The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

[johnnygobbs]

I guess I'll be the first one to make the post release review.


This one was the first spidey film which truly felt like a comic adaptation. Not to say the older series wasn't good, it definitely had its moments as did the first one in this series but this film finally puts it all together; the fights truly felt like spider-man fights with the slow motion spider-senses and spidey wise cracking.

Stone and Garfield both work well together. I hate to sound like a Nolanite but this one exposes the previous series flaws; it managed to be funny without being goofy and the female lead is actually useful instead of acting like another villain.

The only part I didn't find impressive was the Harry Osborn character. James Franco's character still tops him.

I was pleasantly surprised as I honestly wasn't expecting much (the trailer suggested this would be another bloated, multi-villain mess on par with 'SM3') but the various characters were fairly seamlessly integrated and given sufficient screen-time.  Art direction, cinematography, soundtrack and of course, acting and characterisation were also all top-notch.  My only real criticism is that although the film, like its predecessor, is decently-paced and works very well on its own terms, I still have some concerns that this franchise is all-too-desperate to rush through major plot developments and characters rather than build them up steadily over the series (which would arguably result in even more powerful payoffs in the long-term).  On the same point, I enjoyed Dane DeHann's performance as Harry but I do wish that his and Peter's friendship had been given more time to develop, similarly to Franco and Maguire's characters in the Raimi franchise.  The way Harry and Peter's historical friendship was introduced here seemed contrived bearing in mind we didn't hear anything about it in the earlier film, and it's a shame Harry has already become Peter's nemesis.

[riddler]

I guess I'll be the first one to make the post release review.


This one was the first spidey film which truly felt like a comic adaptation. Not to say the older series wasn't good, it definitely had its moments as did the first one in this series but this film finally puts it all together; the fights truly felt like spider-man fights with the slow motion spider-senses and spidey wise cracking.

Stone and Garfield both work well together. I hate to sound like a Nolanite but this one exposes the previous series flaws; it managed to be funny without being goofy and the female lead is actually useful instead of acting like another villain.

The only part I didn't find impressive was the Harry Osborn character. James Franco's character still tops him.

I was pleasantly surprised as I honestly wasn't expecting much (the trailer suggested this would be another bloated, multi-villain mess on par with 'SM3') but the various characters were fairly seamlessly integrated and given sufficient screen-time.  Art direction, cinematography, soundtrack and of course, acting and characterisation were also all top-notch.  My only real criticism is that although the film, like its predecessor, is decently-paced and works very well on its own terms, I still have some concerns that this franchise is all-too-desperate to rush through major plot developments and characters rather than build them up steadily over the series (which would arguably result in even more powerful payoffs in the long-term).  On the same point, I enjoyed Dane DeHann's performance as Harry but I do wish that his and Peter's friendship had been given more time to develop, similarly to Franco and Maguire's characters in the Raimi franchise.  The way Harry and Peter's historical friendship was introduced here seemed contrived bearing in mind we didn't hear anything about it in the earlier film, and it's a shame Harry has already become Peter's nemesis.

This will be a spoiler post, please highlight everything in white font if you have seen the film

You make a good point about things being rushed. Gwen Stacy was a far better love interest, it's a shame we had to endure 3 films of MJ yet only got two of Stones gwen. While it seems evident MJ will be in the next film, I'm hoping she'll just be a character and not a love interest. I do have a hard time seeing any interpretation of MJ live up to Gwen's character in these films.  The other thing that was rushed was Norman Osborn although they made a point not to show the body or even what happened to it so it's certainly possible his death was faked similar to the comics.


I was worried too that this one would have the spider-man 3 problem of overloading characters although Iwas expecting a bigger role for Rhino. I'm glad they dealt with each character properly other than Harry. I guess in this case they chose a different path than the first series. Since Parker is already spider-man we don't get to see Harry stand up for him sans powers.

2 more films are confirmed + Venom and sinister six (which I have no clue how it will be handled). Webb will only do one more, Garfield may only do one more as well, I'm interested to see which paths they pursue next. Presumably we'll have college parker. We may get the symbiote storyline in the next one. Interesting bit of trivia; there is a shot in one of the trailers in which a case is shown with what appears to be the Venom Symbiote but for the final film, the case shows Vultures wing instead.

[The Dark Knight]

I have now finally seen the movie. Liked it quite a bit. It's nowhere near as bad as reviews suggest.

[The Joker]

Amazing Spider-Man 2

Does it improve upon what's already established by the 2012 ASM film, yes. Unfortunately, it's not a sequel that is devoid of some very noticeable problems. However, I felt the dramatic beats pertaining to Gwen worked fairly effectively, and the humor was much more apparent than what we got out of ASM. The special effects are beautifully realised and all the action sequences are visually stunning, even though there's an overload on slow motion shots. Overall, it's enjoyable with all the visuals, but too problematic to be the apex of the now five Spider-Man films. 

[The Dark Knight]

I'd give it about 8/10.

The tone was different from TASM, and for the better. More daytime scenes, more humor. Garfield and Stone were solid. And you know what? Hans Zimmer genuinely surprised me with the score. I went into the film music wise cold turkey, and thought it all went together really well with the visuals.

The low Rotten Tomato score is absurd, quite frankly. This one felt like a comic book come to life. Not perfect, but a decent film overall.

[johnnygobbs]

I'd give it about 8/10.

The tone was different from TASM, and for the better. More daytime scenes, more humor. Garfield and Stone were solid. And you know what? Hans Zimmer genuinely surprised me with the score. I went into the film music wise cold turkey, and thought it all went together really well with the visuals.

The low Rotten Tomato score is absurd, quite frankly. This one felt like a comic book come to life. Not perfect, but a decent film overall.

I can't argue with any of this Dark Knight.  8/10 is my rating too.  I thought the overall soundtrack, including the Alicia Keyes song that ended the film, was great, so props to Zimmer on this one.  I also thought the music that accompanied Electro's debut in Time Square worked really well in capturing his tortured state of mind.

I still have concerns about how this franchise will establish Spider-Man's nemeses.  I do hope each major villains is given an interesting identity rather than simply introduced as a Harry Osborne lackey, although I thought Rhino, despite his brief screen-time, was well handled because he's always been a bit of a second-string villain with a less complex back-story than say Venom or Doctor Octopus.

[riddler]

I'd give it about 8/10.

The tone was different from TASM, and for the better. More daytime scenes, more humor. Garfield and Stone were solid. And you know what? Hans Zimmer genuinely surprised me with the score. I went into the film music wise cold turkey, and thought it all went together really well with the visuals.

The low Rotten Tomato score is absurd, quite frankly. This one felt like a comic book come to life. Not perfect, but a decent film overall.

I can't argue with any of this Dark Knight.  8/10 is my rating too.  I thought the overall soundtrack, including the Alicia Keyes song that ended the film, was great, so props to Zimmer on this one.  I also thought the music that accompanied Electro's debut in Time Square worked really well in capturing his tortured state of mind.

I still have concerns about how this franchise will establish Spider-Man's nemeses.  I do hope each major villains is given an interesting identity rather than simply introduced as a Harry Osborne lackey, although I thought Rhino, despite his brief screen-time, was well handled because he's always been a bit of a second-string villain with a less complex back-story than say Venom or Doctor Octopus.

Rotten Tomatoes are based on critics who'd clearly rather watch a pretentious boreathon such as the Dark Knight Rises and hate anything fun and entertaining.  I don't like it's rating system either; it's basically a pass/fail scale in which either review must be rated as either good or bad to no degrees. As flawed as it can be the IMDB is generally more accurate.


so far spider-man and all the villains have had an Oscorp connection. And there's been parts of over villains shown in Oscorp; scorpion, Vulture, and doc ock.


It is impressive how they've handled so many characters and given them proper screen time. One way to get them in was tie them into each other. Connecting them to oscorp eliminated the extra need to tell a backstory and allowed them to interact with each other.

[johnnygobbs]

This is a petty complaint because it relates to what 'TASM' didn't do rather than what it did do, but ideally I'd have liked to have seen Kraven the Hunter introduced in the first film as an ostensible hero that has been hired to hunt and kill the Lizard.  That way the film could have ended with a three-way battle between Spider-Man, Kraven and the Lizard, the latter of whom Spider-Man is both trying to stop and prevent from being killed (since Dr Curt Connors is a friend/mentor).  That way you could also end the film with Kraven as a full-blown villain intent on one day getting his revenge on Spider-Man...then have him return as one of Harry's Sinister Six underlings for 'TASM3' or whatever as someone with an existing grudge against Spider-Man rather than a goon for hire.

It's a minor complaint like I say, but I do think the filmmakers missed a trick in view of the way the franchise seems to be stacking up.

[riddler]

This is a petty complaint because it relates to what 'TASM' didn't do rather than what it did do, but ideally I'd have liked to have seen Kraven the Hunter introduced in the first film as an ostensible hero that has been hired to hunt and kill the Lizard.  That way the film could have ended with a three-way battle between Spider-Man, Kraven and the Lizard, the latter of whom Spider-Man is both trying to stop and prevent from being killed (since Dr Curt Connors is a friend/mentor).  That way you could also end the film with Kraven as a full-blown villain intent on one day getting his revenge on Spider-Man...then have him return as one of Harry's Sinister Six underlings for 'TASM3' or whatever as someone with an existing grudge against Spider-Man rather than a goon for hire.

It's a minor complaint like I say, but I do think the filmmakers missed a trick in view of the way the franchise seems to be stacking up.

The problem with your idea is that it would add ANOTHER character to develop and as it is the big debate is whether some story arcs were rushed. I don't really see Kraven fitting into that film given the science aspects of it. Your idea isn't bad, they could so something similar with doc ock and so far I haven't seen a 3 way battle pulled off in the comics.

If Oscorp eventually crumbles in the series, that could open the door for Kraven. He's a very gritty villain, it's difficult to envision him fitting in given all the science elements although with MJ replacing Gwen, they may tone down on the science aspect and increase the human element.

[johnnygobbs]

This is a petty complaint because it relates to what 'TASM' didn't do rather than what it did do, but ideally I'd have liked to have seen Kraven the Hunter introduced in the first film as an ostensible hero that has been hired to hunt and kill the Lizard.  That way the film could have ended with a three-way battle between Spider-Man, Kraven and the Lizard, the latter of whom Spider-Man is both trying to stop and prevent from being killed (since Dr Curt Connors is a friend/mentor).  That way you could also end the film with Kraven as a full-blown villain intent on one day getting his revenge on Spider-Man...then have him return as one of Harry's Sinister Six underlings for 'TASM3' or whatever as someone with an existing grudge against Spider-Man rather than a goon for hire.

It's a minor complaint like I say, but I do think the filmmakers missed a trick in view of the way the franchise seems to be stacking up.

The problem with your idea is that it would add ANOTHER character to develop and as it is the big debate is whether some story arcs were rushed. I don't really see Kraven fitting into that film given the science aspects of it. Your idea isn't bad, they could so something similar with doc ock and so far I haven't seen a 3 way battle pulled off in the comics.

If Oscorp eventually crumbles in the series, that could open the door for Kraven. He's a very gritty villain, it's difficult to envision him fitting in given all the science elements although with MJ replacing Gwen, they may tone down on the science aspect and increase the human element.

But some villains don't have to be extensively established; Rhino in 'TASM2' is a case in point.  As long as they organically fit into the films' narratives extensive backstories are unnecessary.  The problem with 'Spiderman 3' wasn't necessarily that there two to three villains, not including the Symbiote and its grip on Peter itself, it was that one of them (Venom) really required an entire film or even a number of films to develop his relatively complex arc (and the way the Symbiote just landed to Earth right next to Peter was stupid and random - at least in the comic-books the Symbiote is unintentionally brought to Earth by John Jameson AKA Man-Wolf, an acquaintance of Parker).

I do see your point about the science aspect of the ASM films so far though, particularly the first film, although I still could imagine a scenario in which The Lizard was trying to turn the city into 'lizard-people' whilst Kraven was trying to hunt him off, for the good of the city, by killing him; something Spider-Man would object to.  I just like the idea of Spidey seeming to align himself with the bad guys and the real villain being the character embraced by the public.  Kind of like the Penguin and Max Shreck in 'Batman Returns' especially after the former framed Batman and made him look like the 'bad guy'.