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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 follows the events of the first Amazing Spider-Man with Peter Parker being Spider-Man and saving New York City. Despite some negative reviews, as a massive fan of the Spider-Man comics, I was obviously excited to see where the Marc Webb and co. takes the Webhead next. Fortunately, however, I can safely say that the critics are wrong for the most part, because The Amazing Spider-Man 2 delivers on many levels despite a few minor plot missteps.
First off, a lot of people have complained that the trailers spoil way too much of the movie, which seemed to heavily affect their overall rating. Knowing how Sony's marketing spoiled essentially everything about the first movie; I intentionally avoided all of the trailers since the first one, and I even ignored the trailer in theaters (I am a dedicated spoiler-phobe). Therefore, my review is more focused on the actual movie regardless of the poor marketing ruining the experience. However, Sony really needs to do something about their trailers! 

Directed by: Marc Webb
Genre: Action, Comic Book, Science Fiction,
Release Date: May 2, 2014
Running Time: 142 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13


The Good: Positively hilarious, Perfectly captures feel of comic book, Satisfying resolution of mystery, Electro is a compelling villain, Amazing action scenes, Perfectly executed emotional scenes, Andrew Garfield is the perfect Spider-Man, Hans Zimmer's score is perfect, Dane DeHaan kills it as Harry Osborn, Electro's theme is superb, Spectacular cast, Fun references, Engaging action set pieces, Strong character development,

The Bad: A few minor plot issues, One or two overly silly moments,

Plot: 8.7/10- While one or two minor elements seem slightly rushed, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 effectively incorporates all of the various plot elements with a solid degree of success. Some of the mystery behind Peter's parents that was essentially cut from the first movie is further explained, and the resolution is satisfying. The romance and relationship aspects are handled perfectly considering how horribly most other movies have handled similar situations, and that is thanks to Marc Webb's experience with relationship drama and humor. The only slight negative that I find is that tone changes could be problematic to some viewers, but I believe showing how the lighthearted side of Spider-Man's character contrasts the darker problems that the character deals with.
Also, without spoiling anything, the film successfully adapts the comic book source material. *Possible Spoiler* My favorite part of the film was its effective emotional impact, even for those, like myself, that are familiar with the comic. *End Spoiler

Characterization/Acting: 9.7/10- Because the acting and characterization are so closely related in the film, I am combining the category. 
The Amazing Spider-Man 2's strongest element is the development of the characters, which is largely thanks to the seriously top notch performances from the cast that bring the characters to life. Despite having to juggle so many characters, the movie manages to balance the screen-time and development effectively, which is greatly aided by the stellar performances by the cast. 
One of the strongest aspects of the film is the relationship between Peter and Gwen, and their natural on-screen chemistry is virtually un-matched, which is likely aided by the fact that they are a couple in real-life. Also, Andrew Garfield continues to own the role of Spider-Man. Not only is his new costume ripped right off the page, he looks and acts just as I imagined him.
Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn positively kills it in role, as he definitely sets himself apart from James Franco's version of the character. While DeHaan is not quite as good in a brief last part of the film, he really captures the character well. He also worked well with Garfield in their scenes together, which helped establish some plot elements.
Electro is a surprisingly compelling villain. Jamie Foxx disappears in the role, and his performance sells the character perfectly. No one else could have pulled off the character. The mentally unstable social outcast with a sense of worthlessness character type is not used particularly often, and the film does an excellent job at portraying the character so that the audience starts to feel bad for him. While some viewers might call his character corny, I believe he was portrayed with a surprisingly degree of believability since I know there are people out there that have no sense of self worth. Also, Foxx's portrayal certainly surpasses his comic book counterpart, even if he was significantly different in many ways. Sally Field as Aunt May has a few very effective scenes that showcase her superb acting prowess.  Paul Giamatti's performance as Aleksei Sytsevich, while fun, was too over-the-top and corny, which is the source of the movie's cheesiness at times. Fortunately, he plays an incredibly small part in the movie. 
Action: 9.7/10- Marc Webb's action direction has certainly improved since the first Spider-Man with many of the action scenes being fun and exciting! As with this year's The Winter Soldier, I was very engaged with the action scenes to the point of unknowingly moving around in my seat along with the action, albeit to a lesser degree than Cap's film. Electro's powers are particularly interesting, and they were used inventively during the action scenes.

Special effects: 9.5/10- While a few shots seemed to be obviously computer generated, most of the special effects were very believable. Spider-Man's swinging has never looked better, and it almost looks like it was ripped straight from the comic pages. Electro could have easily turned out terribly, but the special effects for his powers looked fantastic! Also, the movie uses a very cool time-slowing effect to show off Spidey's fast reflexes. On a side note, did anyone else think of Dr. Manhattan during a few scenes? At least Electro wore pants...

Soundtrack: 9.9/10- Hans Zimmer's really outdoes himself with the score. While it features many of Zimmer's hallmarks like booming bass tones, his rendition of Spider-Man theme, as well as the music throughout, was top notch work. However, Zimmer's best part is Electro's theme. It has to be one of the best villain themes I have heard in a long time. Often times, using voices during a track sounds odd, but it only added to the intensity of the character's scenes.

Humor: 9.8/10- The Amazing Spider-Man 2's humor is mostly spot on. While one or two moments seemed unnecessarily silly, the majority of the humor had me laughing-out-loud many times throughout the film! In fact, the movie was one of the funniest movies I have seen in quite some time. For the first time, Spider-Man actually seemed like the wisecracking character from the comics, which, as a massive fan, is utterly satisfying to finally see on the big screen.
Entertainment Value: 9.9/10- From the opening scene onward, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 grabbed my attention until the credits rolled. Not for a minute was I not thoroughly entertained and engaged with the story, and in fact, I almost want to go watch the movie again!

Overall: 9.5/10- Despite a few minor plot issues, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 delivers where it matters most, the characters. It perfectly captures the feel of the comic, and the movie delivers entertainment in spades. Due to possibly spoiling aspects of the film, I will not say what truly set the film above many others, but if you have seen the movie, you know what I am referring to. 

Closing comments: If you are not a fan of Spider-Man, or completely hate the character as many do, I would lower the score to around an eight, but the movie is still worth watching for the humor, chemistry, and fun action alone. Also, if, for whatever reason, you do not connect with the characters, then you will likely not enjoy it, because it the main appeal of the film.

Recommended for: Action fans, Spider-Man fans, Marvel fans, Comic book movie fans, Sci-Fi fans,

Note: Many people are going to compare the film to the original Sam Raimi trilogy, specifically Spider-Man 2. Considering that Spider-Man 2 is one of my all-time favorite movies, I will say that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not quite on the same level; however, if you consider the first Amazing Spider-Man to be the best Spider-Man film, then you will most certainly enjoy The Amazing Spider-Man 2. 

Best. Gif. Ever.
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15 comments:

  1. Maybe they showed you a different print of the movie, because I thought TASM2, while not bad, was too long, with unnecessary characters (that right, Rhino), and some terrible moments (it pretty much lost me when we met mad German scientist Dr. Kafka). Beautiful to look at, Gwen & Peter were great, everything else pretty weak to me.

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    1. We must have seen two different movies for sure. I will agree that Rhino was unnecessary, and Kafka's brief scene was not good, but I don't think it was bad either.

      -James

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  2. I'm glad you enjoyed the movie, James!
    While I'm not sure if I'll see the movie, I know what happens (I'm bad at that), and I agree: The trailers spoil far too much. One question though: how did you manage to avoid the trailer in the theater? I'm just curious.
    Sounds awesome. I haven't actually read any technical Spider-Man comics (well, I've read Spider-Girl and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, but that's about it for the Spidey-Verse), I'm glad to hear that they've nailed down the Spidey-Personality.
    Excellent Review, James!
    -Tegan

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    1. I hope you will get the chance to see the movie in theaters, because I am sure you will enjoy it. As for avoiding the trailer in theaters, at first I just did not look at it when it was playing, but, fortunately, it was the same first trailer as the I saw, so it did not really spoil anything.
      Thank you very much Tegen!

      -James

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    2. I just got back from watching it, and I agree with you, it was an awesome movie. While my parents didn't like it, I loved it, (though I am biased as the Web-Head has been my favorite superhero since I was a kid) and thought that it was a great job. Oh, okay, I was trying to figure out how you would manage that, but that makes sense, I'm glad that it didn't spoil you.
      No problem, it's a great review!
      -Tegan

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  3. Haha that last gif is so perfect for this current film. Haters are gonna hate...and the people who know what Spider-man was like in the comics know that this was a fantastic, emotional adaptation of that story.

    Glad you liked it James. I also loved it, its humor, its action, its original score, its characters, and in general everything about it. Certainly not the best movie I've seen all year, but definitely one of the most fun. Not to mention probably the most emotional I've gotten in a theater in a good long while.

    Great review, and good points. I think its clear that the fans of Spidey really understand what Webb is trying to do here, and I appreciate it.

    As the gif so appropriately says, HATERS GONNA HATE!!

    Now...I think we should look into this conspiracy theory about there being two versions of the film out there....

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    1. Exactly! While I see one or two points from other reviews, saying it is even close to a bad movie is mind boggling, but Haters are gonna hate. Even before this movie came out, I have noticed that a lot of people either love or hate Spider-Man as a character, and there are a surprising amount of haters.

      Same here. It was not the best movie of the year, but man, that emotional impact was hard.

      Thanks Jordan! Maybe it is one of those movies that is made for the fans, by a fan, but I still don't get the negative reviews.

      Yes, we should definitely look into alternate version that other people are seeing...

      -James

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  4. Great review, glad to hear the film is a good one!! :D I loved the first Amazing Spider-Man film and the second one looks and sounds exciting and cool! :D I'm glad the characters are developing and that the humor and action are cool! :) Definitely excited to see the movie(which I can hopefully see after I watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier).

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    1. Thanks! :D Definitely, do whatever you can to see The Winter Soldier and then Spider-Man, because both are worth seeing in theaters, although watch Winter Soldier first. :)

      -James

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  5. Wow, I'm glad you liked it so much, I was getting a little worried with the low critic reviews, but this sparked my hope back up. Although I think I'm probably one of those people who got too many spoilers... :/ I'm glad you thought DeHaan's Harry was good and different from Franco's. That's the impression I got from the trailers, so it's nice to see it confirmed. I guess I should try and see this soon! Great review James!

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    1. Eh, spoilers suck. :( Providing you like the Spider-Man character, and that you enjoyed the first Amazing Spider-Man, I think you will at least enjoy this sequel. While DeHaan still seemed true to the character of Harry, there are almost resemblance between his interpretation and Franco's fortunately. Thanks Sarah!

      -James

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  6. I keep hearing how strong the emotional impact was and I'm dreading that Gwen gets killed off! I can't wait to find out on Friday (about that, I messaged you.)

    It sounds so good, I'm really excited for this second installment! I'm in need a dosage of Spidey!!! :D

    ~Jamie

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    1. Why would you think she dies? Anyway, I think you will like the movie. :)

      -James

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  7. Good review James. The problem I had with this movie was that it was too over-stuffed. Therefore, made it a bit more confusing to pay attention to who mattered the most in the story and why. However, when it came right down to it, I liked it more than the first and even had more fun. Maybe I was in a good mood, or something. I don't know.

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    1. Thanks Dan O. I did not have that problem, but I can kinda see how you did. But I am glad you enjoyed the movie! And thanks for the comment.

      -James

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One rule: No strong profanity. If you want to link to one of your posts, please do; I am always interested in other reviews and such.

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