Early Monday morning, Sony gathered select press for a preview ofThe Amazing Spider-Man 2.
For a recap and thoughts on the footage screened, hit the jump.
(Of note: there are, of course, spoilers in the following article).
Theres a strange trepidation surrounding the release of the upcomingThe Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Of course this supposed cheaperSpider-Manfilm ballooned to an estimated 230 million dollars, not much underSpider-Man 3sreported 250-mil budget.
There were rumors of script changes, last minute editing, excised storylines, un-happy executives…
Image via 20th Century Fox
Pretty much everything and anything negative sounding you might think of.
So whenThe Amazing Spider-Manwas finally released, the deck was suitably stacked against it.
Even so, the film was generously if mildly received.
Image via 20th Century Fox
It made for an interesting (if not 100% successful) dichotomy.
And so still the whispers persist.
and the journalist directly behind me opining that she just kind of yearned for the old Sam Raimi films.
Image via Sony Pictures
This thought-line seems to be pervasive amongst most comic film friendly audiences.
Richard discovers some mysterious classified secret at Oscorp.
Its pretty rote stuff but Davidtz and Campbell sell it like the pros they are.
Theres a propulsive energy to the first fifteen minutes.
WhereasAS1opened on a much more somber and contemplative note, the sequel opens BIGGER and more action-focused.
This isnt necessarily a bad thing.
FilmmakerMarc Webbseems to have taken a huge stride in staging the action of the sequel.
A seemingly endless number of car crashes and Spider-Man one-liners follow.
Its supposed to read as romantic and charming, but instead comes across as a tad stalkerish.
The Times Square scene, like the previous action set pieces preceding it, is well staged and captured.
Webb plays a lot here with speeding the footage up and then slowing it down at crucial points.
For instance: Electro charges the metallic rails of an entire bleacher stand.
Image via Sony
The action beats really pop in no small part due to the comic-panel nature of the footage.
Osborn seems to be on the verge of tears in the scene, wounded not just physically but emotionally.
Dane DeHaan, so good in films ranging fromChronicletoLawless, gives it his all in the brief scene.
Image via 20th Century Fox
But DeHaan almost makes you forget the tropes of the convention by sheer force of will.
Theres a deep-seeded insecurity and desperation to DeHaans Osborn here.
Freed, Electro and Osborn set their sites on defeating their common enemy: Spider-Man.
And there ended the footage shown.
All in all, I would say it ran for about 25 minutes.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2opens everywhere May 2nd.
I, for one, cant wait.
Here’s the new trailerforThe Amazing Spider-Man 2if you missed it.
