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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is great and everyone's a hater
- Thread starter gig
- Start date
Pretty sure plenty of people feel this way. The first movie is an utterly pointless rehash. The marketing hyped up some kind of secret to differentiate it from the Raimi movies, but all that stuff was cut from the movie. It's the worst of all the movies by far. ASM2 is still not very good but it's different and it's action packed. I enjoyed it as a trashy blockbuster. ASM1 isn't enjoyable as anything.
But it doesn't work well because the Goblin stuff sucks. A well done death can be "rewarding" in a way if the stakes surrounding the death make sense. And they didn't here. It was, in this universe, a random no name villain who basically came out of nowhere.
On top of that, they felt the need to overcomplicate her death by having her fall and then be saved, fall and then be saved, fall and then finally her neck cracks because the webbing in a shape of a hand grabs her.
In fact, "overcomplicating" is an issue throughout both ASM films, whether it's Gwen's death, the entire Green Goblin story, the history of Peter's parents and the incredibly awkward way they tried to make the "with great power" moment happen without actually saying it.
To quote myself while talking about Peter going out and mollywhopping Wilson Fisk in a prison fight
People forget, Peter is choosing to follow that "with great power comes great responsibility" ideal. That's not what he defaults to. Peter beating the ever loving shit out of Fisk in a prison for the sake of public humiliation? That's who Peter would be all the time if he weren't choosing to be better.
OP
OP
I mean, I guess? Her death being prolonged and the hand web I thought rewarded those who knew she was going to die, which I would guess is at least half the audience. Makes it feel desperate. The music helps.
Even those who didn't for sure know she was going to die likely knew she was going to die. As someone else stated in this thread they beat the audience over the head with it (in both movies, really).
I would have preferred she'd die as a consequence of Electro in general than hamfist the goblin story into it.
Couple of great scenes. Lots of ambitious ideas. Garfield and Stone's chemistry was amazing. Best spidey suit. Best Spider-Man swinging scenes. I thinks it's apparent there was studio meddling involved pushing the whole "set up the whole spider verse and sinister six and Harry going goblin all in the same movie"
I think there's a genuinely good movie somewhere in there. It's unfortunately covered in too much bullshit. So it remains an overall bad movie to me. I think that corny scene of Garfield punching air in his room listening to that one song was the worst scene in the movie surprisingly. Of all the silly insane bullshit the movie throws at you that scene made me burst out laughing.
I think there's a genuinely good movie somewhere in there. It's unfortunately covered in too much bullshit. So it remains an overall bad movie to me. I think that corny scene of Garfield punching air in his room listening to that one song was the worst scene in the movie surprisingly. Of all the silly insane bullshit the movie throws at you that scene made me burst out laughing.
Haha. I was operating under the assumption that there's a higher tolerance for bad movies when you're a teenager. Mid 20s being the upper limit of possibilities.
That's not an insult to you and I'm not appreciating some of the parts in here that are. Lol. You like what you like.
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I actually have a generally low tolerance for bad movies. ASM2 is one of maybe a handful that I'm against the grain on. (Lady in the Water is another, maybe it's Paul Giamatti's fault?)
Absolutely not. To be clear: the ASM series as a whole is not looked back on in a positive light. But I can guarantee you that "ASM2 > ASM1" is not a common opinion.
This is backed up by the critical reception, with ASM2 being the only Spider-Man film out of seven films (in three different series) to have a rotten rating.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Abandoned by his parents and raised by an aunt and uncle, teenager Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), AKA Spider-Man, is trying to sort out who he is and exactly what his feelings are for his first crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). When Peter finds a mysterious briefcase that was his father's, he...
www.rottentomatoes.com
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Confident in his powers as Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) embraces his new role as a hero and spends time with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) in between protecting New York from criminals. However, his greatest battle yet is about to begin. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter...
www.rottentomatoes.com
I've tried to watch the movie on two or three occasions and fallen asleep every time. I don't know how they made Jaime Foxx so boring to watch. The stuff with his parents was boring. Harry was boring. It was all bland and disorganized and hard to watch.
Gwen and Peter were alright together.
, and I appreciate that. That's about all the praise I can give it.
Gwen and Peter were alright together.
Gwen's death was genuinely brutal
Yeah sorry I do know the circumstances, it explains his state of mind in this panel but doesn't justify his lashing out at MJ like that.
I guess I can wrap my head around it more if the story ends up holding him accountable for being cruel. People DO get weird when they grieve and it's interesting to write about flawed characters. Without further context though it just comes off super dated 🤷‍♂️
Lady in the Water... is good.
(I edited my post above, if you missed it.)
People saying kind things about this movie are losing it. The climax was literally so boring that they had to have two separate climaxes running simultaneously (the plane and the hospital). Actual amateur-hour filmmaking.
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No worries and no offense taken. I'm prepared to die on the ASM2 hill regardless of cost to my personal character.
Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone do fine, but that doesn't stop the 5 minute stretches where they mumble at each other good or bearable.
The only thing PACKED in the back half is the sheer amount of stuff they try to cram in. Peter's family backstory stuff, Harry's heel turn, weird Black Cat cameo teases, Electro breakout, the Goblin transformation, and a random plane crash subplot that Spider-Man never actually knows is happening. And the funny thing about this movie is that is bends backward so much to make sure Peter is never wrong. Most of the climax of the film is Gwen going "It's my choice to be with you, I'm here, my choice my choice my choice. In fact, the dick move is webbing me to this car door so that I don't end up in danger." And then she dies but don't worry, Aunt May and a video recording make sure to tell you it's not peter's fault because it was her choice.
Rhino's just doing a funny voice, Electro is making puns, and Goblin is just bad. They're too shallow.
Fine, you can have these.
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...His girlfriend just died in front of him. Who the hell needs him to be held accountable for telling someone to get out of his apartment?
I really like Andrew Garfield. I also think the spiderman portrayed in the Amazing Spiderman movies are the best "version" of Spiderman. just the way Spiderman himself, in the costume acts and handles situations.
with that said...
-the way they did electro was corny/bad.
-Andrew Garfield's peter parker isnt as good as Tom Holland's imo. Andrew is just too cool as Peter Parker
i didnt think it was as bad as most people made it out to be. but It wasn't great either imo. it was serviceable. I'll agree about Andrew's and Gwen's chemistry, but to be fair...Emma stone is good with most of her counterparts in movies. Shes real good with that.
and yea....that season change scene was really good. but i mean, the 2 main bullet points imo really hold it back.
with that said...
-the way they did electro was corny/bad.
-Andrew Garfield's peter parker isnt as good as Tom Holland's imo. Andrew is just too cool as Peter Parker
i didnt think it was as bad as most people made it out to be. but It wasn't great either imo. it was serviceable. I'll agree about Andrew's and Gwen's chemistry, but to be fair...Emma stone is good with most of her counterparts in movies. Shes real good with that.
and yea....that season change scene was really good. but i mean, the 2 main bullet points imo really hold it back.
Movie's complete garbage. I do not believe anyone likes this piece of shit.
Now I know you're trolling. Gwen's death drew outright laughter with the opening night crowd I saw it with. Hilariously bad.
Now I know you're trolling. Gwen's death drew outright laughter with the opening night crowd I saw it with. Hilariously bad.
It's too late and I'm too tired to post anything constructive about the movie, so I can only say, no, you are wrong, and everyone is justified in hating it, including me.
It's silly af but the kid running off at the end dressed as Spidey got me emotional both times I saw it.
Up until this point in the comics, MJ's character was that she was a party loving go go girl who never wanted to commit to anything and didn't take anything seriously. So when she goes to Peter and says that she feels sorry, he's going to think she's insincere, especially when he's blinded by grief.
I often wonder if Marc Webb is a decent director held back by studio meddling and a bad screenplay or if he's actually just trash amplifying bad elements of a mediocre film.
Saying things in an emotional outburst is what happens when you are stricken with grief at the immediate death of someone you dearly love, yes.
Thanks for the context. Maybe I'll go back and read through the arc, it's an iconic moment and I'm super curious to see it how it played out in its original form
Yeah we definitely agree there, I'm not saying his actions are unrealistic. But eh, if I lost my girlfriend and accused someone (who was also torn up about the loss) of being incapable of caring about anyone dying… even their own mom… I'd feel fucking terrible afterward right? Like regardless of the circumstances, that's gotta really mess that other person up.
That's what I meant by wondering if the story was going to "hold Peter accountable", it'd be interesting to see them do a deep dive on the complexities of grief and how it can destroy you and your relationships with others. Some great opportunities for character growth.
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To me it's only real flaw was studio meddling (again)
Sony so wanted an extended universe with a Sinister Six movie, a Venom movie, a Black Cat movie and more.
So instead of Amazing Spider-Man 2 being just about Spidey v Electro they rushed it all. Set up all the other villains with that stupid tech scene that showed things like Ocks tentacles and vultures wings and Rhino Mech suit.
We force in the second Green Goblin to do the Gwen Stacy death early (which was actually a great scene just forced)
These villains all have different Origins unrelated to being put together to kill Spider-Man, but that doesn't matter because we want to do this extended Universe now!!!
And all it cost was cutting the new Mary Jane completely out of the film and destroying the franchise for a second time.
Sony so wanted an extended universe with a Sinister Six movie, a Venom movie, a Black Cat movie and more.
So instead of Amazing Spider-Man 2 being just about Spidey v Electro they rushed it all. Set up all the other villains with that stupid tech scene that showed things like Ocks tentacles and vultures wings and Rhino Mech suit.
We force in the second Green Goblin to do the Gwen Stacy death early (which was actually a great scene just forced)
These villains all have different Origins unrelated to being put together to kill Spider-Man, but that doesn't matter because we want to do this extended Universe now!!!
And all it cost was cutting the new Mary Jane completely out of the film and destroying the franchise for a second time.
Absolutely not. To be clear: the ASM series as a whole is not looked back on in a positive light. But I can guarantee you that "ASM2 > ASM1" is not a common opinion.
This is backed up by the critical reception, with ASM2 being the only Spider-Man film out of seven films (in three different series) to have a rotten rating.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Abandoned by his parents and raised by an aunt and uncle, teenager Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), AKA Spider-Man, is trying to sort out who he is and exactly what his feelings are for his first crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). When Peter finds a mysterious briefcase that was his father's, he...
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Confident in his powers as Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) embraces his new role as a hero and spends time with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) in between protecting New York from criminals. However, his greatest battle yet is about to begin. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter...
I didn't say it was a common opinion, I just said plenty of people felt that way. The two movies are very different and while ASM1 is generally regarded as the better movie, at the end of the day, look at your links, you've got 77% positive user reviews for ASM1 vs. 64% for ASM2. Plenty of people like ASM2, and it's not rare for those to like it because of what it does differently from the first ASM movie. You make it sound like OP's opinion is super rare, but I've seen it from others on here in other threads and elsewhere online. The two movies have two different vibes and I think while generally people give more credit to ASM1 because it's not as trashy as 2, it's a really conservative film that seems afraid to do anything new. 2 > 1 might not be the majority opinion, but you see it often enough.
This is a movie where the main antagonist plays his own themesong during his big fight sequence. What I most recall about ASM2 is that it looked nice most of the time and it actually did have some solid action and a pretty good SM suit but that just about the entire rest of the movie was pretty rough. I've never given it a second watch either and don't really plan to anytime soon. It has many of the same issues as Spider-Man 3 but with generally weaker direction, acting, script. Not gonna say the OP is wrong though. You do you ! All of us can like dumb /bad movies , for me I enjoyed well known junk like Hancock. Just know you happen to be in a minority of fans and own that.
Whenever people talk about The Amazing Spiderman films, all I can think about is how silly Uncle Ben's death is in the first one.
Yes, Uncle Ben, you go for that gun for no raisin.
No raisin at all.
Yes, Uncle Ben, you go for that gun for no raisin.
No raisin at all.
We know for a fact Sony was using this movie as a jumping start for a while universe of Spider-Man movies so I'd assume Webb had little control over what characters were in the movie and what their fates would be.
It's a moment that plays out through Conway's entire run. MJ is frequently seen with Peter during Conway's time as writer. MJ got a lot of character development under Conway.
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If nothing else, we know Marc Webb was super into the technical stuff. The practical web swinging, the VFX, lots of pre viz and even shooting the second one on film are all things people say he was very involved with.
His biggest failing was having to wrangle with like a dozen subplots.
It's not boring but it is campy and dumb. I think it's the closest of the modern superhero films to give me Batman Returns vibes.
Obviously Returns is a much better film.
