Review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) by Amongstyou — 03 May 2014

This film is very flawed. It has many problems, most of which are caused by the rather sloppy first entry into this new Spider-Man franchise. But, it's trying. You can see a lot of effort being made to make this as good of a movie as possible, and that effort did somewhat shine through. It's not perfect, but it's definitely not just "okay." It's far better than that.

First off, it nails Spide-Man as a character. Andrew Garfield is great as Peter Parker, but he's brilliant as Spider-Man. Gwen Stacy, who is played by Emma Stone, also is pitch perfect once again. James DeHaan is the best Harry Osborne yet, but sadly his story arc is rushed to where it doesn't feel like it fully worked, though I have no qualms with his fantastic performance. Electro, or Max Dillon, is played by Jamie Foxx, who I have to say is on a role lately with his acting roles. However, I can't help but feel he didn't get enough focus in the film due to the filmmakers trying to shove in Harry and even a bit of Rhino.

If I could do this film series my way, I'd have Harry Osborne in the first film interacting with Peter during high school, inferring a long relationship between the two, and have him be shipped off to boarding school at the middle of the movie, until he comes back for the sequel. I'd also make Electro the main villain of the second film with no *SPOILERS* Green Goblin at the end, or Rhino.

The story is better than the first, and by the end, the weighty material feels justified, though it's hard not to think that the film is very bloated, which is why I think some of it should have been put into the third film instead.

Still, this movie is good, and feels like a Spider-Man movie, but it's just not amazing. It has some amazing moments, especially towards the end, which I won't spoil, but other moments just feel dull. Here's hoping for a more sensational sequel.