ang makakalaban ni Spider-Man and this surprised and delight us no clues on this but let’s just say X marks the spot.

( Photo credit to EAS )