Amazing Spider-Man 2 review with spoilers!

[enyawd72]

I have very mixed feelings about this one...I liked it but didn't love it, and I really wanted to love it.

The good? They got Spider-Man just perfect. The costume, the cocky insults, there's even a great scene of Spidey fighting a nasty cold. Classic stuff here. Electro was a pretty great villain...an unstable fellow who goes from being Spidey's biggest fan to arch enemy after he perceives being betrayed by his idol. Unfortunately, the battle and subsequent climax between them felt rushed. Electro really could have carried the film as a solo villain, which brings us to the bad...

The Green Goblin was terribly rushed, and I was surprised at how little impact Gwen's death had on me. You knew it was coming a mile away, and it really felt like they were running out of movie, so they needed to hurry up and kill her off. Gwen's death was much more powerfully portrayed in the comics than here.

The worst? The Rhino. He was LITERALLY tacked onto the end of the movie. He was completely unnecessary, added nothing to the film, and worse yet, the film's trailer already showed all of his scenes.

Overall, a huge step backwards from the first ASM film, which I felt was the best in the Spider-Man franchise.

[palitoy]

I really need to read titles better, there it is in bold print "with spoilers".

[Earth 2 Chris]

Counerpoint: I liked it better than the first one. I think because they made the changes to the origin make more sense, and we were PAST those changes in a way.

I see what you mean by Electro possibly carrying the film on his own. I liked the take on him much better than anticipated. The Goblin was a bit too rushed, BUT if you take Harry as a whole through the movie, it wasn't quite as rushed. And we are definitely going to see more of him in a sequel.

I thought Gwen's death was VERY impactful. The creators did a great job of making us like Gwen (and Stone's natural beauty and charm certainly didn't hurt). Her and Garfield have a great chemistry, and it's so sad to see it end. The classic but disturbing "SNAP" sound made real was a real gut-puncher to me.

Garfield was great as Spidey. I still go back and forth about which aspects I prefer between the original Rami series and this one, but Garfield wins hands down, even though I liked Maguire at the time. He's got the smart-alec banner down, but he also portrays the "friendly neighborhood" part very well too. He had some great moments with Sally Field in this one too.

My only real *** moment in this movie was the over-the-top German scientest at Ravencroft. This guy was straight out of a Schumacher Batman film. Horrible. He took me out of the movie in the scenes he was in. Other than that, I enjoyed it quite a bit, with less quibbles than the first film, which I also enjoyed, but not as much.

Chris

[madmarva]

Too me, the good outweighed the bad. Garfield is so good as Spidey. Really, I'd put his performance up there with Reeve's Superman and Evans' Captain America in terms of nailing the character.

Superman III and IV are poorly crafted films, but Reeve's performances in them make the movies worth seeing if you like his portrayal of Superman in the first two movies.

I thought Maguire really portrayed Peter Parker well, but in comparison to Garfield his Spidey was lacking, although, like Chris, I didn't feel that way when the film's were released.

Emma Stone is a treasure and,yeah, the chemistry between Garfield and her lights up the screen. If I were remaking "When Harry Met Sally," I'd cast them.

I thought the climax with Gwen was really well done, but since I knew it was coming, I appreciated the craft more so than the emotional impact.

They could have expanded the Goblin role to support an entire film, and maybe I would have liked that better, but since Harry's arc was the focal point of two of the Raimi films, I can see the production's decision to fast track it. I do agree this version of Electro could have carried the film.

I liked the callback to Giamatti as the Rhino. I really don't need more of a backstory on him than he's a Russian thug in a mechanical suit. Some villains can be there just to be beat up.

I got the feeling the German scientist at the Prision will end up being one of the Secret Six, which this film was obviously setting up.

I hope Parker's parents as plot points are now put to bed. I Never cared for them cropping back up in the comics and to me that took screen time away from more interesting things.

I will miss Stone in future installments. You know, I always thought Romita's Gwen and Mary Jane looked very much alike in the face, just with different hair styles and colors. Maybe Webb can cast Stone as Mary Jane. What an acting challenge that would be, lol.

Even with the film's weaknesses, I had a good time and left with an overall positive feeling. But it didn't blow me away. And there are things that could have been done better.

[VintageMike]

I thought Gwen's death was VERY impactful. The creators did a great job of making us like Gwen (and Stone's natural beauty and charm certainly didn't hurt). Her and Garfield have a great chemistry, and it's so sad to see it end. The classic but disturbing "SNAP" sound made real was a real gut-puncher to me.

Chris

Yep. Sure I figured Gwen would eventually meet her demise but maybe in the next installment. When she was falling, the webline came out..I was thinking "is this what I think it is?" I've read the comic countless times but seeing it played out on screen, it was chilling.

Overall, I liked it and like appreciate it delving into different supporting characters from Spidey's history. The next one should be a more "apples to apples" comparison since some of the Raimi characters not used thus far like JJJ and Mary Jane look to be making their debuts in this universe.

[enyawd72]

I'm going to have to watch it again...sometimes it takes repeated viewings for everything to gel. I'm usually less critical the second time watching a film and can just sit back and enjoy it more.

[madmarva]

^I think the movie has its positives and its negatives. Spidey isn't my favorite character, but from reading your posts and seeing your icon, I'm guessing he is one of your favorites if not your favorite.

Since I'm not as big a fan, I may be more willing to forgive when the movie doesn't live up to all it could have been than you are.

All I can say, it's a lot better than Green Lantern. GL is my favorite character, and I'd like to get mad when people poke fun at the movie or criticize it, but I can't because it is so stinking mediocre. It's not quite bad enough to even be schlocky fun. It's so blah that it couldn't inspire a college drinking game.

That movie hurt me to my soul for the potential and opportunity that was wasted and probably lost. Before it opened, DC had commissioned a screen play for the sequel, but after being DOA, WB practically denies the movie exists.

So take solace, Spidey has five films and all of them are better than Green Lantern.

[Bruce Banner]

Andrew Garfield is certainly excellent casting for Pete/Spidey. He's absolutely great in the role... much better than Maguire was in the Raimi films.
And Emma Stone is adorable as Gwen. Their chemistry is perfect.

But I think the film makers are rushing things somewhat in these movies.
The first film should have focused solely on the death of Uncle Ben. The death of Captain Stacy should have been saved until the second film, and Gwen's demise should have waited until the third movie.
That's the kind of dramatic pacing that would have imbued each one of those pivotal losses in Peter's life the gravity and impact they truly warranted.
That would have made a dramatically satisfying and balanced trilogy. And with plans to make more than three movies in this series anyway, they certainly did not need to rush things.

And the focus on Peter's parents is something that Webb should have avoided, in my opinion. I didn't like that arc in the comics, either. Aunt May and Uncle Ben are/were the parent figures in Peter's life.

I really don't like the interpretation of the villains in ASM2. I wish they'd have gone for more of a Classic Marvel vibe with them.

But the action scenes are great, and the sequences of Spidey in action are awesome.

And I did get a chill when the Goblin soared in on his glider after Spidey defeated Electro. That was simply because I knew what was coming... and although we knew it was inevitable, I was still dreading the actual "snap" moment.


_

[FETT1]

soRRy...but it was terrible!!!.....THE VILLIANS were ......bad ....!!

sORRY IF i OFFEND here but save your moOLa on this one!

...PLEaSE don't get me started on the GOBLIN LoOk!!

peaCe OuTT

[enyawd72]

Yeah, I never understood the comics need to retcon a ludicrous backstory for Peter's parents. Secret agents? Ugh..it still makes me cringe to this day. Sometimes people just die for no good reason.
Having Peter's dad create the spider that bit him was really stretching it and totally unnecessary.

[PNGwynne]

D, the way you describe it, it sounds as if this new film made many of the same errors as Raimi's Spider-Man 3.

[enyawd72]

D, the way you describe it, it sounds as if this new film made many of the same errors as Raimi's Spider-Man 3.

The entire movie is a conundrum...the filmmakers went out of their way to create a spot on, comics accurate portrayal of Spider-Man, while simultaneously going as far as possible in the complete opposite direction with all three of the villains.
If the hero can put on a pair of tights and be accepted by the audience, why not the villain(s)?
Electro was passable, but I'd have found a way to recreate his classic comic look. As for the Goblin, we're given a terminally ill leper-cyborg? Then there's the Transformer they called the Rhino.

There's even a setup at the end showing Doc Ock's tentacles and Vulture's wings, both of which are apparently now Oscorp creations. That undermines the characters of Otto Octavius and Adrian Toomes by reducing their own genius inventions to Oscorp handouts for the villain of the week. That's my other problem with the movie. Oscorp is behind EVERYTHING. The biggest villains in the movie are an evil board of directors and a wacky scientist.

[madmarva]

^your last two posts are exactly what I didn't like about the movie.

Some have said tying Spidey and all the villains back to the same project at Oscorp makes it all the more plausible, but like you wrote, it tends to undermine each villain and is just too coincidental.

It's like making the Riddler, Joker and Penguin all members of the same street gang as teens and having their fathers laid off by Wayne Enterprises forcing them into a life of crime.

[thunderbolt]

To me it makes it less plausible and more contrived and dare I say it, more comic book-y. I think you can blame every bit of this sort of compression on Tim Burton. He's the one that replaced Joe Chill with the Joker in Batman.

[huedell]

It's like making the Riddler, Joker and Penguin all members of the same street gang as teens and having their fathers laid off by Wayne Enterprises forcing them into a life of crime.

Not really. You just added a whole full generation of coincidence.