The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - Movie Thread (May 2, 2014)

[willy cheesesteak]

How Spider-Man Got His ‘Amazing’ New Costume

 

[RFX45]

Got this mask, will most likely just mount it on the wall.

 

[ChetB]

Seeing this tonight. Reviews aren't encouraging but I'm looking forward to it.

 

[RFX45]

The movie isn't great, it is good and entertaining but had too many flaws to be great.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

First the good things.

Acting was superb. Garfield was very good and so was Stone. Their chemistry oozes off the screen but.

Dehaan was good too, surprisingly. I expected him to be good but not that good.

Foxx was good to a certain point, once he became Electro it was all downhill for him. Electro did look cool, his whole see-through skin with electricity runing through his body was great and unique.

The action, it was amazing (pun intended). Spidey utilized his webbing so well int he film and his body contortions and the way he moved was very, very good. I wish there were more of it but what they delivered was impressive. You can screen cap those poses and they're practically ripped out of the comic books. The way he free falls and then pulls himself out in the last second, the rippling costume as the wind hits him, the way he pulls himself in his web as he swing to get momentum and runs on walls at times, I could go on and on. They were great.

Felicia! They really had me convinced that chick was going to be someone else and when Harry called he Felicia, I just wanted to see her in her skintight cat suit.

That ending was probably best executed in the whole film. I knew her death was coming but the way it was done was both brutal and beautiful at the same time, difficult to explain. Just how she slammed the ground and how Spidey caught her at the same time. It's eerie but just very well done. I knew in the back of my head that she was going to die but the way it was done, you still hoped she opened her eyes. Very moving indeed.




Now for the bad.

The movie just dragged and dragged. I think there was a moment there where I yawned and I went to an 8pm showing. It's Peter and Gwens time together, their chemistry is right on but there was just too much in a 2 hour and 20 min film and they just flipped flopped too much for my liking. Break up or not, friends or not, back together or not, it just dragged to me. Look, I love Emma Stone and I'd marry he if she'd let me but even I kind of wanted her to be out of my screen for a second there. There were a few unnecessary scenes and one that sticks out like a sore thumb is the airplane scene. If there was a least necessary scene in all of movie history, that was it. Spidey wasn't affected (he had no knowledge of it), you did not care for anyone in the planes or the airport and you cut it out and it takes nothing away from the film. It would have made more sense if Aunt May had saved someone life via the power getting back, instead you had an event that Spidey wasn't even aware of.

Not only that but the villains wasn't utilized well. When I found out the movie was going to have 3 villains, I though it'll be a clusterf*ck then in the beginning of the movie the usher said the movie was going to be 2 hours and 20 minutes so I was like "yeah!" They can fit those 3 villains and it isn't going to be SM3 again. And I was wrong, dead wrong! Rhino and GG had a total of what, 5 minutes?

Speaking of villains, while Harry was done well by Dehaan acting-wise, his development as a villain was too brief. They rushed making him GG for the sake of making him GG and he was defeated as quick as he turned to GG. He was Vanko in IM2 really except he didn't hate the protagonist from the get go. Venom had more screentime in SM3 than GG and Rhino combined in this film and I think that's a travesty. They really could have cut some Peter and Gwen stuff and gave more screen time for the villains. GG was simply there to kill Gwen and while that was ok, I guess, I can't help but feel it is just a set-up for Sinister 6 or ASM3 and nothing else. Electro was kind of bland too once he got his powers, he became just another powered dude who had no purpose really but to kill Spidey and really learned nothing. You kind of felt for him in the beginning but after that, you kind of lost interest and then there was no pay-off. YOu kind of went, eh ok, he kind of deserves what happens to him now. His effects were cool though.

The movie also felt too goofy at times with terrible dialogue, only half of the jokes were executed well the others were just corny. Then some of the lines, "It's my birthday so it's time to light my candles", my god that is almost as bad as Halle saying, "Do you know what happens to toads when he is struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else!" :x I know people will go "well that's how it is in the comics" and I'll argue that different formats works in different ways. Some jokes could have been taken out because it just fell flat and took you out of the film. RDJ does this well (Marvel does actually) and no one does it better but it didn't work in some scenes in this film. There is Spidey jokes and sarcasms then there's this movie that cranked that up a few notches too much and not in a good way. There were times that dude already cracked jokes and he still kept doing it even in peril. I just didn't buy too much jokes there.

An example, when he was juggling the plutoniom, ok he collected them and he says some funny lines then theres a bump and he fumlbes and collects em again with more "funny" lines and then theres a third time with more quips and that third time was too much. Once was fine, twice as acceptable but the third time was just way, way too much. I know it was like 10-20 seconds long but it felt like 2 minutes long especially int he middle of an action scene.

Movie also felt like it could have been organized/paced better. His parents thing dragged on too, felt like it could have been done quicker and he should have figured it out faster? Resolution was that Oscorp was bad? Little gripe but it could have helped with the movie drag. I guess it gave Peter closure about why his parents left but it felt like a weak pay-off because it was too obvious and how much it dragged on. He also kept grabbing his dads bag and then hate it and then grab it and then hate and it just wasn't edited well. Small things that could make a difference.

Action was sporadic but like I said when there was action, it was great but it just lacked Spidey action. There could have been more, a lot more. Maybe it was just so good when they do it that I wanted more? SO take it as a compliment if you want?

Music was also mediocre at best, soundtrack could have been better.

Overall movie was good, entertaining with amazing visuals. For a comic book film, it lacked action and it also dragged a bit with unnecessary scenes that could be condensed or cut. I know I went into details of negatives but I did enjoy this film despite it.

 

[ChetB]

Good review. I feel largely the same, except I didn't really like Dehaan. Seemed like you should at least kind of like or care about Harry initially, but Dehaan in the role felt slimy and unlikable from start to finish to me. My biggest gripe:

So much of the drama was rooted in people making unbelievably, improbably stupid moves.

1. On the airplane, Peter's dad turns his back on the bad guy after their scuffle for way too long, as if he no longer poses a threat. That "watch out behind you!" kind of moment just seems so uninventive, tired, and dumb.

2. Max/Electro turned against Spiderman way too easily. A few bullets fired from cops and a momentary lapse in remembering his name, that's all it takes to turn the dude into a mortal enemy? I know the guy had lots of issues, but the animosity didn't feel earned at all, especially when Spiderman seemed to show genuine concern for the guy.

3. Instances where crowds flocked to watch huge battles up close (Times Square, Rhino at the end), endangering themselves and becoming liabilities Spiderman has to worry about. Run away, idiots! The little kid in the Spiderman costume was cute, but why was that mom standing their gawking in the first place, especially with a kid in tow?

4. Harry's level of animosity toward Spiderman also felt unearned to me. It's not like his blood was a sure cure and Spiderman was just being a dick and not sharing. He explained why it was a bad idea (though perhaps could have explained in a little more detail). Bonus stupid points in that scene for Harry not recognizing his best friend's distinctive, undisguised voice...I know you have to suspend disbelief to a large degree with a comic book movie, but come on.

5. Maybe this doesn't belong on the list but: Gwen rushing to the fight scene. I mean, I guess it's sweet that she valued him more than her own safety, but there's no way inserting yourself between those two super-powered characters engaged in a huge fight is going to end well. She did help out, but couldn't he have worked things out or found someone else to help? Maybe not. But she quickly became a liability when Green Goblin showed up. Also, she knew how haunted Peter was already over her dad's edict not to put her in harm's path.


There were some other examples too that I know I'm forgetting. Writing like this had me rolling my eyes several times and took me out of the story.

 

[SixOhNine]

Agreed on most of the above criticisms. The plane scene was especially long and unnecessary. In fact, the whole movie should have been 20-30 minutes shorter. It felt a lot like we got an hour forty five of exposition and character development, 15 minutes of unnecessary filler and 20 minutes of substance and worthwhile action.

Mostly, it felt like a long preview for ASM3.

 

[grundletaint]

Stupid movie. Best part was the fire extinguisher.

So stupid, in fact, that the hidden scene in the credits was for a different movie...