The Amazing Spider-Man 2

 

If you want to read my opinion on the state of the Spider-Man movie franchise (including my opinion of the original Spider-Man trilogy), check out my review of the first film of The Amazing Spider-Man series here.

Expectations:
As I trotted off to the theater last weekend, the only thing I had heard about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was that there was just too much going on in the film. Too many bad guys... Too many storylines... Too much stuff... Regardless, there was no way that I could skip out on one of the biggest films of 2014. However, I did realize that I have not actually been uber-excited about a single Spider-Man film since the very first one hit theaters in 2002. In fact, it's as if I only go watch the films out of respect for the comic book hero that I loved as a child. Growing up, Spider-Man was my favorite superhero (until Batman swooped in and took his crown), but the films have never been able to get me as excited as the plastic figures that I played with as a child. Thinking of my prior love for the web-slinger, I've decided that Spider-Man is the perfect superhero for kids, because he is young and they have a hope of being him in just a few years. But, at my age (and even as a teenager), his life is not something that I desire or really care to take interest in. I don't really understand why I don't care for the film version of Spider-Man, because I really love other films about teenagers... That's just how it is...

Plot:
Other's comments regarding The Amazing Spider-Man 2 having too many significant storylines were absolutely spot-on. However, I don't agree that there were too many villains. The problem lied in how important and in need of screen time those villains turned out to be. Electro (played by Jamie Foxx) was a fantastic character, and, because of his need to be built up, the film wasn't able to focus on the building up of Harry Osborn (played by the great Dane DeHaan). The entire theme of the film was built around best utilizing the time that you have with the people that you love, and, unfortunately, the filmmakers didn't even know how to best utilize their time. To me, it doesn't make any sense to cram all of this film's stories into one film, mostly because we live in a day where a studio could put out three Spider-Man films in one year and each would make hundreds of millions of dollars. The big, shocking moment at the end of the film (which I did not expect) couldn't even be fully enjoyed, due to the fact that the rest of the film was so patchy and poorly constructed. Then, after this big event in the continual Spider-Man storyline, we were forced to rush through a process of grief, absence, and reemergence, all in about three minutes. Why can't superhero fans ever be left with a little bit of suspense?!?

Characters:
As I said previously, there weren't really any characters that I think should have been omitted from the film. Actually, I loved both Dane DeHaan and Jamie Foxx in their respective villainous roles, and I am really looking forward to seeing how the Spidey-villain development process continues. In my opinion, Harry Osborn should have been introduced in this film, playing only a minor role, which would have allowed for more focus on Foxx's Electro. But, who am I to write the film?

Negatives:
My least favorite parts of the film involved the hugely unsatisfying answers regarding the death and legacy of Peter Parker's (Andrew Garfield) parents, Richard and Mary, played by Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz. The entire reboot of the Spider-Man franchise was built on the promise of Peter Parker discovering what happened to his parents, and, as you might expect, I had built up a fair amount of anticipation for the outcome of that promise. Unfortunately, I was not at all satisfied with the very science-heavy answer that just screamed Marvel. Additionally, I saw absolutely no need for Peter's Aunt May (Sally Field) to go down the road of financial struggle and finding a job. Unnecessary storylines like that one really took away from the effectiveness of this film.

Positives:
In the first film, I really hated the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, played by Emma Stone. Thankfully, that relationship was handled a little bit better in this film and made for one heck of a scene that cannot be mentioned (spoilers!). Heck, the relationship may not have actually been any better, but THAT SCENE!!! Also, as I said, I loved Jamie Foxx's Electro, and I thought his character was so very interesting. Kudos to Foxx for playing the character well, and kudos to technology for making the visually enticing aspects of Electro possible.

Conclusion:
For such a mediocre film, I sure had a lot to say about it!... Some critics have been overly critical of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but I really think the film accomplished what it wanted to accomplish. The only place that it failed (in an epic way) was with the ridiculous airplane scenes that had absolutely nothing to do with anything... at all! Was the film perfect?... No. But, I still have a lot of hope for the future of the franchise. Hope that will likely be killed when the next trailer is released, but, nonetheless, it is hope! If you like superhero movies, you'll probably like The Amazing Spider-Man 2. If you don't like superhero movies, you probably won't like The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I give The Amazing Spider-Man 2 2.34 out of 5 stars.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Expectations:
If there is anyone reading this that doesn't love Peter Parker, please just go ahead and click away from this blog post. There is no way that I can share my feelings about Spider-Man with someone who doesn't care, so just go on....... Now, for those that remain, my expectations for The Amazing Spider-Man were extremely, extremely high! While I do love the Spider-Man character, I was not a huge fan of the three Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films. All three films had so many dorky, unrealistic moments that I just didn't care for them, and, yes, I do realize that the whole idea is unrealistic. But, after The Dark Knight and The Avengers set the expectations so, so high for pretty much every comic book movie to come, I really thought that this film HAD to be more real and raw in order to survive the evolution of comic book films.

Plot:
The plot was a bit more realistic than the previous three films, but it still wasn't good enough. The trailer really sold the plot as revolving around Peter's past and his relationship with his family. However, this was not THAT big of a storyline. While it did help tie the plot together, he never really found any answers or gained any confidence concerning his family. This wasn't a big issue plot-wise, but it did dissapoint my expectations a bit. The biggest problem that I had with the film as a whole was the fact that Peter (played by Andrew Garfield) wasn't quite dorky enough. Normally this would be a character issue, but I believe that the plot hurt his ability to grasp that dorkiness. His relationship with Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone) was way too easy. He barely had to try to get her to like him. While I'm not a comic book expert, the Peter Parker I know struggles with an extreme case of dorkiness, and the lack of that dorkiness pissed me off!

Characters:
As I said, Garfield's turn as Spider-Man was dissapointing, but it was the fault of the writing. Garfield himself was actually perfect for the character. He played my favorite character in The Social Network and didn't let me down in his second major role. On the other hand, Emma Stone is not my favorite actress. She is usually just so-so (save The Help), and she was so-so in this film as well. Stacy and Parker were obviously the two major characters, and neither of them really stood out. Nevertheless, I have seen worse, so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Negatives: Richard and Mary Parker (played by Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz) were undoubtedly the most dissapointing characters. I really wanted Peter's parents to be important in this film, and, as I said, they just weren't. Also, Chris Zylka's Flash Thompson was a bit of a let down. Peter's lack of dorkiness really took away from Flash's ability to be an effective character.

Positives: As expected, Ben Parker (and all his freakin awesome wisdom) was easily the best of all characters. Martin Sheen's turn as Peter's uncle was very successful, which greatly excited me. To my surprise, Denis Leary's turn as Captain Stacy was also very successful. I thought his character might be a little awkward and sappy, but he turned out to be great.

Conclusion:
I want to apologize for harping on the lack of Peter Parker's dorkiness so much in this review. However, it is the one thing that really ruined the whole film for me. The problem is that I can't think of a way for them to better portray him without taking away from more realistic approach to the story. Peter Parker's character is a nerd and always will be. The times, however, have greatly changed. So many nerdy things have become the norm now (Thanks, Hipsters!), which makes it harder to portray nerds as awkward or unfortunate people. Therefore, I am blaming my problems with The Amazing Spider-Man on.......... HIPSTERS!!! If you are a hipster, then thanks a lot for ruining Spider-Man (just kidding). I give The Amazing Spider-Man 2.98 out of 5 stars.

Movie News for the Week of July 26, 2011

1. Dwight Yoakum has signed on to the cast of The Lone Ranger, and most think he will play the villain in the film. I personally hate Dwight Yoakum, but I remain excited about the movie.

2. Cartoon Network is developing a live action Captain Planet movie. The producers believe that the environmental superhero is more important now than ever.

3. A new Paradise Lost movie is in the works, and Bradley Cooper will play Lucifer. The film will utilize motion captured technology and will require 72 weeks of post-production and visual effects works, which means we can expect the film to be visually stunning.

4. Warner Bros. has set the release date for Man of Steel. The new Superman reboot will premiere June 14, 2013. The date is six months later than the expected date of release, but the star-studded cast is sure to deliver.

5. Universal Studios just paid seven figures for the rights to a new R-rated comedy. This is a very high price to pay for a comedic movie, but the untitled comedy may be worth it. Seth Rogen is set to star as a regular old college guy who lives near a crazy fraternity house, in which resides ...... Zac Efron. Many think the two roles should be switched to make Rogen the more "wild" character. We will just have to wait and see how this plays out.

A lot of Spiderman news came out of Comic Con this week. Here is the first trailer for the film, and a heartfelt speech from the loveable Andrew Garfield. Check it out!