I don't understand why critics are so biased towards this film. I want it to do well at the box office.
I don't understand why critics are so biased towards this film. I want it to do well at the box office.
I'm posting what I wrote about it on imdb here. Maybe this won't fall on deaf ears on these boards. A few spoilers but it's relatively safe:
I don't usually read reviews for highly anticipated movies. Especially sequels. I made my mind up when the Matrix sequels came out to not expect things and let movies be what they are and judge them based on that. I feel that part of creating expectations is reading reviews. You're expecting something to be awesome, then it gets a bad reviews and when you see it all you can see are the flaws. I think that's what's happening with Spider-Man 2: a few critics compared this for some reason to Batman and Robin and so people went in expecting it to be bad, so they only focused on the bad parts.
I've said this before with other movies but when I watch this and then look at audience and critical reactions, I have to wonder - did we even watch the same movie? Because the movie I saw had all the heart and attention to character the 2012 film had. And don't get me wrong, when I heard they were rebooting such a young franchise I had my doubts. I didn't even see the first one in theaters. But when I finally did see it, it thrilled me and I let myself be taken on the roller-coaster ride.
And that's really what this film is and should be. There's action - the opening scenes in 3D were incredible. There were moments when I actually felt like I was swinging along with Spidey, and were worth the price of admission alone. But more than that this is an emotional roller-coaster. To the people who said Parker got back to being Spidey at the end too quickly I ask you, how is 5 months of not enough? To those who say the climax was rushed and the Goblin's appearance and realization of Gwen and Pete too quick I turn you to the actor's performance. You could see the gears working, the discovery when he figures it out.
All the character arcs feel earned, from the emergence of The Goblin to Electro's mania. Even the side characters like Dr. Kafka don't feel like forced, stock characters. One can see that they are building a world for Spidey and characters short-lived in this film like Kafka and Rhino are sure to be developed further in future films.
Speaking of which - how about all the Easter Eggs whenever an Oscorp computer display was on-screen? It deserves multiple viewings just to catch them all.
This movie was everything a Spidey film should be: it was fun and well-paced but still had a few slower moments to let us digest the story and actually spend time with characters. We got advancement of larger plot elements but it was still a self-contained story. One could watch this without the benefit of the first film and not be lost at all. We got hints of things to come, and we have a love story where between the first and this one you can actually see how much the characters love one another. This is a rarity for these types of films. I mean, Gwynnith Paltrow's Pepper Potts is well played and the Iron Man films very well done but I never actually felt like she and Tony love each other.
In the end I think movies come down to how they make you feel. This film excited me, it made me laugh, it made me feel equal parts happy, sad and hopeful. It doesn't require you to be a fan of the comics to understand the internal logic of the film 'verse. And it ended on a cliffhanger of sorts in Merry Marvel fashion!
Fantastic movie! Excelsior!
I would agree with all your points except that I didn't even care for the "spectacle" of Electro; the design simply aped Dr Manhattan from The Watchmen and, while the Times Square battle had some decent moments, the threat he posed was simply too amorphous and widespread to ever feel truly personal for Spidey. With such a great rogues' gallery to choose from, I continue to scratch my head that Webb chose Lizard and now Electro as the primary villains for his first 2 films. O for 2 in my book. DeHaan's Gobin was far, far better and should have been the primary villain here. I know you agree based on your final point above but even the "spectacle" of Electro didn't work for me while the Goblin's visual and action was far more on point for me.
I think Gwens death wasn't handled very good and it doesn't work at all: First of all, it isn't so sudden like it is in the comics. In the comics it's a real shock and changes everything. And as you said, the aftermath is missing and that is such a big flaw, because where are the direct consequences of her death that make him learn? That make him grow as a character and feel guilty?
I mean, if you're going to kill off a female character to alter the storyline of a male character, then at least do it right. The way they did it was weak imo.
All in all, where is his guilt-trip in this franchise? It's like he has no responsibility for the deaths of anybody and therefore doesn't even have to feel guilty, but that's what makes him him!
Also: This Parker Bloodline stuff is really not good. You need to see this video, really. It sums up what Hollywood is currently doing to old franchises that worked without the whole destiny crap that Hollywood is now trying to force on everything.
Also, why is there more focus on Richard than on May? I love May, I want to see more May. I want to see how important May is and that she is his mother-figure.
The epilogue is just.... what did they do to Rhino? Seriously?
And it still bugs me that everyone loves Peter and that J.J.J. doesn't have a big role apparently.
Despite that, I agree mostly with you.
I've seen this point come up before - that we don't see the aftermath or guilt that comes due to Gwen's death. But seriously, he had a 5 month period of mourning, sitting by her grave all the time. How is that not enough grief and/or guilt for Parker?
That part's okay. But they skip over possibly the most interesting issue of the Spider-Man comics, when Gwen Stacy is dead and Peter Parker is grappling with that, looking to make sure that Norman Osborn is going to join her.
That's the biggest thing that's missing. I can understand why (it might not work as well with Harry, The audience might not be able to accept a big chunk of the film being set after Gwen's death) but it was something that could have been interesting.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
Even though I enjoyed the movie, I agree with this a lot. For me 121 and 122 have three really powerful moments. The first is Gwen's death, but the second is when Peter brutally engages Norman and comes within inches of beating him to death, only to pull himself back from the brink and realize he's not a murderer. The third is when Norman is impaled on his own glider.
Granted, they couldn't do the glider scene again after the first trilogy, but even with Harry instead of Norman, it would have been nice to see Peter react to Harry after Gwen's death. Instead, the next time we see Harry, he is in Ravencroft. Did Peter drop him off there? Did he swing away and wait for the cops to show up and cart him away? Was Harry at all regretful over Gwen's death? We don't know, but I think an opportunity was missed.
I've seen the film twice thus far, and I loved it. My only negative was the five month time skip. We barely see Peter mourn Gwen's death at all. That was a problem. Other than that, this film kicked butt. Easily an A+
Went to a 9:30 a.m. showing today. I thought Harry Osborn was a little whiner.