Not-So-Super Hero

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 falls well short of amazing

When The Amazing Spider-Man came out in 2012, 10 years after the first Spider-Man and just five years after the end of that trilogy, it felt like a serviceable if wholly unnecessary addition to the superhero-ization of the movie industry.

After all, what more could the new version of Spider-Man offer us? We’d just finished learning all about him; did we really need to re-learn what we already knew? Yet Andrew Garfield made for an appealing Peter Parker/Spidey, and having Emma Stone along for the ride as the super-smart Gwen Stacy provided more than a few interesting moments.

As is often the case in superhero movies, it’s the villains that don’t hold up their end of the bargain. bargain. Their rampages seem like the world’s biggest temper tantrums.

They’re both back for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a film that tries to up the ante considerably. Peter is still dealing with a lot of complicated feelings: about his relationship with Gwen in the aftermath of her father’s death, about the way his parents left him in the lurch 10 years prior, and about how to balance his sense of duty in donning the Spider-Man suit and maintaining any kind of personal life.

He also has a knack for creating powerful enemies, sometimes through no fault of his own. Meek and mild Oscorp electrician Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) turns into Electro following a freak work accident; Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), an old school friend and heir to the Oscorp throne, continues toward his destiny of becoming the Green Goblin; and Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti), put in jail by Spider-Man, eventually comes looking for revenge in a unique way.

That’s a lot to stuff into the 135-minute movie; just imagine if they had decided to keep in Shailene Woodley as Mary Jane Watson. Even still, director Marc Webb and the trio of writers have difficulty making everything come together.

The relationship between Peter and Gwen, established in the first film, continues to work great. Considering Peter’s continued need to save the city, and the fact that both are experiencing turning points in their individual lives, it’s more than believable that they would experience some on-again, off-again swings.

But, as is too often the case in superhero movies, it’s the villains that don’t hold up their end of the bargain. None of them brings that urgency, excitement or fear that a good bad guy evokes. In fact, they mostly seem to be mad at Spider-Man for really petty reasons, making their rampages seem like the world’s biggest temper tantrums.

Consequently, the face-offs between Spider-Man and the villains contain nothing truly surprising or shocking. In fact, Webb treats them like a spectator sport, putting up barricades around specific fight zones so crowds can gawk at the destruction going on all around them. This is almost a bigger sin than Superman wantonly destroying buildings in Man of Steel, as people don’t even seem to care that their lives are in danger.

Garfield again does a good job in the lead role, but the way Peter zigzags between being happy with Gwen, being morose when thinking about his issues and doling out zingers as Spider-Man is enough to make your head hurt. I get that the Spider-Man of the comics is known for his one-liners, but they do nothing to enhance the scenes.

Despite the inadequacies of their characters, both Foxx and DeHaan do the most they can in their respective roles. Foxx gets to engage a different side of himself than we normally see, while DeHaan, who’s been an up-and-comer for a while now, shows off some great skills prior to devolving into a villain.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 doesn’t contain nearly enough interesting flourishes to be a player in the hyper-competitive world of superhero movies nowadays. It has its moments, but it falls well short of amazing.

Everyone loves Spider-Man, especially little kids.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Everyone loves Spider-Man, especially little kids.

Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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