Netflix Losing One Of The Most Misunderstood Marvel Movies Ever

The movie picks up where the previous film left off. Peter has been Spider-Man for a while now, and NYC has, for the most part, accepted him as its protector. His relationship with Gwen Stacy is strictly “friends only,” following a promise he made to her father in the first movie. Both Captain Stacy and Peter agreed that Gwen would be safest if Spider-Man’s enemies couldn’t use her to get to him. Boy, does that come back to bite Spider-Man in the thorax. Get it, thorax? It’s a spider joke.

Meanwhile, Amazing Spider-Man 2 introduces its version of Harry Osborn as Peter’s long-lost middle school friend. Harry is back in town to see his dying father, who has a genetic disease Harry himself also carries. Harry tries to cure himself but instead transforms into a goblin-like creature.

At the same time, Max Dillon, an Oscorp employee, falls into a tank of genetically modified electric eels and becomes Electro. Goblin and Electricity Man team up, and Spider-Man suffers a tragedy, and the movie ends with a fight against the Rhino.

Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s biggest problem is that it bites off more than it can chew. Like many superhero sequels before it, the film ups the ante by having Spider-Man fight three villains instead of one. That means screentime for Green Goblin, Electro, and the Rhino’s origins.

Add to that a subplot about the mysterious death of Peter’s parents and all of the Peter and Gwen relationship stuff, and you get a very bloated movie. Even at 2 1/2 hours, the movie barely has enough time to do everything it wants to.

It doesn’t help either that Sony also used Amazing Spider-Man 2 to tease a Sinister Six movie that never happened. A scene featuring Doc Ock’s arms and the Vulture’s wings ultimately went nowhere, thanks to Sony canceling plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3. The movie was very much Sony’s version of Batman v. Superman in that the studio was so desperate to kick off its own MCU that it tried to do it with a single movie.

Despite all of this, Amazing Spider-Man 2 is still a very fun time. If you look past the overabundance of subplots, you will see that the movie actually has a lot going for it. For one thing, prior to the end scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, ASM2 had the most comic book-accurate live-action Spider-suit. Sony took enough flack from the first film’s weird yellow eye lenses that they decided to go old school with the sequel, and it looks, well, amazing.

Meanwhile, Peter and Gwen’s relationship continues to have the most chemistry of any Spider-Man love affair. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are so natural together you’d swear they dated in real li—oh wait, they did. But seriously, the Raimi movies and the MCU have nothing on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in terms of romance.

Jaimie Foxx’s Electro, meanwhile, feels like a throwback to Jim Carrey’s Ridder in Batman Forever. Whether that was by design or not, I don’t know. I welcome any homage to the ’90s Batman movies, though, intentional or otherwise.

REVIEW SCORE

Look, let’s be honest: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 turns ten years old this year, and chances are you haven’t seen it since it came out. Give it a watch before it leaves Netflix on August 31. I can guarantee you won’t get bored and who knows, maybe you’ll even like it. At least it doesn’t have Topher Grace as Venom!