The Amazing Spider-Man 2 The Amazing Spiderman 2 - User Review Thread! - SPOILERS! - Part 3

[Dizzy McCool]

You know how comic book movies usually focus on the good vs evil aspect of the movie? Well in this film (and this is something most aren't particularly happy about) they really focus more on the relationships in the movie, mainly with Gwen and Peter but also with; Peter and Harry, Peter and Aunt May, his parents, Electro and Spider man, Harry and his Norman(they only have a brief scene together but you can tell that it's what drives Harry) etc.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[PokeJ]

Ugh, just got out of my screening tonight. Got to see a special preview of the movie! I just didn't like this movie. The tonality of the movie was all over the place. I noticed a very campy/funny tone at some points, at other points I noticed a dark/sad tone. I probably would have liked the more serious tone of the movie if they had concentrated just on that. Didn't really care much for Spiderman in this movie. Maybe, It's because I don't care much for Andrew Garfield. They didn't make the hero/main character relate-able at all. The dark tone would have been great for the movie if I cared more for the main character. In turn, the impact of Gwen Stacy's death would have meant more.

Dane Dehaan was pretty good with what he had, but he got the Venom/Spiderman 3 treatment in this movie. Felt like his character could have used a lot more development in this movie. His transformation was way too abrupt. Dane Dehaan was criminally under-used. Jamie Foxx was just bad. His motivation for killing spiderman didn't click with me. He had some pretty cool action scenes, but he reminded me a lot of Mr. Freeze from Batman and Robin(never a good thing).

The only thing I really enjoyed about the movie was Gwen Stacy and her romance with Peter Parker. Not enough to save the movie, but Emma Stone is great as always. Movie had some pretty cool slow-mo shots too. Just wasn't invested in the action, b/c I didn't really care about the characters.

I give the movie 5/10.

 

[TheScarecrow]

Change of pace...

I thought it was easily the best Spider-man film to date, and better than the vast majority of films Marvel Studios has put out.

Contrary to others, I didn't mind the tone. I don't want to see a "dark" Spider-man movie. Spider-man is not Batman, and should be humorous. I was in hysterics the entire way through. The action scenes were spectacular, and most scenes were really well acted. Garfield and Stone were the highlights, but I was also impressed with Dane Deehan (with the exception of his GG laugh, which was too soft).

I liked Jaime Foxx as Electro. I thought he looked like a stupid villain from the trailers and wasn't looking forward to it, but he was pretty good. I think those heavily questioning his motivations didn't quite grasp that Dillon was clearly crazy and that was the reason for his rampage. It wasn't that Spider-man couldn't remember his name, but that he was out of his mind and desperately looking to show that he could bully and hold power over other people now he had the chance. It was presented in a very humorous and kitschy way...but it worked for me.

It was disappointing not to see more of Giamatti, because he held nothing back and over-acted in a pretty genius way. I have a few nitpicks which I'll leave out. I think my biggest though is the title...given that Electro does not really rise to anything in this movie.

9.5/10

 

[Avenging Spidey]

Change of pace...

I thought it was easily the best Spider-man film to date, and better than the vast majority of films Marvel Studios has put out.

Contrary to others, I didn't mind the tone. I don't want to see a "dark" Spider-man movie. Spider-man is not Batman, and should be humorous. I was in hysterics the entire way through. The action scenes were spectacular, and most scenes were really well acted. Garfield and Stone were the highlights, but I was also impressed with Dane Deehan (with the exception of his GG laugh, which was too soft).

I liked Jaime Foxx as Electro. I thought he looked like a stupid villain from the trailers and wasn't looking forward to it, but he was pretty good. I think those heavily questioning his motivations didn't quite grasp that Dillon was clearly crazy and that was the reason for his rampage. It wasn't that Spider-man couldn't remember his name, but that he was out of his mind and desperately looking to show that he could bully and hold power over other people now he had the chance. It was presented in a very humorous and kitschy way...but it worked for me.

It was disappointing not to see more of Giamatti, because he held nothing back and over-acted in a pretty genius way. I have a few nitpicks which I'll leave out. I think my biggest though is the title...given that Electro does not really rise to anything in this movie.

9.5/10

I haven't seen the film yet, but the more I read reviews like yours, more confident I am that they knocked this one out of the park. I feel the American reviewers will be a lot more welcoming and understanding of this film somehow. This is supposed to be an epic Spider-Man with a lot of humor and heart, a literal emotional roller coaster, so count me in among the beyond psyched for this.

 

[chaseter]

The American audience is not as forgiving.

 

[chaseter]

Too bad most of Marvel's films range from garbage to average.

If only the majority agreed with you. Alas, maybe next time. Keep trying.

 

[Avenging Spidey]

It's not about forgiveness, it's about self-awareness and knowledge of the material. Spider-Man isn't Batman and he shouldn't be Batman. I feel that the American audience and the critics will understand more what Webb did here than the Brits. I just feel that Webb will get the acknowledgment he deserves as an indie filmmaker turned blockbuster director with this film, and having the reviews from the Brits don't change the possibility of the US critics enjoying the film better than some of the UK critics did.

Besides, there are a lot of UK based critics that liked the film a lot but weren't assigned to write a review for it. I still feel that TASM2 is going to get critic acclaim when it's all said and done, but let's see.

 

[TheScarecrow]

The way I see it, they had two ways to go with this. It could go "darker" than ASM, or lighter. It chose the right way.

This is a VERY humorous film. It is nothing like Batman and Robin because it is a good film. The best way I can describe it is succeeding in being completely unashamed to be a comic book film. Webb has succeeded in making this read like a comic book (and some parts are not unlike you're very early Spider-man comics!), but to also have it appear cinematic. It's a fine balancing act, and if Webb hadn't managed to walk the line as well as he had the movie would have been the unmitigated disaster I was predicting from the early trailers.

The film is not fluff, it's not camp. It's extremely comic-booky. It's also, by far, the best actual representation of the character of Spider-man that we've had on screen before. It's fresh and it's fun. I think a lot of the people complaining are just suffering from the current phase of everything needing to be "dark" and "gritty" and "realistic".

This film is everything but that. My cheeks hurt from laughing and hurt from smiling at how much I was enjoying seeing "my friendly neighbourhood Spider-man" done justice on the big screen. My favourite scene was one where:

Spoiler

Spidey stops to save a kid from being bullied, patches up his school project and walks him home to keep him safe

When people say there's a "lack of character" in the film, they mean that there's a lack of angst-driven moodiness from the characters in the film. For instance;

Spoiler

After Gwen and Peter break up, they become friends! There's a little angst here and there, but it plays nothing like the bratty whining from Raimi's trilogy. The actors all have terrific chemistry, and there are interesting relationships between all of them.

All I'll say is - and this is by no means scientific - I know about 7 or 8 other people who have seen it, and all of them have "loved it!" and offered no real criticism. If anyone has any specific concerns I'm happy to answer honestly.

 

[Avenging Spidey]

The way I see it, they had two ways to go with this. It could go "darker" than ASM, or lighter. It chose the right way.

This is a VERY humorous film. It is nothing like Batman and Robin because it is a good film. The best way I can describe it is succeeding in being completely unashamed to be a comic book film. Webb has succeeded in making this read like a comic book (and some parts are not unlike you're very early Spider-man comics!), but to also have it appear cinematic. It's a fine balancing act, and if Webb hadn't managed to walk the line as well as he had the movie would have been the unmitigated disaster I was predicting from the early trailers.

The film is not fluff, it's not camp. It's extremely comic-booky. It's also, by far, the best actual representation of the character of Spider-man that we've had on screen before. It's fresh and it's fun. I think a lot of the people complaining are just suffering from the current phase of everything needing to be "dark" and "gritty" and "realistic".

This film is everything but that. My cheeks hurt from laughing and hurt from smiling at how much I was enjoying seeing "my friendly neighbourhood Spider-man" done justice on the big screen. My favourite scene was one where:

Spoiler

Spidey stops to save a kid from being bullied, patches up his school project and walks him home to keep him safe

When people say there's a "lack of character" in the film, they mean that there's a lack of angst-driven moodiness from the characters in the film. For instance;

Spoiler

After Gwen and Peter break up, they become friends! There's a little angst here and there, but it plays nothing like the bratty whining from Raimi's trilogy. The actors all have terrific chemistry, and there are interesting relationships between all of them.

All I'll say is - and this is by no means scientific - I know about 7 or 8 other people who have seen it, and all of them have "loved it!" and offered no real criticism. If anyone has any specific concerns I'm happy to answer honestly.

Reading your impressions make me smile from ear to ear and the waiting until May 1st unbearable, haha. t:

 

[TheScarecrow]

I mean.. I don't want to overhype it.

But as someone who was not at all impressed with the direction of the project, and was very dubious about the trailers and thought it had about a 75-80% of going belly up...I was very impressed with the movie. There's no doubt it's Spider-man to me. And literally everyone out of the small sample I've taken agree it's the best Spidey film to date.

I should preface all of this by saying I have only read "classic" Spidey comics. I'm not sure if the character is written like this today, but if you like "classic" Spidey you'll love this.

 

[hitmanyr2k]

Every board I visit it's the same mixed reactions for TASM2. There's really no majority one way or the other. People either really like it or don't care for it. I'm thinking this movie is going to mirror Man of Steel in fan reactions and critic reviews (only slightly better).

 

[First Avenger]

Too bad most of Marvel's films range from garbage to average.

I love how people try to defend something by talking s**t of other things,that is really mature.

 

[AnneFan]

The way I see it, they had two ways to go with this. It could go "darker" than ASM, or lighter. It chose the right way.

This is a VERY humorous film. It is nothing like Batman and Robin because it is a good film. The best way I can describe it is succeeding in being completely unashamed to be a comic book film. Webb has succeeded in making this read like a comic book (and some parts are not unlike you're very early Spider-man comics!), but to also have it appear cinematic. It's a fine balancing act, and if Webb hadn't managed to walk the line as well as he had the movie would have been the unmitigated disaster I was predicting from the early trailers.

The film is not fluff, it's not camp. It's extremely comic-booky. It's also, by far, the best actual representation of the character of Spider-man that we've had on screen before. It's fresh and it's fun. I think a lot of the people complaining are just suffering from the current phase of everything needing to be "dark" and "gritty" and "realistic".

This film is everything but that. My cheeks hurt from laughing and hurt from smiling at how much I was enjoying seeing "my friendly neighbourhood Spider-man" done justice on the big screen. My favourite scene was one where:

Spoiler

Spidey stops to save a kid from being bullied, patches up his school project and walks him home to keep him safe

When people say there's a "lack of character" in the film, they mean that there's a lack of angst-driven moodiness from the characters in the film. For instance;

Spoiler

After Gwen and Peter break up, they become friends! There's a little angst here and there, but it plays nothing like the bratty whining from Raimi's trilogy. The actors all have terrific chemistry, and there are interesting relationships between all of them.

All I'll say is - and this is by no means scientific - I know about 7 or 8 other people who have seen it, and all of them have "loved it!" and offered no real criticism. If anyone has any specific concerns I'm happy to answer honestly.

Glad you liked it, Scarecrow, and I had the same response as you along with my friends. Definitely one of the best Spider-Man movies yet. It generally seems to be received as an audience pleaser.

 

[Spider-Ranger]

It definitely works better with the GA than with fans, which is weird because it's so close to the comics!

I don't understand the hate it gets.

 

[matt47]

It definitely works better with the GA than with fans, which is weird because it's so close to the comics!

I don't understand the hate it gets.

It really seems like if you're a fan of the comics you lose either way.

 

[Lhûgion]

I'm really getting annoyed by all the kids at CBM who review the movie based on a leaked version they stole from the internet.

It feels like it's a cool thing now to bash everything that is not produced by Marvel Studios or that Spider-Man is just the right target to say "I'm tired of all this comic book stuff" because if you do that on a Marvel Studios movie you'll loose to many followers/viewers/whatervers.

And as I don't get why they're all freaking out about TWS and are founding their own nazi cult with all the "hail hydra" memes (they'll put me in prison if I would do this in germany xD), I don't get why they have to desperatly flame on TASM2.

Yeah maybe it's not a big reference throwing hyper connected marvel movie, but I felt a lot more soul and a much stronger 3rd act even if it was more
intimate and they made choises I didn't like.
And am I writing one 1-star review after another about TWS? No I'm just sitting here and asking myself if I missed something and let others enjoy the movie.
Why can't they let me too?
I may buy a third ticket to remember myself again, that all the flamer just don't get Spidey xD
The movie felt like the comics even if Harry Osborn is basically just a young Norman and not Harry. I love Dane Dehanns portrait though. (Especially in the scene which is missing from the leak.)

Still hope that X-Men MCS is not on the bluray version. It wasn't at the german premiere but at my second viewing.

 

[thorstone]

I have mixed feelings about it-- there is a good movie in there with a good plot dealing with Gwen Stacy, but the film suffers from villain overload (none of which get enough time to do anything other than act to supply the next action sequence for Peter Parker to go do some Spider-Man'n in CGI).

The movie also suffers from all of the villains operating on the motive of "F____ Spider-Man!" The next time we get a Spider-Man reboot, I want the villains to have motivations that don't include a grudge against Spider-Man or any of his love interests. Can't Spider-Man's rogues be terrorists or bank robbers or serial murderers like Gotham's villains?

 

[TheScarecrow]

The movie also suffers from all of the villains operating on the motive of "F____ Spider-Man!" The next time we get a Spider-Man reboot, I want the villains to have motivations that don't include a grudge against Spider-Man or any of his love interests. Can't Spider-Man's rogues be terrorists or bank robbers or serial murderers like Gotham's villains?

Spoiler

You mean like Rhino?

 

[Bullseye1]

After seeing it a second time I am still not sure if there was impact. Its very well done either way.

 

[Bullseye1]

BTW when is the poll open for voting? People have already seen it.

 

[BlackFox]

BTW when is the poll open for voting? People have already seen it.

Theres a seperate stickied thread for the poll voting with no discussion.

This one doesnt seem to work.

 

[Jumpman]

With Scarecrow on this one.

This is a nice, nice sequel. If it suffers from anything, it's the fact that we live in the glutton of superhero films and we're not that far removed from the Raimi trilogy, so we've basically seen it all.

And even with that, when you have an emotional core as strong and as good as this, the familiarity of the piece matters not. My fear, after the ending, is that whatever female lead they have in the sequel, her chemistry isn't going to be as good as the chemistry Emma and Andrew had. But, the compelling narrative of the third film is already written. And it should be interesting to see how our Peter Parker comes through with the eventual third.

More later but personally, I don't even think this film is lighter than the original film. To me, they feel of the same piece because I didn't personally see the first film as dark. It had a "dark" color palette, but it wasn't a dark film. Same as this one. It's a humorous film but unlike some of the Marvel Studios films, the humor is organic to the narrative. When the film gets serious, it doesn't betray itself with lightening up the film just because...

The visual effects/action sequences/web slinging is the best of any Spider-Man film to date. There are moments/shots, like the first film, that feel like they were lifted straight from the comic. I've never read a Spider-Man comic in my life but I've seen the iconography of the comic over the years and this film replicates that is serious spades. My goodness.

Garfield, Stone, and especially Ms. Sally Field bring the thunder. There's a dramatic sequence between Peter and Aunt May in the middle of the film that killed me because of the power of the performances, the implications on the narrative, and the message behind it. It's the best scene of the film, bar none. When this hits home video, I know I'll watch that sequence in a loop.

Is there world building galore? Yes. But, considering that this reboot was announced as a trilogy from the get go, it doesn't bother me. I'm not one for sequel bait but this franchise continues to make it work, mostly. And I think a lot of my attitude towards world building in comparison to Marvel's cinematic universe is this; I'm still in the Spider-Man world with Peter Parker as the figurehead. I don't have to go and watch 2 or 3 other franchises I may not be interested in to understand the present film/franchise that I am interested in. This is why I'll never, truly be on board with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In the end, I need another viewing but I do know that Marc Webb is 2 for 2 with me with this reboot of Spider-Man. This is the cinematic Spider-Man I've always wanted and I'm glad I have two films to enjoy.

Can't wait for the third.

As an aside, the score by Hans Zimmer is...real interesting. I need to listen to it by itself without the images to get a handle on it. But, I love that he went completely the other way from what he's normally known for.

 

[LizardMan07]

With Scarecrow on this one.

This is a nice, nice sequel. If it suffers from anything, it's the fact that we live in the glutton of superhero films and we're not that far removed from the Raimi trilogy, so we've basically seen it all.

And even with that, when you have an emotional core as strong and as good as this, the familiarity of the piece matters not. My fear, after the ending, is that whatever female lead they have in the sequel, her chemistry isn't going to be as good as the chemistry Emma and Andrew had. But, the compelling narrative of the third film is already written. And it should be interesting to see how our Peter Parker comes through with the eventual third.

More later but personally, I don't even think this film is lighter than the original film. To me, they feel of the same piece because I didn't personally see the first film as dark. It had a "dark" color palette, but it wasn't a dark film. Same as this one. It's a humorous film but unlike some of the Marvel Studios films, the humor is organic to the narrative. When the film gets serious, it doesn't betray itself with lightening up the film just because...

The visual effects/action sequences/web slinging is the best of any Spider-Man film to date. There are moments/shots, like the first film, that feel like they were lifted straight from the comic. I've never read a Spider-Man comic in my life but I've seen the iconography of the comic over the years and this film replicates that is serious spades. My goodness.

Garfield, Stone, and especially Ms. Sally Field bring the thunder. There's a dramatic sequence between Peter and Aunt May in the middle of the film that killed me because of the power of the performances, the implications on the narrative, and the message behind it. It's the best scene of the film, bar none. When this hits home video, I know I'll watch that sequence in a loop.

Is there world building galore? Yes. But, considering that this reboot was announced as a trilogy from the get go, it doesn't bother me. I'm not one for sequel bait but this franchise continues to make it work, mostly. And I think a lot of my attitude towards world building in comparison to Marvel's cinematic universe is this; I'm still in the Spider-Man world with Peter Parker as the figurehead. I don't have to go and watch 2 or 3 other franchises I may not be interested in to understand the present film/franchise that I am interested in. This is why I'll never, truly be on board with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In the end, I need another viewing but I do know that Marc Webb is 2 for 2 with me with this reboot of Spider-Man. This is the cinematic Spider-Man I've always wanted and I'm glad I have two films to enjoy.

Can't wait for the third.

As an aside, the score by Hans Zimmer is...real interesting. I need to listen to it by itself without the images to get a handle on it. But, I love that he went completely the other way from what he's normally known for.

Well Andrew is a fantastic actor and their are plenty of great female actors out there, just needs to be different from Gwen to be good, more friend-ish then full blown first love romance. They (Emma and Andrew) were falling in love on and off the set so it will be hard to beat something so genuine, but possible to make something just a loveable, but different. Itching to see who is cast as MJ.

 

[Jumpman]

Well Andrew is a fantastic actor and their are plenty of great female actors out there, just needs to be different from Gwen to be good, more friend-ish then full blown first love romance. They (Emma and Andrew) were falling in love on and off the set so it will be hard to beat something so genuine, but possible to make something just a loveable, but different. Itching to see who is cast as MJ.

Oh, I know Andrew's a fantastic performer. I know about his personal life with Emma Stone. It's just going to be hard to match what they had with the next female lead.

Still, I too, can't wait to see who they cast as Mary Jane.

 

[LizardMan07]

Oh, I know Andrew's a fantastic performer. I know about his personal life with Emma Stone. It's just going to be hard to match what they had with the next female lead.

Still, I too, can't wait to see who they cast as Mary Jane.

Oh yeah, it's going to be hard to beat some of those scenes, they were magical. The union Square scene was a gorgeous scene, really portrayed the relationship well, it's scenes like that where Webb is at his absolute best. The Balcony scene in TASM was similar. Scene on the bridge in TASM2 and the Oscorp closet scenes were great.

Annnnnd I just inadvertently name pretty much every scene they were together in, awesome perfomance from both of them.