The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (SPOILERS)

[SpideyZERO]

I love the first Amazing Spider-Man and was looking forward to this one but sadly, it was a mixed bag...quite a let down really.

Pros

Fantastic actions and visual effect. The action scenes were awesome, really got my heart pumping, from Spider-Man movement, creative uses of webs, Electro attacking, they were really exciting to watch.

BGM. The BGM fits the movie perfectly, especially that Electro theme.

Gwen's death. The best part of the movie imo. Even though I knew it coming, it hit hard. It was beautifully shot, from the slow motion, subtle BGM and that sound when she hit the ground. Well done.

Cons

Story. What story? From the trailers, I expected Spidey piecing the puzzles of his parents' disappearances, Electro, Harry's return until he can find the truth about the Osborn conspiracy. But what we got were a series of events that happened, just because. No central story arc linking together...and Peter just sat on his ass waiting things to happen.

Gwen Gwen Gwen. Too much Peter and Gwen moment. I love the pairing in the first movie, they were cute and natural. But this? We have Peter and Gwen moment almost every 10 minutes and it's the same old "I love you Peter/Gwen, but I can't do this" dance. The worst part is those moments were in the wrong place and could have been cut to have a more coherent plot flow. I could hear people groan when another Gwen moment showed up. This overwhelming Gwen moment lead to....

Peter Parker the jerk. All he had in his brain was Gwen (and his dad when the plot called for it), he did nothing else beside that. Peter recognized Electro as the loser he met and something happened to him. But no follow up investigation. He knew that Harry was dying, but he did nothing but rejected him twice in both identities. I know Peter's blood might cause trouble (and he was right), but the way the film showed, it's like Peter didn't even bother to try anything at all. All he had in his brain was Gwen.

As a Spider-Fan, I gave this film 7/10, so much potential...wasted. As a casual movie goer, I would give this 5, 6 top....

What a let down. I can only pray the third movie will be much much better

[Judge Dredd]

Yeah I was let down also, like you said the action scenes. Both villains were big let downs, a better sub plot for the villains would have helped the movie a lot. The death scene was really well done but I was so let down with the story that I really just did not care at the end. I did like the tease at the end for the Sinister Six but in the scene with Rhino shooting at the cops and all those people just standing around watching this gun fight just made no sense the cops would move everyone far away from the shoot out.

[SpideyZERO]

I did like the tease at the end for the Sinister Six but in the scene with Rhino shooting at the cops and all those people just standing around watching this gun fight just made no sense the cops would move everyone far away from the shoot out.

Yeah, I know Spidey needs crowd reaction to his return, but those people really were standing there watching a rampaging robot, not running away like they're supposed to.

But I really like Spidey's line to the Rhino, which is his only genuinely funny jokes in the whole movie imo:

"On behalf of the fine people of New York, and real rhinos everywhere, I ask you to please put your mechanized paws in the air"

[jlgarsh]

I went to see it tonight, and was disappointed (Spider-Man 2 is my favorite). I don't like the fact that every single villain in the two movies so far leads back to Oscorp. The Harry plot felt rushed to me, and Norman only showing up for about 2 minutes was disappointing. How did he survive into his 60's, but Harry acted like he'd be dead in a week? Also, Peter came across as way too wishy washy to me. The last half hour was pretty good though, and I liked Electro. Plus, living in Rochester, it was interesting recognizing some spots where they filmed during the movie.

[Threat]

WOW! I'm surprised so many of you were disappointed. Maybe you were expecting something completely different than what you got? Because I absolutely LOVED IT! I found it to be the BEST Spider-Man movie to date, and now within my top 3 Marvel movies, along with iron Man 1 and Avengers. I was afraid there was going to be too much going on in this one, but they made it work for me. I was really attached to this movie from start to finish and the ending left a big impact on me. I thought the character development of everyone was well done (Harry was a little rushed, but I was ok with that because we got enough of him in the original 3 movies).

Sorry some of you didn't like it, but I hope that doesn't deter others from seeing it who could possibly feel the same way I did. I really got choked up a number of times throughout.

I loved Raimi's Spider-Man 1 and 2, and despite the hate of part 3, I enjoyed it. I completely understand the complaints about it and I too wish they only glimpsed Venom and saved him for the 4th, but the movie wasn't as bad as some made it out to be to me.

So going into The Amazing Spider-Man, I expected it to be crap and nothing that could compare to those, especially since it was being remade so soon. I'm glad I ended up being wrong and really liking the first one. I went into part 2 with little to no expectations other than thinking I had seen every scene with all the dang trailers they posted for it, just hoping it would be a good movie. Glad I came out of it with something I really enjoyed.

Hopefully I'm not the only one?

[Threat]

What about the scenes missing from the trailers. Two specifically are when you hear Norman say "We have plans for you, Peter Parker". That could be a key scene, the two were never on screen together yet. I'm sure he isn't dead.

And the other scene when Harry shows Peter that he and May have been under "observation" and that it's "the question of the day".

Also, anyone pick up on the change in the scene where Spidey uses a manhole cover on Rhino at the end? The first trailer it's in his hand, but in the movie he swings it by a web:

[Keeper of the Crows]

Things I loved:

1) I thought the beginning web slinging sequence was excellent. It was one of my favorite scenes in all the Spider-Man movies, because it did a great job of opening the film with action and also capturing a humorous and light hearted spirit. I liked that Spider-Man went out of his way to save people!

2) Likewise, I thought the ending (post Gwen’s death) was very powerful, when Spider-Man is inspired to return to rescue the city from the Rhino.

3) I thought the acting was great, especially from the leads. I think it helped that they kind of did away with the “skateboarder” (for lack of a better word) aspect of the character in the first film.

Things I didn’t:

1) In the past, Hans Zimmer’s scores have been among my favorite (Gladiator, the Dark Knight trilogy), but the score in TASM2- and the score from the first reboot- were both very weak in my opinion, compared to the Elfman theme/soundtrack- or even the 90’s series themes.

2) In the comics, part of the power of Gwen’s death (for me, anyway) comes from Spider-Man thinking he saved her at first, and then being in denial. “I saved you…you can’t be…don’t be dead, Gwen--I don’t want you to be dead!”

I wish that moving scene hadn’t been replaced with the generic “stay with me” dialogue that has been used in a lot of other films.

Personally, for me, I felt that while what came after Gwen’s death was powerful, the death itself didn’t feel earned. In the comics (or even in Spider-Man 1 when Norman threatened MJ), Spider-Man and the Green Goblin had already battled several times before--they had a history. To me, it seemed like Harry became the goblin at the end just so he could appear for a couple minutes and kill Gwen--in his first outing ever. In subsequent appearances, how will he ever top that in terms of villainy?

When Gwen dies in the comics, we also get Peter pushed over the edge, so much so that he almost beats Norman to death. Pulling himself back from that is one of my favorite moments in Spidey history, especially considering what happens next. But in this, we really never see Peter react to Harry causing Gwen’s death--we just see Harry in a prison cell later.

Overall Thoughts:

I liked it better than TASM 1 and Spider-Man 3, but probably not as much as Spider-Man 2. There were some great moments, and it’ll be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here!

[webhead68]

For those who have seen it - are there any extra scenes in/after the credits worth staying for?

[Crimson Knight]

For those who have seen it - are there any extra scenes in/after the credits worth staying for?

There's a clip with Mystique, from Days Of Future Past, but nothing else I'm aware of, scene wise.

I any four others stayed, and there was nothing after it ended. Also, there is this thing teasing the Sinister Six, but not a scene, only their iconic stuff, only if you type Shazam into a certain music video.

[Mundungus]

I liked it a lot.

I don't have a problem with it being a series of events out of Peter's control that he keeps having to respond to. That's just the kind of story they wanted to go with. The Dad plot did feel shoehorned in even though the opening scene still established it was important. I guess it might be much more significant in the third film. The first two films kind of address it and then push it aside.

The Gwen death was impactful. I definitely felt it. I think with this movie regardless of any flaws it had it was able to hook me and keep me invested the whole way through. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The action was definitely the best part. Spider-Man felt very real. My favorite moments are more when he's just walking around or sitting. In my head I'm like, "This is Spider-Man just walking a kid down a street or sitting on my couch. That's crazy!"

Anyway. I'm not great with reviews but the flaws are forgivable and the movie is very enjoyable.

[Double 0]

I saw it, and I agree that the character moments were great, namely between Peter, Gwen, and Aunt May (though unfortunately Electro felt too predictable). Garfield, Stone, and Fields do a fantastic job, as did Foxx and DeHaan. The action scenes were tons of fun; vibrant, exciting, and at times tense.

But this movie has got some problems. One of them being the same problem Iron Man 2 had: sequelitis. They stacked on so much franchise-building stuff that took away from the emotional core. The action scenes and villains took away from the emotional aspects of the film as well until the last (full) fight, despite the superhero fights being one of the main draws of the film.

The movie was disappointing because it had the potential to be so much more. And the character-focused scenes proved this. But it suffered what many super hero movies do: they fail to mix the action and character-developing in an organic way.


I will say this though: the amount of effort they put in to show that Spidey does save people in amazing ways even in fights, and occasionally hangs out with the people he's saving was great to see. And of course, it helped build up to the last parts of the film.

[Kasper Cole]

This movie was SOOOOO much fun, and i'm genuinely baffled that some people dislike it as much as they do.

i really disliked the first Amazing Spider-Man but i had a damn good time with this one. It definitely has it's flaws (Peter being dumbed down, Harry's arc being rushed, Peter being predestined to be Spider-Man), but overall this is a must see as far as i'm concerned.

Tone wise it felt like a Spider-Man comic. It had it's darker more dramatic moments but wasn't afraid to be fun and lighthearted either.

Garfield is now my favorite live action Spidey by far. I thought he came across as a douchy jerk in the first film but in this one he's the kind hearted jokester with guilt issues we all know and love. His personal relationships with Gwen and May were strong and made you care about the characters.

Really liked Jamie Foxx as Electro/Max Dillon. Only complaint I have in regards to him was that I wanted to see more of him. There was a clear progression to him being a full on villain IMO.

[Judge Dredd]

I thought all the Spider-Man/Peter and Gwen stuff was great and well done and some great action. I think a lot of the issues I had with the villains was that Harry was a villain right away, but after sleeping on it and thinking about how much more personal this makes the green goblin/spider-man battle for the next movie I kind of like it. I still wish Electro had a better sub-plot was not a huge fan of him having the same origin as Spider-Man but with Eels. It does tie nicely into the overall story and Oscorp doing all kinds of work with animals but just was not a big fan of the scene.

[webhead68]

Saw it - thought it was good not great. I thought the best moment was at the end when the little kid stood in for Spider-Man. I thought that Aunt May was going to tell Peter that she knew he was Spidey, as they are making her out to be way too stupid.

One Easter Egg, I think, was the time on the clock after Gwen died. Looked like 1:21 in reference to issue 121 of course

[Mr. Mastermind]

I think I enjoyed the movie on the first viewing mainly because my week at the time was just so awful.

I stand by that the film's tone, cast, directing and acting are great, but the script and plot are really, really flawed. The plot is just all over the place, and it reminded me a lot of Iron Man 2 (it is better, but the structure is almost exactly the same).