Congratulations to the two hacks (Orci and Kurtzman) who helped JJ Abrams crap all over Star Trek! They managed to make same error faster with the Amazing Spider-Man franchise by recreating the exact same gripe I had with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films…too many villains/plot lines. I can’t wait for Sony to reboot again.
If this incarnation were an ongoing TV series, what happened would work better. Have the multiple stories come together at different paces and resolve in separate episodes, as it should be with episodic television. Instead ASM2 is a shotgun of too much in the face: the Oscorp conspiracy involving Peter Parker’s parents, Electro, the Rhino (an under-utilized Paul Giamatti), the Green Goblin and Gwen Stacy. It culminates in overload and disappointment.
There were some positive elements so this review isn’t a total dump on Spidey. I think Jamie Foxx did a great job as Electro. An explanation on why Spider-Man can take an excessive amount of damage made sense plus why Oscorp did all that research involving spiders. Stan the Man’s traditional cameo.
However, I just don’t like Andrew Garfield as the lead character. He and Emma Stone have no chemistry. He isn’t as plausible as Toby Maguire in the role neither. Garfield just wanders around, moping and pondering. Rather two-dimensional. Peter and Harry Osborn’s long-term friendship is another glaring hole. After being away in boarding school, etc. for a decade they pick up where they left off…weak.
Save your money. Wait until Netflix or just re-watch Raimi’s movies. I should’ve figured it was going to be mediocre based upon the theater being less than half full when I went on opening weekend.
Alamo Extras: The old Electric Company bits with Spider-Man helping out; the Ramones music video from the Saturday Morning Cartoon album; the late Sixties Bashki cartoons; the live-action Spider-Man TV show from the Seventies; a Hot Wheels Ad; Spider-Man doing a PSA for voting in 1992; Spider-Man’s PSA for fitness; Mego toy commercials; clips from Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends; a foreign-language version of Bashki theme (Spanish I think); Spider-Man rapping to smaller version of himself; what do the Japanese and Turkish versions of Spider-Man look like; a funny movie of him grocery shopping; a gag with a Queen song and Bad Lip Reading of the previous movie.