Reviews & Ratings for
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 More at IMDbPro »

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172 out of 282 people found the following review useful:

spidey 2 - surprisingly good.

Author: dale7171 from United Kingdom
11 April 2014

Being not a fan of the spiderman movies - for me aimed at at kids and teenagers of which i am not - I found this movie to be a bit of an unexpected treat.

Viewed it last night at a 3d preview in edinburgh and what i worried might be a bum numbing 2 and a half hours actually flew by.

Don't want to give any spoilers or ruin any story but the whole pace of this film is much tighter than previous efforts and the tone can be quite dark at times. There is of course love interest but this added to the story and I actually bought into it and found myself caring for the characters, no mean feat for a cynic like me. Thankfully it didn't come across all teen/twilighty which seems to be the norm these days.

The villains are very good, Dane DeHaan in particular is exceptional (is it me or does he remind you of a young Leo di Caprio?) and gives a fantastically unnerving performance - big things beckon for him no mistake.

If you liked the previous Spiderman movies you'll still love this, If you didn't put any misgivings aside and give it a whirl (as i did). Either way definitely go and see this film, words I never thought I'd utter about a Spiderman movie. You Won't be disappointed.

As I said - no plot details and no spoilers, just an honest opinion of my film experience.

158 out of 280 people found the following review useful:

Too much, too unbalanced and a waste of talent

Author: MartinOnMovies from Sweden
25 April 2014

I can't say I went in to the theater with high hopes. I did enjoy the first installment of this unnecessary reboot, almost anything seemed like a step up from "Spiderman 3", and Garfield felt way more natural than Maguire, and Emma Stone is always welcome. But after seeing the first trailer I thought it seemed like a total mess, and I wasn't convinced by Electro one bit. Unfortunately I was spot on, I hoped to at least get an enjoyable time at the cinema with my friends, but ended up feeling quite uncomfortable and laughing throughout most of the film.

Garfield and Stone has their chemistry and does their best with the incredibly thin script and cheesy one-liners, but their potential quite beautiful scenes together gets lost in the over-full and messy plot. I can't buy an emotional scene that is interrupted by heavy dub-step and a blue electric guy.

Oh Jamie Foxx, how did you go from Django to this? Before he goes all CGI-Electro he tries to play the nerdy unseen scientist (with a worse comb-over than Christian Bale's 'Hustle'-look). As Electro it's hard to say how much is his fault, and what can be blamed on the rest, I'd go with the rest. You don't sympathize with him nor do you believe how fast he becomes this super-villain.

Everything that Dane DeHaan did so well in "Chronicle" just feels unnatural and (maybe not misplaced, but wrong) here. And his character development is way too rushed and quite unnecessary for this film, it just becomes another sub-plot standing in the way of what really matters.

Sally Field does good work as Aunt May, but leaves no lasting mark. Paul Giamatti's Russian criminal is just in the way and only gives a couple of dreadful and laughable scenes. And then there's the mad German scientist named Kafka and I rest my case.

The action and visuals isn't bad, but still doesn't make up for the low "trying to be Marvel"-comedy and horrific soundtrack, a soundtrack that almost itself destroys the film throughout the exhausting 142 minutes. And sometimes it feels like the movie is taking us as an audience to be stupid, with pointers to what is going to happen. I would like to say that you might enjoy it if you just try and see it for what it is, but it's hard, but hopefully possible! It had an interesting start, with a glimpse inside the past and Peter's parents, but it's left underdeveloped, as is almost everything else, to make room for all its action and villains.

It's amazing how the difference between two big-budget superhero-movies can be so huge, if you put this against "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", a great and, opposed to this one, original film.

Oh how I wish that Marc Webb could have continued with a "(500) Days of Summer"-esque movie instead, he could keep the sub-plots starring Garfield, Stone and DeHaan, and it could very well be a great film, and probably not such a waste of talent.

148 out of 269 people found the following review useful:

A really, really good film

Author: themorar95
16 April 2014

I personally thought this was an excellent film. It had a good amount of comedy, truly deep emotions, and brilliant action. A great, cohesive film to lead on from the first one.

The relationship between the two main characters are brilliant, and you can really understand what's going on between them as both actors portray their characters very well.

Also, what I like from these movies are that they are more relative to the Spider-man comic books, compared to the Spider-man Trilogy (and let's be honest, they were terrible.) If you have read the comic books, then you'll understand where I'm coming from when you see this movie.

The only downside/s I feel this movie has is that Jamie Foxx, in my opinion, doesn't really fit his character and I felt that he didn't really have a massive say in the whole film, it was more about the other villain - but what I did like is that having two villains didn't make it feel like there was too much going on; it was very understandable and a pleasurable viewing experience, so the director receives points in my book for his story telling.

This review is really brief as I don't want to sway your opinion on the film before you've watched it, but rather to change your opinion on whether you should watch it, and I believe that you definitely should.

79 out of 137 people found the following review useful:

Better than than the first one

Author: Sara Matar from Bosnia and Hercegovina
26 April 2014

When the Amazing Spider-Man appeared I was like "why would you do a remake of a not so old movie?" and I was really disappointed with it. However,this time I was surprisingly shocked to see how much it stepped up, it was better than any Spider-Man movie I ever watched.

I first need to say that the director did a great job in twisting the plot and changing it to fool us a big time, I will not spoil the movie. Also the acting was phenomenal, the villains were right on track, and speaking of tracks the soundtrack was a killer, this Johann Strauss II is a genius, adding futuristic sounds to comprehend the sound of electricity, with his music you can actually cry to dubstep.

76 out of 134 people found the following review useful:

Not greater than the sum of its parts

Author: Jordan Linesworth from United Kingdom
20 April 2014

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Off the starting line here, let me address that the film being marketed is essentially not the film you get. The entire "Enemies unite, and his ultimate battle begins" is not what happens here. In-fact the poster where Spiderman is facing off against Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino, is a border-line breach of trading standards when you have seen the film. They only ever fight him individually, and at separate points in the film. Also, the new Rhino, including the scenes heavily used in all the trailers - only appears as the CLOSING SCENE of the film. With that information out the way, is the film any good? Not particularly. Andrew and Emma are wonderful together on screen and keep the film alive, but whenever the film is left to be carried by the male cast it is left for dead because the script, the characters... it just isn't there. It's a series of convenient events that just happen in order, to reach the end and set up a hopefully superior part 3. A wasted opportunity with a cast that were not given the right tools they needed to do their job - a decent story and script.

89 out of 162 people found the following review useful:

One of the best Spider-Man films ever!

Author: blazing_749 from Australia
16 April 2014

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I will begin by saying I am a huge fan of Spider-man. I loved all of Raimi's original trilogy (yes, even Spider-man 3) and thought that the first Amazing Spider-man was weak. I was sceptical going into this movie, however I thought it was really great. As opposed to its predecessor, this movie is more action-packed, humorous, and emotional. The cast is great, the story is well written, the action is truly spectacular, the villain is excellent, and the finale is heartbreaking.

The movie follows Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) as he struggles to maintain his relationship with Gwen (Emma Stone) following the death of her father. His actions also inadvertently bring to the rise of Electro, a powerful villain played by Jamie Foxx. Peter also continues to investigate what happened to his father and is reunited with his old friend Harry Osborn.

Andrew Garfield plays a good Spider-man, portraying him as a more confident character as opposed to the Peter Parker portrayed in Raimi's trilogy, and Spider-man himself is a more humorous character. The best thing about this Peter Parker is his relationship with Gwen. Unlike in the Amazing Spider-man 1, here the relationship is complex and convincingly written. Emma Stone is an excellent Gwen Stacey and the two actors share genuine chemistry.

The villain, Electro, is also excellent. He is visually incredible and his fights with Spider-man are the some of the highlights of the movie. The Times Square fight sequence is the best action sequence I have seen so far this year, and it will probably remain the best for a while. Jamie Foxx's performance is excellent and he plays Electro as villainous and is also entertaining before he gains his super powers.

Harry Osborn is also very different to the one in Raimi's trilogy. Whilst I felt that James Franco portrayed Harry Osborn better than Dane DeHaan, however I also feel that the Goblin in this new Spider-man is much better than James Franco's in Spider-man 3. The Goblin's appearance is fantastic and DeHaan shows him as truly villainous.

However, if I were to make one complaint about this movie, it would be Paul Giamatti as the Rhino. His performance was way too over the top and was not a threatening character in any way. This will be more of a problem for the next Spider-man movie though, and hopefully for the next Spider-man movie his performance is toned down a bit.

Overall, I thought this was a tremendously enjoyable superhero movie that is the best of its genre since The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers in 2012. The relationship is convincing and well written, and the villains are outstanding. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of Spider-man or superhero movies in general.

36 out of 57 people found the following review useful:

Spends most of its time setting up future movies ...

Author: martinrobertson300482 from United Kingdom
30 April 2014

"The Amazing Spider-man 2" is a tough one. A Movie I can't actually figure out whether I liked or not. Parts of it were actually amazing. While other parts were far from it.

I Think the main problem with this second Spider-man movie (Or is it fifth Spider-man movie?) is that the film before it still feels like a re-run. Yes, as good as "The Amazing Spider-man" was. It still felt over-shadowed by three previous movies that didn't really deserve to get ignored. I left that one thinking "Oh well, at least they've got the setting up out of the way, and can get on with doing something different in the next one." Trouble is, they haven't. This one also spends most of its time setting up future movies. While other parts bring nothing new and feel like more repeats. I mean, wasn't that "Washing machine" gag done in the other "Spider-man 2?"

The biggest mistake "The Amazing Spider-man 2" makes though. Is one that this series should already have learnt not to do. And that's under-using its villain. The main bad guy off this one is suppose to be Electro. A Bad-guy that was always going to be a tough sell, and they don't quite manage it. In the Cartoons he looks so ridiculous that they've had to entirely redesign him, which is cool. But the character is ruined after an amazing intro by being under-used yet over done.

The "Real" main villain of the movie is Harry Osborne (Dane DeHann) and although this is one of the things that has been done before, he is arguably the best thing in the movie. The minute DeHann was cast I knew he would be great, and he is. His "dual identity" too, has been redesigned, but for the better. With a new take, that makes the future of the series at least look promising.

But what about this movie? It likes building up future ideas, but there must be something else good about it by itself? Well, Andrew Garfield is still pleasing fans as Spider-man, and his chemistry with Emma Stone is still strong. Providing the movie with most of its laughs, charm, and in some parts, genuine tears. But we watch Spider-man for the action, right? And most of the action too, is still cool. Even if the series has far from reinvented itself, and is still spending a bit too much time on Spider-man's love life, than his crime fighting.

72 out of 129 people found the following review useful:

Spidey Swings into Action

Author: rjsf96
22 April 2014

Spider-Man's film franchise has always been a bumpy road with Sony Pictures. The Sam Raimi trilogy for the most part revitalised the Superhero genre that was stuck in the mud with the abysmal Batman and Robin. The first Spidey outing changed the genre around and managed to get fans interested in the characters and the storyline once again. The sequel improved with a more complex villain and better character development. However, fans lost faith with the threequel and Spidey's future was stuck to one huge tangle of a web.

Then along came Marc Webb, with The Amazing Spider-Man which was shrugged off by the critics and called a cash grab. However, whatever criticisms there have been of the previous four films this one seems devoid of all of them and gives fans what they have longed for; an exciting, mesmerising and pulse- pounding adventure one that stays true to the comics.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a jam packed film and every shot has been thoroughly examined and expertly directed by Marc Webb. The effects are the best that they have ever looked, the characters are fully developed and we care more than we ever have done about them all and the action and story threads are not all over the place. The beauty of TASM 2 lies in the fact that the origins of Spidey have been set up and he is free to roam this spectacularly created world.

It is fair to say that there has not been much hype surrounding this superhero sequel and going in with high but not extreme expectations it blew them out of the park so effortlessly I was left gob-smacked. This leaves us with undoubtedly a Superhero for the ages and the best outing for any standalone character since The Dark Knight Rises.

The score composed by Hans Zimmer shows off his mastery of the Superhero genre of music and his themes for Spidey, Electro and Goblin are always enthralling and only add to the burst of colour and energy that we receive on screen. Here's to hoping he can stay on as he proves himself a worthy heir to Danny Elfman's Spidey scores.

Furthermore, the story threads are balanced with ease and that is not a small task to be had. There are three villains; Electro, the Green Goblin and the Rhino. The rhino played with a maniac twist by Paul Giamatti relishes the short screen time he gets and leaves us longing for more (which will come with TASM 3). The goblin (Dane DeHaan) gives a better performance than the campy version we got with Willem Dafoe in 2002. He brings menace and I was shaken up when we hear his manic cackle from afar off screen. His relationship with Peter is explored and his origin story is told well and most importantly of all his character motivations makes sense. Electro (Jamie Foxx) gives a career changing performance and matches if not exceeding Doc Ock in 2004. He is similar to this character as he is more of a tragic villain, striving to be noticed and changing by a terrible accident into the deformed and terrifying Electro. He changes so drastically throughout the film's runtime it leaves us with a Spidey villain for the ages.

Gwen and Peter's relationship is given plenty of depth and is not (thankfully) lost in the plethora of set pieces and action scenes that frequently take place. The struggle of Peter's double life gives us many twists and turns. Andrew Garfield (who is by far the greatest Spidey and Peter Parker) and Emma Stone light up the screen with their meaningful and charismatic chemistry ensuring that sometimes two people talking can be just as exciting as watching the action unfold.

The final end scene is heartfelt, surely bringing a tear to even the most cold-hearted of people and will definitely leave viewers overwhelmed by the direction this sequel takes, yet it is never clichéd, boring or predictable.

This is a smart film and should be the template for Superhero sequels to follow in many years to come; it is a game changer one that breaks the mould and sets the bar as high as Spidey's web can reach. Webb will need to be on top form to exceed this rare thing; a Superhero Masterpiece.

89 out of 163 people found the following review useful:

I'm not finding this reboot all that enjoyable

Author: david-sarkies from Australia
17 April 2014

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I am not really all that sure about this film, and as I was watching it just kept on thinking that I found the Sam Rami/Toby Maguire Spiderman films so much better. In fact, right from the beginning of this film, with Spiderman running around teasing the crooks that he was chasing, made me think that this film was actually quite stupid. Also, there is also the case that the current actor playing Spiderman reminds me of the actor that played Harry Osborne in the Rami movies.

There are two bad guys in this film, Electro and the Green Goblin, and I am not really sure why they subtitled this film 'The Rise of Electro' because it appears that Electro will not be returning for any further films (or I do not suspect that he will) though it does appear that the Green Goblin will. The other thing that annoyed me was that in the Rami films Spiderman never kills anybody whereas in this film he does. I suspect that the reason that Spiderman does not attempt to kill his enemies is the same reason that Batman refuses to do so, and that is because by doing so one will end up becoming just like those they are hunting.

It also seemed to be somewhat more cobbled together, especially with the Osborne, Peter Parker friendship. It seemed as if, all of a sudden, it turns out that they were friends whereas in the Rami films it was established right from the beginning that they were friends and had been friends for quite a while. Oh, and there is a mid-credits scene in this film, but I am not going back just to find out what it was (because I can find out from the internet anyway), but I guess next time I won't simply rush out of the cinema to go to the toilet (and it is even more annoying with end credit scenes).

90 out of 168 people found the following review useful:

The Not So-Amazing Spiderman Movie...

Author: powerfull_jedi from Portugal
17 April 2014

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I felt something was off from the moment I laid eyes on the first trailer for this movie.

And here's the gist of it: Whatever bad impressions you got from the movie based on the promotional material, I'm sad to say that all the negative impressions came true in this 2 hour action flick.

What's wrong with it? Plenty. TAS tried to imitate The Dark Knight and it did OK. This one, however tries to take the same approach: One main antagonist that spawns another major antagonist, but everything here reeks of Spiderman 3.

But these villains are simply all setup with next to no payoff. Jaime Foxx's character is billed as one of the central antagonists, but really nothing more than a hired muscle with a motivation that would make even Joel Schumacher cringe. He also wears an outfit that feels like a rejected Fantastic Four costume. Harry Obsborn at the beginning has some promise but ultimately he's barely a presence in the movie. He's Two-Face, if he were written by The Farelly Brothers instead of Jonathan Nolan.

Oh and that amazing revelation 'bout Peter's parents and their tragic "accident"? All this setup (with a fairly impressive opening scene) for a 3-minute grainy Youtube video in which Pete's Dad gives us some exposition that can summed up in "Oscorp is evil". Thank you, I wasn't aware of that.

Romance is still awkward, the actress who plays Aunt May seems to have forgotten how to act.

You can argue that TAS did too much in trying to expand upon Peter Parker's life, Ben's death and the hunt for said killer and all that. But the sequel on the other hand seems to think that "less is more", when really it feels like "stuff just happens".

Since when did Spidey develop Jedi-like evil sensing powers? Why does Pete only see Captain Stacey when the plot demands it? Why are the police and firefighters more than willing to let Spidey call the shots since he is still technically a vigilante? Was Gwen fired from Oscorp? And if not, did they pretend she didn't exist after she walked out of the building? They were keeping tabs on Harry hanging out with Peter and the electric guy that nobody gave a flying hoot about and nothing was done to the one random employee that happened to search for Max Dillon's name? Oh and Harry doesn't get killed yet because he knows his way out? How does that work? Is Peter in colleague yet? 'Cause it's a little hard to tell, since he's either fighting crime or making a meager wage sending photos to the Daily Buggle. How come a genius like Peter doesn't know 8th grade science? How does a damaged webshooter work to magically save a whole lot of people from being shocked? Who is Mr. Friers? And does Harry get back to normal?

So much stuff that doesn't work...

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