The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Evie Totty: “It ruled.”

TASM2 ruled because it connected with me emotionally. This is another instance of a drama that happens to have superheroes in it. For all intents and purposes there are just a few fight scenes with the rest filled with story.

I did have some problems with the story (and with the editing... the famous 'Well isn't that the question of the day' scene isn't even in there.) I realize its the middle of a trilogy and there are questions left unanswered a la the Empire Strikes Back... but the trailers promised us more.

That said the action scenes were amazing and well worth the price of a 3D admission.

Caveat: Although I thought it ruled, I don't have a great need/want to see it gain immediately like I did TASM1... and so far I've seen Cap2 3 times and would love to see it a 4th.

− May 6, 2014 • more by Evie • log in or create an account to reply

Scott Hardie: Does Sony's stuffing of more villains into each successive film help or hurt, do you think? It sounds like you enjoyed the non-superhero elements most, and I would expect all those villain battles to take time away from the better dramatic material. − June 6, 2014 • more by Scott

Evie Totty: Well you can't really say that Rhino was an S-M2 villain. He was just an ampped-up criminal that Spidey deals with. Goblin and Electro were actually very much a part of the dramatic material. I understood Electro's motivation much more than I did Goblin's though. Goblin was just being a spoiled brat who went to extremes when he didn't get his way.

Don't get me wrong - the action sequences were the best I'd seen up to that time - and fantastic in 3D. They beautifully took advantage of the XYZ coordinates that Spidey uses. I'll have to sleep on whether or not I believe they are better than the Future X-Men (Blink!) and Quicksilver sequences. − June 6, 2014 • more by Evie

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Scott Hardie: “It was ok.”

It's strange to watch The Hastily-Abandoned Spider-Man so soon after the series was scrapped. One minute, Sony is gung-ho about the franchise, developing a third and fourth Spider-Man movie, a Spider-Woman movie, a Sinister Six movie, a Venom movie, and even an Aunt May movie. The next minute, they're canceling everything and inking a deal with Marvel that reboots the series over again. This movie laid a ridiculous amount of groundwork for later sequels, to its considerable detriment, and now those films will never exist.

One hopes that Marvel will bring quality control to the series. Marvel understands the importance of nurturing these properties creatively over the long haul. Sony seems determined to exhaust every film by making it work triple-overtime to introduce more villains and more subplots and more everything. Someone should tell them the fable of the golden goose. This is the longest Spidey movie yet, and it still had several major actors (Shailene Woodley!) and characters and subplots deleted for time. This is also partly the result of rushing into production without a plan, and making up the script each day on set. That's no way to make a movie like this.

How many villains are in this, anyway? Electro is cartoonishly one-note, an idiot savant (emphasis on the first part) who is smart enough to design a revolutionary power grid but dumb enough to think that a chance encounter with Spider-Man makes them best friends or something. He makes Jim Carrey's Riddler look grounded in realism. Green Goblin (father or son) has now appeared in three films, and I'm convinced that the character just doesn't work on screen, no matter which hammy actor is playing him. Rhino is made of very phony CGI and seems too dumb to register as a threat; what exactly is his plan? Even an Oscar-nominated actress can't bring any spark to Black Cat's scenes. Spider-Slayer and Chameleon also make appearances, and we see costumes and weapons belonging to Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Shocker, and Kraven the Hunter. Hell, they even mention Morbius and Venom by name. Slow down, Sony! Play with the action figures that you already have before buying more.

If Jamie Foxx's moronic nerd is the worst thing about this movie, then Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's chemistry is easily the best. The actors dated off-screen and there's a genuine spark between them. The scenes about Gwen and Peter's relationship -- not all of them, but most -- are far better than the rest of the film, and the depth of Peter's feelings for Gwen really comes through, powering the emotional core of the film, especially in the third act. This would be a lousy movie indeed if not for its two main actors. Sally Field is pretty good too, even if her role is obligatory. But good acting, and a welcome sense of humor, cannot fully salvage an overstuffed, underdeveloped, ramshackle wreck like this. Kelly summed it up: "They should have called it The A-meh-zing Spider-Man."

− March 21, 2015 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply

Evie Totty: Yeah looking back on this I'm surprised I put it as 'It ruled'. Maybe I was on an emotional high (or low - due to the circumstances). Everything just felt... rushed. I still stand by the awesome 3D FX though. Beautiful to watch if nothing else.

Regardless - I never saw it a second time and that is usually what makes my review 'It ruled'... the desire to see it again. − March 21, 2015 • more by Evie

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