I know I have not reviewed the first Amazing Spiderman but I have just recently seen the second one and I just want to dive right in to reviewing it. Also I won't go on about the story, I am just going to focus on specific events and characters in detail so has the title indicates there will be MASSIVE SPOILERS for those who have not yet seen the film.
Firstly I want to talk about the villains that appear in the film so lets start off with the main one; Max Dillon/Electro played by Jamie Foxx. Now sorry to all the people who are massive fans of the original Electro from the comic books but in my opinion I much preferred the version of Jamie Foxx. I have two main reasons for this and they start off with the his change in look; anyone who have read the comics know that Electro wears a green and yellow spandex costume and while this is ok I always found it to be a tad wacky and really think this would not have done well in the film. His look in the film however is really cool; his electric blue skin which is kind of see through and covered in veins defiantly gives Electro the look of a mutated super human.
The other reason I prefer the film version of Electro was Jamie Foxx's praise worthy portrayal and the story arc that they have given him. In the comics Max Dillon is just an electrical engineer and line man who gains his powers and then just turns to crime but in the film they give more depth to the character; he works for OSCORP as an electrical engineer and is probably the biggest nobody in the entire world. I mean really this guy is so alone, so mistreated and so under appreciated for is work by is colleges that I really felt sorry for this guy. One of the best non - action scenes in the film for me was when he was stumbling through Times Square after just getting his powers and he sees himself being filmed on all of the big screens and even though they are picturing him as the villain Max just looks soooo relived that people a finally seeing him......until Spiderman ruins it for him by stealing the lime light. Another change in the Electro back story for the film was that after Spiderman saves his life he practically idolizes (and it is a little creepy with how far they go lol).
Oh and one more thing I would like to add that Electro has one of the coolest themes for a villain that I have heard. When it comes to villains a factor that I think is a definite plus is a badass theme song and I think they did it right here.
Next I would like to go in to possibly Spiderman's arch nemesis and that is the Green Goblin. Now when comic book fans watch this film I bet some of them where surprised when Harry Osborn is the Green Goblin when usually his father Norman Osborn is the first in almost all other forms of Spiderman media. Not only that but they kill Norman off after only five minutes of screen time from a disease, something that Harry has as well. Now this was one hell of a bold move since Norman is supposed to be the first Green Goblin but they handled it so well in this that it is something I can look over and Dane DeHann as Harry was so good too. Even when he was just Harry Osborn and not the Green Goblin he seemed really dark and creepy and the disease that is killing him gives him a good motivation to take the spider venom drug.
As for the costume besides form the usual armour and glider they have decided to forgo the use of a mask in favour of changing Harry's face when he injects himself with the drug. So instead of a goblin looking helmet like in the previous Spiderman films Harry's face is given a greenish colour, his hair lightens and is spikes up and his mouth is all smiley and twisted with black teeth. I really did like this look because like Electro they decided to kind of mutant his appearance to make him more sinister instead of giving him a costume and like with Electro it has worked.
Now with the villain that I feel is completely wasted and that is the Rhino; first I will just say that I am not a big Rhino fan, in the comics and now he is not one of my favourites but I was still looking forward to see him in the film. This is because in the trailers I saw that they gave him an awesome mecha suit and what looked like a cool fight with Spiderman however this fight only happens for the last five minutes of the film and it cuts to the credits half way through. A bit of a disappointment after how much the trailers showed of it so I can really just hope at this point that it is continued in the next film.
As for the fights in this film besides from the disappointing one with Rhino I have to say that all of the others are done really well. The two major fights Spiderman has with Electro are just awesome, the one in the Time Square was great with the cool use of Spidey Sense and we get to see Electro getting better with controlling his powers throughout it. It may have ended suddenly with Spiderman hitting Electro with water from a fire hose but since water is his actual weakness in the comics am not going to fault them for that. However his final fight at the power station with my favourite fight in the entire film; It was so cool when Electro kept teleporting himself in between the rods and it was playing his theme song!
For the Green Goblin fight I have heard some saying it was just shoehorned in at the very end so it can include the death of Gwen Stacy (talk about that next) however as short as it was I think it was done very well and choosing the clock tower as a location was great too. Like with Rhino I hope that the Green Goblin has more screen time in the next film.
On to the death of Gwen Stacy and I have to say that I am really glad the writers decided to keep it and not change it in any way. As a fan of the comics I knew she would have been killed off by the Green Goblin the second I saw her and like in the comics she is killed when Spiderman tries to catch her with his webbing and the impact snaps her neck. This is one of the most definitive moments in the comics because not only had Spiderman killed an innocent, it was his girlfriend and it established the Green Goblin forever as his arch nemesis. Also if I am honest I am kind of glad that they did kill her off now because despite Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone having amazing chemistry together I was kind of annoyed by their constant on again off again relationship throughout the film. I feel that some of their scenes together could have been cut out from the film to focus on other events.
One last big thing I would like to talk about and that is they whole mystery surrounding Peters parent and I have to say that the whole revelation of it was a bit of a let down. Sure it goes includes how Ben Parker was the one behind the mutated spiders but in the end it all amount to one thing: OSCORP bad. Fans of the comics and even non fans probably could have worked out that on their own, it was done really well, especially the beginning of the film with Ben and his wife on the plane but like I said the big reveal behind their deaths and everything they done was a bit obvious.
Now lastly I talk about one of the most exciting aspects of the film and that is the whole set up for the Sinister Six group! For those who do not know they Sinister Six is a group in the Spiderman Universe made op of some of the most dangerous of the Spiderman villains. Harry literally mentions it at the end of the film and that is even the whole reason Rhino was introduced at the very end. We also have a massive hint in the film that Doctor Octopus and the Vulture will also be included in the roster and I have also heard rumours online that Kraven the Hunter may be included as well which would be great since he is an interesting character. One I would like to see are Shocker, Scorpion and the Chameleon, I am really looking forward to seeing the Sinister Six so I guess we are just going to have to wait and see who will be included.
On another note I just want to say I really hope Carnage is included in the film series eventually, he is the my most favourite (an in my opinion most powerful) of the Spiderman villains!
Overall this was a awesome follow up to the Amazing Spiderman 1 with its strong points being the villains of Electro and the Green Goblin but being let down slightly by Rhino and too much screen time being given the Peter's and Gwen's relationship.
SCORE: 8/10
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