The Amazing Spider-Man 2 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - User Review Thread! - SPOILERS! - Part 5

[Picard Sisko]

He was there to show Peter's guilt. You really think a dream sequence would have actually been less random?

 

[Darkmania]

I am not very skilled in writing long reviews like some of the good ones I have read in this thread however just some thoughts and questions;

-I liked having Peter's parents involved, and I thought it helped engage viewers in rooting for Spidey, which is always a good thing in a movie
-unfortunately the dialogue at times was just cringe worthy, at times I felt a bit embarrased and I think it really impacted the ability of characters like Goblin, Rhino, and Electro to come across more effectively
-as others have said, some things just moved too fast. I hate to compare to the Raimi movies because I think the movies are just seperat entites, however one thing I always felt was that Maguire and Franco had great chemistry. I believed Maguire and Franco were friends, and for me that was a key strenghth of the Raimi films. Here, the Peter/Harry relationship feels rushed, and the actors in my opinion had no chemistry with each other.
-I went opening night when the hype level is really high and like to pay attention to how fans react;
-there was no applause at the end (not necessarily a huge indicator of things however at the same time it was Spidey crowd, in that there were a lot of people wearing Spidey stuff, buying Spidey cups etc.)
-most common complaints I overheard; 1. Not enough Spiderman, and too much Parker. 2. Rhino was just silly 3. Even though Spidey has super powers, he was able to absorb a lot of electrical charge from Electro without getting too hurt
4. "The guy" playing the Goblin looked really young in some scenes and he just seemed not to fit in some scenes. 5. The Peter/Harry bonding scene just fell completely flat

-I really liked the Spidey suit, however was it ever explained how he got it and why he got rid of the last one?
-I liked the action scenes overall and thought it was the strength of the movie
-Although that being said what happend with Spidey's girlfriend was probably the best scene in the movie.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

It was the most heavy handed way to handle that aspect, even a dream would have been better. "Hey this dude died remember? You do? Well we'll still keep throw him in 3 or 4 more times in case you forgotten. You haven't forgotten at all? No but shut up though, you forgot."

I think one dream at the beginning of the movie would have made more sense. All we needed was the idea that Peter is guilty about staying with Gwen.

 

[Picard Sisko]

I don't know, I really liked how the hallucination of Captain Stacy showed up at Peter's graduation and during the final battle.

 

[stillanerd]

at least marla appeared more often. i haven't read enough post OMD spiderman comics but was there ever and issue where kafka appeared before he dastardly demise(and by that i meant a real ****** death)?

Not that I recall

so mind telling me what kafka is like in this film? i also heard he appeared in a really short time but not enough to avoid the hate on him.

Imagine Dr. Strangelove without the wheelchair and the hand with a mind of it's own, and that's basically who Dr. Kafka is in this movie. He's a complete caricature, including thick, hammy German accent with "The Blue Danube Waltz" playing in the background just to make it clear this guy is evil.

which writers do you think wrote a mature spiderman as in spiderman acting like an adult?

I'd say J.M. DeMatteis, for sure. Also Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, Peter David, and JMS.

what's your thoughts on dan slott as the writer of spiderman

I think he comes up with some great ideas and knows how to tap into the readers emotions, but often times fumbles the ball in the execution. He's far more of a plot-driven writer than a character-driven one, which is not necessarily bad, but it does feel like it's more about getting the characters from point A to point B rather than letting them drive the story.

 

[Figs]

Well, i think there are more fans that love it. You should check out the poll thread. And go to the movie with an open mind.

Also, I see that quite a few users on here have not seen the film yet but are viewing and are posting on these threads. I feel like the film's gotten such bad word of mouth and negative reviews from critics that too many people are walking into the cinema expecting to see a really bad film (and if they're already convinced that it's extremely terrible then IMO they should just wait until it's out on DVD and rent it out). It's a shame that people are getting a bad impression of the film before even having seen it.

On the other side of the coin, I know I'll like Garfield and Stone in their roles. I loved them in the first ASM and even the majority of people who Hate this film say they're the only good thing about it.

With how cheesy the film sounds, I'm not surprised now that Sony showed just about all of the action in the trailers. Sure sign that they knew they needed to grab people's attention and get asses in the seats for opening weekend before bad word of mouth.

 

[Spider-knight]

Not that I recall



Imagine Dr. Strangelove without the wheelchair and the hand with a mind of it's own, and that's basically who Dr. Kafka is in this movie. He's a complete caricature, including thick, hammy German accent with "The Blue Danube Waltz" playing in the background just to make it clear this guy is evil.



I'd say J.M. DeMatteis, for sure. Also Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, Peter David, and JMS.



I think he comes up with some great ideas and knows how to tap into the readers emotions, but often times fumbles the ball in the execution. He's far more of a plot-driven writer than a character-driven one, which is not necessarily bad, but it does feel like it's more about getting the characters from point A to point B rather than letting them drive the story.

well sony dropped the ball on kafka. wasn't bad enought that she diedd but she was gender bended to be some weird ass mad scientist.

what's your opinion on mark waid's spiderman. i say he did a tremendous job wityh him in family b usiness making him more mature than what he wrote him back in BND.

so since magneto is doing well and cullen bunn writes a great peter and spiderman what are your thoughts if he gets to do a run on him?

yeah, i have some problems with dan's run at times. i also think he goes to troll us and make us go in your face like kafka's death, the goblin's real identity(sorry if he's not parker like you wanted. but if he was how would it originally go like with peter parker vs peter parker?), and how MJ just left peter just like that. i mean mj has always been there for peter no matter how worse the situation got but what MJ did was out of character. i mean there were obviously worse situations than that goblin nation and ock taking over peter's body. that and we all know that she's comign back anyway.

and i like black cat's new look but her outfit totally screams arch nemesis.

also, if matt fraction had to write a sdpiderman run do you think it'll be incredible or what?

would you find it unfari no matter how much evidence there ios in this franchise people will still harp in marc webb because of their code and/or pride? i mean i have run into a hnumber of ignorant people in my life even over the interenet and with everything marc went through he shouldn't be getting hated for what sony did to him

 

[Mace Dolex]

THE GOOD
- action scenes are so incredible (or amazing, or spectacular)
- chemisty with Andrew and Emma is actually good
- music was good in some parts
- the fight in Times Square was awesome

THE BAD
- the last shot before the end credits leaves you hanging
- we still don't know who this mysterious Mr. Fierce is
- some of the action got too overwhelming that most of the time it looks like a video game
- running time could've been trimmed a bit, the subplot about Peter's parents wasn't necessary
- during Electro's scenes you hear a chant in the music I thought at first somebody was whispering in my ear
- the lovey dovey scenes with Peter and Gwen was overkill

Overall not so bad but the plot was paper thin, everything happened by sheer coincidence, like in the beginning with Spidey saving Max from getting crushed by the truck, I mean he just happened to be there and what was Electro's motivation for wanting to kill Spider-Man, what because SM forgot his name? oh boohoo!!

The subplot of Parker's parents dragged the film a bit, you could've easily taken 15-20 minutes out of an already too long film, Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man is excellent, he's got the right agility, the right posture.

Overall a good Spidey film with some rewatchability as time goes by, I think at this point it's been 14 years that we've had the pleasure of having a SM film that it's almost to the point where maybe it's wearing out it's welcome.

As for the supposed Sinister Six and Venom spin-offs, we've been hearing this news for years that it's only because of Marvel's success that Sony is finally doing something about it.

My final score is 4/5 stars or B-

 

[Harry Dresden]

And why did Harry and Peter have like only two scenes together? Are we seriously supposed to buy them as old childhood friends?

 

[Picard Sisko]

I could believe that Harry and Peter were good friends, but they needed a few more scenes together. A flashback would have helped.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I could believe that Harry and Peter were good friends, but they needed a few more scenes together. A flashback would have helped.

I think it would've made a lot of sense to show Harry at the Parker's house during the opening. Just to show them playing together or something so that bond is established from the get go.

 

[matt47]

I totally bought they were childhood friends just from that scene on the steps. When Harry finally broke the ice and Pete said, "There he is!" with Harry's cheeky grin on his face I too had that grin on my face and thought to myself, "Yep, these guys are besties."

It's not about the quantity of scenes together, but the quality of the little screen time they had together.

 

[Picard Sisko]

Like I said, the interactions between the two totally made their previous friendship believable. They just didn't have enough time together.

 

[Airnick]

I totally bought they were childhood friends just from that scene on the steps. When Harry finally broke the ice and Pete said, "There he is!" with Harry's cheeky grin on his face I too had that grin on my face and thought to myself, "Yep, these guys are besties."

It's not about the quantity of scenes together, but the quality of the little screen time they had together.

 

[stillanerd]

well sony dropped the ball on kafka. wasn't bad enought that she diedd but she was gender bended to be some weird ass mad scientist.

Well, like I was discussing with the others on the podcast I did, he really doesn't fit with the rest of tone the reboot was supposedly going for at all.

what's your opinion on mark waid's spiderman. i say he did a tremendous job wityh him in family b usiness making him more mature than what he wrote him back in BND.

Yeah, Family Business was okay, although if you really think about it, there's a few big plot holes. I still think the best Spider-Man story Waid did was Unscheduled Stop. Along with Joe Kelly's Rhino stories, one of the best of the Brand New Day era, hands down.

so since magneto is doing well and cullen bunn writes a great peter and spiderman what are your thoughts if he gets to do a run on him?

Hmm...that would be neat to see. Because, yeah, I think he did a pretty good job with Spider-Man Season One.

yeah, i have some problems with dan's run at times. i also think he goes to troll us and make us go in your face like kafka's death, the goblin's real identity(sorry if he's not parker like you wanted. but if he was how would it originally go like with peter parker vs peter parker?), and how MJ just left peter just like that. i mean mj has always been there for peter no matter how worse the situation got but what MJ did was out of character. i mean there were obviously worse situations than that goblin nation and ock taking over peter's body. that and we all know that she's comign back anyway.

Yeah, in spite of her telling Peter that, as much as she cares about him, she can no longer be a part of his life, it's clear she'll still be around and be re-entering the picture. But yeah, that whole scene from Superior Spider-Man #31 was just awful. And I agree, MJ's entire portrayal all throughout Superior Spider-Man was completely off, with the exception of when she called the Avengers and when she took out those Goblin Kids with the web-shooters.

and i like black cat's new look but her outfit totally screams arch nemesis.

Yep. I'm not much of a Black Cat fan, but I really dislike the direction they took her in relaunched Amazing Spider-Man #1

also, if matt fraction had to write a sdpiderman run do you think it'll be incredible or what?

Based on his "To Have and To Hold" story he did, I would love to see Fraction take another crack at Spider-Man again.

would you find it unfari no matter how much evidence there ios in this franchise people will still harp in marc webb because of their code and/or pride? i mean i have run into a hnumber of ignorant people in my life even over the interenet and with everything marc went through he shouldn't be getting hated for what sony did to him

No, Marc Webb doesn't deserve the vitriol; nor does Sam Raimi for that matter. Thing is, I do think Webb is a good director; in both films he had a great visual style when it came to the Spider-Man action scenes, and his portrayal of the Peter and Gwen romance, with a few minor quibbles, was by far the best aspect of both films. The downside is that I don't think he's quite learned how to take control of the screenplays he's been given. While I think he was right in taking the Mary Jane scenes out of Amazing Spider-Man 2, there certainly was other things that really didn't add to the film (like say the whole Parents mystery) that was kept in.

 

[Spider-knight]

Well, like I was discussing with the others on the podcast I did, he really doesn't fit with the rest of tone the reboot was supposedly going for at all.



Yeah, Family Business was okay, although if you really think about it, there's a few big plot holes. I still think the best Spider-Man story Waid did was Unscheduled Stop. Along with Joe Kelly's Rhino stories, one of the best of the Brand New Day era, hands down.



Hmm...that would be neat to see. Because, yeah, I think he did a pretty good job with Spider-Man Season One.



Yeah, in spite of her telling Peter that, as much as she cares about him, she can no longer be a part of his life, it's clear she'll still be around and be re-entering the picture. But yeah, that whole scene from Superior Spider-Man #31 was just awful. And I agree, MJ's entire portrayal all throughout Superior Spider-Man was completely off, with the exception of when she called the Avengers and when she took out those Goblin Kids with the web-shooters.



Yep. I'm not much of a Black Cat fan, but I really dislike the direction they took her in relaunched Amazing Spider-Man #1



Based on his "To Have and To Hold" story he did, I would love to see Fraction take another crack at Spider-Man again.



No, Marc Webb doesn't deserve the vitriol; nor does Sam Raimi for that matter. Thing is, I do think Webb is a good director; in both films he had a great visual style when it came to the Spider-Man action scenes, and his portrayal of the Peter and Gwen romance, with a few minor quibbles, was by far the best aspect of both films. The downside is that I don't think he's quite learned how to take control of the screenplays he's been given. While I think he was right in taking the Mary Jane scenes out of Amazing Spider-Man 2, there certainly was other things that really didn't add to the film (like say the whole Parents mystery) that was kept in.

oh i agree that sam should get this much hate. i uderstand that fsns were annoyed by the hate this reboot was getting pre release but there was still no need to trash raimi to defend the reboot. though the difference being is that sam is still loved and marc was hated from the start the reboot was announced

well oscorp was torturing the parkers so i do believe that was needed. what was definitely need was everything like more development for electro, harry osborn, and the death scene. i read that there were many different ways gwen died in this film.

so, what do you really look like?

 

[Figs]

The downside is that I don't think he's quite learned how to take control of the screenplays he's been given. While I think he was right in taking the Mary Jane scenes out of Amazing Spider-Man 2, there certainly was other things that really didn't add to the film (like say the whole Parents mystery) that was kept in.

Sadly, the only reason Sony had that garbage in these films was simply to make it a bit different than Raimi's films. I don't know about anyone else but I don't give two ****s about Parker's parents. For me it was all about Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I agree about Parker's parents.

I've never liked them being super important whether they are super spies or Oscorp scientists.

 

[Picard Sisko]

Whaaat? The parents storyline is what has me most intrigued. It's why I always liked Ultimate Spider-Man and the Sinister Six novels. It all ties up well together with the Gentleman (or the man in the shadows).

 

[The Shape]

It was the most heavy handed way to handle that aspect, even a dream would have been better. "Hey this dude died remember? You do? Well we'll still keep throw him in 3 or 4 more times in case you forgotten. You haven't forgotten at all? No but shut up though, you forgot."

This is kind of true.

 

[StarLord]

I enjoyed the first hour, everything I thought, was going quite well and when that clichéd ''crazy doctor'' turned up, it went downhill.

As for Jamie Foxx, there's nothing really that stands out or memorable about his role at all. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to him really sinking his teeth into a role like this.

Dane DeHaan did a good job with what he was given and I enjoyed his part in the movie up until he was the GG, where that seemed rushed just to give us the ending.

Sally Field is excellent though and I hope she's going to be treated like gold throughout whatever is left of her time on the franchise.

Overall I'd give it a 6.5/10 and it's a slight improvement on the first, because there was much more I didn't like about that.

 

[Mace Dolex]

And why did Harry and Peter have like only two scenes together? Are we seriously supposed to buy them as old childhood friends?

Or the writers were just counting on the audience to already buy into their friendship from the Sam Raimi films.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Or the writers were just counting on the audience to already buy into their friendship from the Sam Raimi films.

But this is a new continuity.

With an entirely different version of Harry then the one in the Raimi films.

 

[stillanerd]

oh i agree that sam should get this much hate. i uderstand that fsns were annoyed by the hate this reboot was getting pre release but there was still no need to trash raimi to defend the reboot. though the difference being is that sam is still loved and marc was hated from the start the reboot was announced

Right. Sure, people got upset when Sony first announced they were rebooting the franchise, but there was no need to go after Webb just because he was hired as the director. Or for those who do like the reboots to start gaining up on Raimi just because those films are older.

well oscorp was torturing the parkers so i do believe that was needed. what was definitely need was everything like more development for electro, harry osborn, and the death scene. i read that there were many different ways gwen died in this film.

Yeah, that was something I was discussing with the others on the Spider-Man podcast last night. I think that, based on what was rumored about the alternate cuts of Gwen's death, I was very satisfied with what was in the film. That whole sequence (with the exception of the heavy-handed symbolism of the "web hand") involving Gwen's death and funeral and passing of the seasons--best moments of the film bar none.

so, what do you really look like?

Well, if you go to the Crawlspace's contact and staff bios, I'm the guy holding a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #394, the one with the foil cover that you have to flip to read the back-up story.

Sadly, the only reason Sony had that garbage in these films was simply to make it a bit different than Raimi's films. I don't know about anyone else but I don't give two ****s about Parker's parents. For me it was all about Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

Oh, you're absolutely right. Peter's motivation should never be about his parents but his sense of guilt over Uncle Ben's death. That's why the first film all but cut out the "Untold Story" from the first film.

 

[lukebrodyg]

Saw it last night. I truly thought I would agree with the critics but I didn't.

Good:
- Spider-man agility and web slinging.
- Spider-man quips
- Garfield (improved from ASM1)
- Peter & Gwen
- Music (most of the time)
- Dean (but not Harry or GG)
- Ending with the "young Spider-man"
- Emotional scenes
- Time Square fight
- Gwen's end

Bad:
- Electro simply being a plot device. (But I actually liked Fox as Max)
- The cheese of Electro's costume
- Max teeth gap closing. Why?
- Harry's rushed story. GG is Spider-man's Joker...you don't rush his motivation and transformation. (And I prefer a Norman Goblin)

Sum-up: the pacing was just fine in my book until the Harry stuff. Which really brought this movie down a bit for me. If the point of this film was to provide emotional pain in Peter's life by killing Gwen, don't rush the very element that you want to use to bring that about. Sigh...

Not a bad film though. I don't think it deserves the panning it's getting but I do understand the complaints by way of rushed story lines.

HUGE improvement over ASM1 IMO. 7/10