The Amazing Spiderman 2 (Cinema Screening)

(Spoilers)

Superhero films as a whole have a much harder job impressing me than most other genres, there are several reasons for this.  The fact that I have some knowledge of the characters and storylines from the cartoons or comics etc means that I have expectations about how I want things to play out, basically I think that superhero films have more scope to muck things up.  However on the other side if they pull it off they can and often are some of my all time favourite movies! This was the case with the original reboot, The Amazing Spiderman – I loved it, so this sequel had a lot to live up to.

I had so many worries going into this film, all of which were actually put to ease fairly early on. I was worried that having 3 villains featuring was far too many, I didn’t think enough time would be devoted to each of them. This was dealt with really well, as the main focus was on The Green Goblin and Electro.  The Rhino was simply a lead in to the next installment of the Spidey franchise, I was pleased with this as another villain storyline in all its glory would have been too much. In terms of the Rhino as a villain and how he was portrayed, honestly I’m unsure of what I thought and will have to wait until Spidey 3 to make my final judgement. I was also worried that the Peter Parker and Harry Osborn story would have been rushed, I thought it would have been better to have introduced him in the first movie…wrong again! The way things played out between these two was brilliant and they managed to create a great story arc between the pair in a short time. I was also unsure about Dane DeHaan playing Osborn but he was actually fantastic and was a brilliant Goblin, easily the best villain here and I’m really excited to see where he takes this character.

Gwen Stacy’s death occurs in this movie and the scene in which it happens was done really well, it is just a shame that I was aware of this before seeing the movie as I imagine the effect it would have had on me if I hadn’t of known would have been much greater, still a great sequence though. The action in this outing was great and took a step up from the last movie, probably helped by the nature of the villains.  Electro played by Jamie Foxx was at the centre of many of these and his powers of being able to manipulate electricity were put to good use in creating some unreal action sequences.  In particular the finale was excellent, the initial fight between Spidey and Electro was fantastic and then with the appearance of the Green Goblin it just elevated the sequence to another level.  However despite these great villains and action sequences they are almost a side plot to Parker working out the mystery that lay behind his parents and more specifically his father’s work. The Amazing Spiderman was fantastic in its more subtle sequences in contrast to the big set pieces and this again was the case for the sequel, we get some great scenes seeing Parker trying to make sense of everything and the relationship between him and Aunt May is explored more which I liked!

The cast were fantastic as to be expected, Andrew Garfield is the perfect Spiderman in my opinion he envisions what Spiderman is supposed to be so well and I have nothing but praise for the man! Emma Stone was brilliant as Gwen Stacy and I am really saddened that the franchise has lost her so soon, would a third movie featuring her have been too much to ask? I am also a big Sally Field fan and she again excelled as Aunt May.  I really think that it was a great decision to reboot the Spiderman series and I am confident in saying that the Raimi trilogy doesn’t have a patch on what Marc Webb has created here.

BIGGEST FLAW – The uncertainty caused by The Rhino

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Dane DeHaan’s portrayal of Harry Osborn/The Green Goblin

Rating – 9/10