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The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro (2014)
Daniel's Review
'The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro’ is the sequel to 2012’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan and Jamie Foxx.
I really liked the first film.
Yes it had some plot points that were in the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy, but as a whole it was nicely filmed and constructed.
This film is quite the opposite.
Let’s start with the positives. The chemistry between Garfield and Stone is incredible with their performances pretty darn good, with praise to Garfield.
The visual effects and action sequences are spectacular, this is a nice looking film, visually. There are certain aspects and scenes which are darn impressive, but there are some aspects which are a miss.
But the humour is there, much like there was in the first film, at times can be really funny and I love Spider-Man’s wit in this rebooted series.
The strongest part of the film was the last half hour, which felt like it was a totally different movie altogether.
There are some things I had a few problems with the film. The dialogue was extremely cheesy, at times, mainly some of Electro's lines, and the villains, too much. Now, if they developed these villains properly, then I wouldn’t have a problem with so many villains all in one movie. Harry Osborne was by far the strongest character in the movie. His motif, his backstory, it all makes sense. Electro, not enough to make the character believable, but there was a nice sympathetic scenes at the start of the film, but somewhere the character loses that and becomes pretty generic and comes out like a cartoon in my opinion towards the ending of the film.
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ is a bit uneven, unfocused with the narrative, but has too much going on with the villains and storylines, but the visual effects are great, the acting is good and the film, at times, can be very enjoyable.
Score: 5.6/10
Published: May 5th, 2014
Details
Review
Release Date: April 17th, 2014
Studio: Sony, Columbia Pictures, Marvel
Runtime: 142 mins
Rated: M
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Nic's Review
'The Amazing Spiderman 2' starts off great. Andrew Garfield is a fantastic Peter Parker. He brings a charisma and enthusiasm to the role that Tobey Maguire never had. The initial trailers for the 'Amazing Spiderman 2' had me worried that his character, and therefore a strength of the first film, may have taken a backseat to the sea of villains that swamp the sequel. Fortunately, this is not the case, and the first act in particular is a blast as we watch what an average day in the life of Spiderman is like.
But then the film hits a speed bump. The introduction of Electro as the villain throws a spanner in the clockworks of the film's pacing that it never properly recovers from. It tries its best, of course, and limps to the climax keeping most of the franchise's charm intact, but the bullet to its knee never goes away. And that bullet is ultimately the inclusion of Electro. Jamie Foxx tries his best with quite a lame set of lines but the main problem is his illogical turn as villain. It just isn't convincing and not personal enough to Spidey to make him or us care about what happens to him. And for the primary villain, he isn't given much screen time. Nor is he the most menacing in the film as that honour easily goes to Dane Dehaan's Green Goblin.
His portrayal of Harry Osborn was for me the highlight of the entire film. This is the villain we should have had instead of Electro. Osborn feels three-dimensional right from the get-go and easily stands toe-to-toe with Parker as a formidable threat. Looking at his arc, it becomes clear that 'The Amazing Spiderman 2' had the potential to be a great film with a sympathetic villain and a cleverly woven plot. The Goblin's arc sticks closely to Spiderman's and the web that holds the two plots together- Gwen Stacy played by Emma Stone- could have all combined for perhaps the best Spiderman film yet.
Instead director Marc Webb opted to throw Electro into the mix unnecessarily and what resulted was a plot that slowly loses its focus as the story progresses. Nevertheless, all the actors do an excellent job with what they have (the chemistry between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield is of particular note) and the second climax of the film (the proper one, not the anticlimactic one) is almost worth the price of admission. I think your enjoyment of 'The Amazing Spiderman 2' greatly hinges on your love of Spiderman, whether it be the previous films, or the comics.
If you are a Spidey fan, I recommend giving it a go. If not, you needn't worry too much.
Score: 7.7/10