The Amazing Spider-Man 2
"you know what I love about being spider-man?.........Everything!" I want to start off by saying that this film, gets a Blog Of Steel rating of 10/10. And its the film that puts me back on the fence between DC and Marvel. I love spider-man, Im a huge fan, but I didn't like the original trilogy. However, the reboot was everything that I wanted it to be. It found the perfect balance between humour, action and sadness. The sequel continues to use this perfect balance. We see expansions on the parents back story to open the film, we then see how the people of New York have grown to love Spider-Man and we see the guilt that still overwhelms Peter from the death of Uncle Ben and Captain Stacy (Gwens dad). Along side this, we see Peter reunited with his long term friend Harry Osbourn and we see Peter trying to maintain his relationship with Gwen whilst he saves the city.
Visual Effects
I want to destroy any negative thoughts and worries that some people have had about the CGI, it was visually spectacular! spideys webs looked awesome, his costume was perfect and the action scenes were mostly clear and visually stunning. Electro's skin perfectly conveyed the energy it was consuming and the power that it wanted to release. There is only one problem I had with the CGI, and that was the way they designed the Green Goblin. They went for the 'mutation' take, which means that he was infected with a virus caused by the radioactive spider that bit spiderman, however, the experiment only works with anyone in Richard Parkers bloodline. Harry found the goblin suit and wore it to fully become the green goblin. His face didn't look great. I would've preferred a mask. I believe that you can't beat the goblin design from the original Spider-Man 1.
Jamie Foxx as Electro
Jamie Foxx as electro. Amazing! An oscar winning, joke telling, hollywood nice guy, playing a superhero villain! Awesome! Max (Jamie Foxx before he becomes electro!) starts by thinking that the world doesn't see him, and thinks that he is unimportant. This is until Spider-Man saves his life! He becomes obsessed with Spidey. He then has the shocking accident (pun intended) which turns him into electro. He starts getting angry when Spidey doesnt recognise him and the police keep shooting him, understandably really! We then see a MASS display of his powers! He wipes out the whole of times square in one epic scene! he is then taken to the RavenCroft institute, prison for the criminally insane (equivelant to Batman's ARkham Asylum). This is where he becomes more powerful. He eventually comes back for round two with spidey and it is the best action scene I have ever seen in a superhero movie. It was entertaining and fluid. It was smooth and exciting, spectacular and amazing! (see what I did there!) The damage done to Spidey and electro in this scene was immense! I never wanted the fight to end! His acting as a needy, invisible nobody turned powerfull electric being was brilliant and kept us feeling sorry for him and against him. Well done Jamie Foxx.
Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man
Andrew Garfields performance was once again exceptional, His quirky humour on and off the job kept the audience laughing and kept those who are uninterested in the action engaged. He clearly showed the guilt that he carries on his shoulders everyday but also showed how much he enjoys doing good and saving people. Not much anticipated for his performance as it was expected that he will do very well considering his performnce in the first movie. Peter struggled with keeping his relationship with Gwen because of the promise he made to her dad in the first movie. Constantly fearing that she will get hurt. He delivers his jokes well and portrays a very likeable peter Parker almost exact to the personality I see in the comic and cartoon version. The relationship which he has with a little boy who he saves from some bullies is just magical, and displays the very thing that we love about spiderman. He mentions the name John Jonah Jameson, and talks about working for the daily bugle. For me, thats a guarantee that J.J.J will be cast for The Amazing Spiderman 3. It will be funny to see how he deals with the hate Jameson gives him.
Harry Osbourn
On to the topic of Harry Osbourn. Despite the whole face issue, I thought the rest of the suit was great. Harry wasn't the goblin for a large majority of the film, he had a short, violent time as Green Goblin. For what its worth, his acting was good as the Goblin, he was craaazy! I quickly grew to like him as Harry Osbourn. He was funny and as we have seen before, Dane DeHaan can portray a teen with "daddy Issues" very well. He nicely suited the film. He was a good choice of actor to play Peters long term best friend turned villain. He finds out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker (or the other way round) and therefore looses all hope in him. This in turn leads to him getting beaten by Spidey. He's not dead though! so expect him to be in The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Seeing his performance in this movie im glad to know he will be back!Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy
Just like Garfield as Peter Parker, there wasn't much for Emma Stone to prove as Gwen, she was also amazing in the first film. I thought it, and they have just continued to show me, that Emma Stone was the perfect cast for Gwen Stacy. No other actress on this planet could have played her role as great as she did. Her chemistry with Peter Parker was amazing, probably the best chemistry between a hero and his love interest we have ever seen. The reason why I like Gwen Stacy is because she isn't your average damsel in distress, she is driven and wants to go places, to put her scientific knowledge to use. That role was executed perfectly by Emma Stone. Good luck topping that performance and good luck having that chemistry with Andrew, if you want to play Peter Parker's girlfriend. **SPOILER ALERT!!** do not proceed if you do not wish to read spoilers. Now I of course practically cried when we saw the famous scene of Gwen's death. As you can imagine from what you have just read, I really like her and Emma's performance as her. But the comics say it had to happen and it did, Spider-Man couldn't save Gwen, her spine snapped and she passed away. This means if she is in the next film, it would be hallucinations or flashbacks. Gwens death opens the door for Mary Jane, most likely being payed by Shailene Woodley. But I think that Emma Stone deserves a standing ovation as a great farewell to a great performance.
The After credits scene.
Please don't get excited, the after credit scene is a clip for Xmen days of future past. But it is not what you think. Or what you hope. There will be no X-Men/Spidey crossover, it is merely an advertising deal that Director Marc Webb made so he could get out of his Xmen contract to enable him to direct Spidey. So just to repeat.....The dream Spidey, X-men crossover WILL NOT HAPPEN. Im sorry for anyone who got as excited as I did. How cool would it have been though!!
Whats next?
Well, as you would expect, The Amazing Spider-Man 3 is scheduled to hit the big screen in 2016. However there is also ideas about spin off films such as the Sinister Six and Venom. The sinister six are basically a league of Spideys worst enemies. That would be cool, but how would you do that movie without focusing on Spider-Man? The amazing Spider-Man 2 featured a whole host of easter eggs and references to sooo many villains. They could go anywhere. Sony are going to do as much as they possibly can with this Spider-Man. And I can't wait to see what they decide to do.
Overall, the film was brilliant and awesome and everything you want from a Spider-Man sequel. It was funny and entertaining and all round AMAZING! Performances from all cast members were great and the film expanded on all that we loved from the first movie. I can only hope that they never stop making films in this series because I really do like them a lot. Im sad to see Gwen die but fans like Mary Jane!, I mean, she is Spider-Man's Lois Lane. Definitely watch this film. I think it is the second best film the Marvel audience has ever seen and it is for certain my second favourite film of all time just under The amazing Spider-Man 1!! This all leads to the film getting a Blog Of Steel rating of 8/10. Amazing!
Sorry for those of you who wished for my normal weekly post reviewing this weeks episode of Arrow and so on. I will be back on track with this next week. And after my exams, if there is a movie I need to review I will post a separate post with the review! I hope you enjoyed what you read and have some thoughts of your own! if you want to air your thoughts, discuss a few things or ask any questions, tweet me at @The_BlogOfSteel. Oh by the way, if you google @The_BlogOfSteel, My blog is the third result! Thats all for this week, peace out!
