Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

I saw ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and as promised here is my 2 cents on it. I gotta do the usual disclaimer which is; this is merely my opinion and I encourage you to go watch the film for yourself to form your own opinion. Also this review contains spoilers so if you don’t wanna know, this is your chance to stop reading.

Still with me? Alright then, here we go.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. After reading all of the articles and casting I was so afraid that Spider-Man was going to be a jumbled mess of characters. However it wasn’t a jumbled mess. It was a very captivating story with the focus, villain wise, on Electro. And while the other characters that were promised are introduced (Felicia Hardy and Alistair Smythe) they don’t play a huge part and don’t get their costumes.

The aspect that I found most interesting is that the villains in this film make you feel very sympathetic to them. Electro just wanted to be seen and given credit for the work he had done instead of being used. Meanwhile Harry inherited a company that doesn’t want him there for a father who was never there for him. The only villain you don’t feel bad for is Rhino. Granted you don’t see him much, but he’s a Russian mobster who enjoys crime.

Also, yes, the rumors are true. Gwen Stacy does indeed die. The slight change that they made, aside from the location of her demise, is that Spider-Man isn’t responsible. He is just a little too slow in saving her. If you watch the web gets to her, but her head hits the ground before the web pulls her back up.

There are a few things I’m still unsure how I feel about them. The first is the “Osborn curse” as Norman puts it to Harry. Apparently the Osborns have a retro genetic disease which is why Norman founded Oscorp to begin with. Then there’s Richard Parker putting his own DNA into the spiders which is why Peter got powers. The combination of the disease, which is starting to take hold of Harry and Parker’s genetic spiders are how we get Green Goblin. There is also Peter and Harry’s friendship. For being childhood friends you don’t really get that feeling. Their friendship feels sort of forced.

A couple of things they did that I really enjoy is Dennis Leary makes an appearance again as Captain Stacy. No they don’t bring him back to life, but his memory haunts Peter. The other is that Marvel continues the lesson of never fire the CEO and founder of the company. In a Marvel movie whenever a board boots out the head of the company it never goes well for them, and that continues here.

The ending they leave wide open for Rhino to be the next major villain for the third installment. That would be good because otherwise it’s just a waste of Paul Giamatti’s talent. Which was also a concern when I heard the Rhino was only in the film for 4 minutes.

Overall I really enjoyed it and it taught me not to judge a movie based on all of the articles I see about it. In fact, think I’m going to be laying off those a bit. Oh, and one last thing. The scene during the credits is a bit of a disappointment. It’s just a sneak peek scene from ‘X-Men Days of Future Past’. Just to forewarn you.

Let me know what you think of ’The Amazing Spider-Man 2’.