With: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane Dehaan, Jamie Foxx, Sally Field, Chris Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Colm Feore, Campbell Scott, B.J. Novak, Embeth Davidtz, Felicity Jones
A massive improvement from its predecessor, The Amazing Spiderman 2 has better stories to tell from Peter Parker's family history, to his love story with Gwen Stacy and to the villains, one of which is Harry Osborn, his long time friend turned biggest enemy.
The underwhelming and forgettable first Amazing Spiderman is well redeemed by its sequel. Although there are times when there's too much stitching of scenes all at once that one would understand why they had to cut Mary Jane's (Shailene Woodley) scenes from the film. There's so many things going on, bombarded by storyarcs and villains that even the villains themselves have their own one.
No complains here because it's more enjoyable this way, just like how I enjoyed the multiple villains of Tobey Maguire's third Spiderman movie with Sandman and Venom. Plus, this makes up for the lame Lizard villain of the first one.
Never a fan of Andrew Garfield. I don't think he can transcend Tobey Maguire as the titular superhero but he's satisfactory here. Although the reason why he's so effective as Peter Parker is because of Emma Stone's appeal. It's probably not right to give all the credit to Emma but to be quite frank, Andrew Garfield's face sometimes look problematic. But they're magical as a duo. They're a real life couple, that's why one can't help but feel the authenticity of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy's sweet moments especially that they're associated with awesome soundtrack. Last time they had me at Coldplay's Til Kingdom Come, this time they got me with Phosphorescent's Song for Zula (a song also featured in The Spectacular Now :3 Shailene ;_;). You can always trust Marc Webb in terms of soundtrack. Remember (500) Days of Summer?
Emma Stone is just so beautiful and lovable in the film, it's deadly. It's as if every time she appears on the screen, you just love her more & more and this applies both to Gwen Stacy and Emma Stone herself. She's a gem. I love her.
It's unfair to make the monster ensemble a footnote in this writeup because this star-studded film is tremendously acted. Dane Dehaan gave an edgy touch to Harry Osborn, once portrayed by James Franco who I also commend. I've always believed in this actor who actually made my list of best supporting actors of 2013 for The Place Beyond the Pines. Really glad that he took this role because it's way bolder and more reachable for the mainstream audience. With Sally Field's small role, her revelation scene with Andrew Garfield provided one of the poignant scenes of the film. Paul Giamatti was enjoyable. Jamie Foxx, I'm just not a fan. lol
I still prefer Sam Raimi's Spiderman trilogy but what I like about Marc Webb's variant is his playfulness in utilizing Spiderman's powers. Aside from Emma Stone and the soundtrack, Spiderman's webs and acrobatic stunts even in Webb's first Spiderman movie have always been my favorite part. It's one of the better aspects I've noticed in this film compared to Raimi's.
The Amazing Spiderman 2 is heavily plotted, action-packed and sentimental at the same time. I can't imagine and I can't wait to see how they'll follow this up especially with its rather heartbreaking ending. All I can say is good luck Shailene or whoever will play Mary Jane!
Oh and if you haven't watched it yet, there's a badass Mystique scene some time in the middle of its end credits. So timely for Jennifer Lawrence to appear because I can't help but compare her to Emma Stone for reasons I don't really know yet. But yes, that's a tip if you tend to leave the movies while the end credits roll. :3
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