Some movies are just meant to be experienced in 3-D.
The Amazing Spiderman 2, now playing at Innisfail's Century Theatre, is one of those movies. It really should be seen for the first time in 3D on the big screen to fully appreciate the whole electrifying experience.
Nothing lends itself better to this new technology than Spidey's dizzying drops and startling near misses with sparkling skyscrapers; not to mention the destruction of full city blocks on apocalyptic levels by terrifying super villains, against which no mere mortal stands a chance of survival.
The story is entertaining, if not somewhat stock superhero fair. It picks up more or less from where the first movie left off.
Peter Parker, played by Andrew Garfield, is enjoying his life as both Peter and the amazing Spiderman. He and the love of his life, Gwen Stacy, played by the stunning Emma Stone, are graduating and looking towards their future.
However, Parker's conscience is being haunted by the promise of Stacy's father, the late Captain Stacy -- a role reprised in a brief cameo appearance by Denis Leary, leading to a rift between the lovers.
Several other subplots ensue. There is the return of Parker's childhood friend Harry Osborn, played by Dane DeHaan, who is taking over as the head of the ominous OsCorp, the company Parker's father was working for when he left Parker so many years ago.
Parker's father is the subject of another subplot as his story becomes much more clear to both the audience and to Parker himself, and Parker comes to terms with the man's disappearance.
But really, the reason anyone goes to see Spiderman films is not for the complex storylines but rather the really cool super villains.
In this film, Oscar winning actor Jamie Foxx stars as a neurotic OsCorp employee who is obsessed with Spiderman until a horrible industrial accident turns him into the kind of bad guy that has even Spiderman on the run.
There are some fun moments, like a cameo appearance by comic book guru and Spiderman creator Stan Lee, and of course a few other traditional Spiderman villains show up later on to take on the web-slinger, happily opening up the door to another sequel.
When all is said and done, the movie is fairly entertaining and packed full of special effects. It flows along nicely with very few lulls in the action. Garfield's Spiderman is much more entertaining, cocky and sarcastic than previously portrayed by Tobey Maguire, more like the comic book and animated versions of the character that fans from many generations have grown to love.
There is naturally some tragedy; how else will our superhero grow? And there are some frightening scenes that parents with smaller children should be cautioned about, but all in all, if you are a fan of action movies or comic books or superheroes, or even if you enjoyed the cheesy Spiderman cartoon from the '70s, you will probably find something to enjoy about this latest adventure of the man with the tingling Spidey senses.
The Amazing Spiderman 2 runs until May 15 at the Century Theatre.
