You ever get the vibe that most of the problems TASM2 had are only viewed by hardcore comic nerds like us? Almost everyone I know in real life either really enjoyed the film or was mostly indifferent to it. I know maybe two or three people who genuinely disliked it, and, even then, it's more "not a fan" than "kill it with fire."
Just rewatched the film, after months of hearing all the hate loaded on it. I get why it's hated, but I still can't agree with it. The film had me from start to finish, invested in the conflicts and characters and all that good stuff.
Now, one thing I noticed this time through was a bit of the thematic transitions between scenes. A lot of people on here act as though the several plots are only linked superficially. Electro and Harry meet up because the plot says so, or what have you. But the scenes overlap a lot more. To use a few examples...
- Aunt May's speech scene leads into the Harry Osborn being rejected by Spider-Man scene. The two scenes, in theory, are very different, but then you take into account, in essence, what each scene is about. Aunt May tells Peter about how his father was branded a traitor, which throws his entire world view to this point in jeopardy. On the other hand, Harry is let down by Spider-Man. Both scenes share the same thematic sense of betrayal.
- Harry breaking Electro out of prison is overlapped with Peter listening to his father's last recording. Both feature characters being screwed over by Oscorp trying to take circumstances into their own hands, in a sense.
That's a couple. There are more, but I'd need to more thoroughly analyze the film to better articulate the links. Now, are these strong links? Not really, but there are thematic links connecting the various scenes together as stand alone scenes. The overall plots are still not quite as well threaded together as they could be, but individual scenes link into one another well enough to not ruin the pace of the movie.
Another huge complaint is the tone, which, admittedly, is all over the place. One can argue they didn't know what kind of film they wanted to make, or were just sloppy with the writing, or something else. Now, when taken as a whole, the awkward tone shifts are apparent, but, when taken along the course of the film, I didn't feel the shifts were all too jarring...except when we cut to Electro.
Electro's scenes, throughout the whole film, felt like they belonged to a different movie. Even the Rhino's bits weren't so bad, considering that, at the time of the movie when the Rhino showed his mug, more light-hearted moments were necessary. However, Electro pops up at moments where it's rather...weird. The majority of the film focuses on Oscorp as the bad guy, so Electro feels very separate from the rest of the movie. His characterization makes sense to me, but, for me, it's his dialogue that feels the most awkwardly rushed. He talks like a total nerd while Max Dillon, but, when he's Electro, he goes full-blown badass. While I can believe that he'd see himself more as a god, language patterns don't change that rapidly, especially overnight.
That said...there's nothing truly bad about the movie. Cheesy? Yeah, but that's part of why I love Spider-Man. He's corny. He's fun. He's a superhero. His stories, while they can be dark, are gloriously silly and fun.
While the numerous plots sometimes are a little rough, not all of them are bad. The Peter/Gwen arc is awesome, and Harry's storyline throughout the film is actually pretty compelling. A lot of people keep arguing that Harry's arc was rushed, and maybe it could have been paced better, embellished more, but it isn't rushed. It's clear from Harry's first scene that he's vindictive, used to being betrayed, and has a dark side. It's also clear throughout that Harry and Peter used to be super close, but are awkwardly trying to get closer again. This is not James Franco and Tobey Macquire, where they were best friends since childhood. It doesn't need three films to gradually build the rivalry between these two characters. The circumstances are different, which, considering the biggest criticism against TASM is that it was too similar to the Raimi films, is refreshing.
If Electro was not in the movie, it would have been better.
But, again, to each their own.
here we go.
