Grayson
(**nb) Yesterday was the official release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and of course we headed out to see it. I may or may not have dressed up as Gwen Stacy. Let me preface this post by saying that it will not be spoiler free and that I really enjoy the reboot of Spider-Man and if you don't then you probably won't like it here. I also really enjoyed the new movie so this post might be really biased. (**)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
A couple of years ago (2012) The Spider-Man franchise got a movie reboot. I'm not even here to say that I wasn't a fan of the first Spider-Man films but after the third one all bets were off. I mean what were they even thinking? But here was its chance to start new, be young and fresh. Sure the Amazing Spider-Man was a rehashing of Peter's origin stories and it didn't push the Spider-man movies to new heights but there was something about them that I loved. Maybe it was the love I knew Garfield has for the character or maybe it was just because I was excited to see Spider-Man on the big screen again. Maybe it was a combination of both. Regardless I really like the vibe of the new movies. I think they get Peter Parker far better than their predecessors. I'm also not going to say these movies aren't without fault or that the writing is flawless, because they aren't, but that doesn't take away how I feel about them. I really enjoy it and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is no different.
People kept calling this movie the "Batman Returns" of the Spider-Man Films but I think people forget that despite all of the traumatic events that happen in Peter's life, Spider-Man is very light hearted and fun. The puns and jokes were not misplaced in this movie whereas with Batman Returns, it was a nod back to the 60s and nobody wanted that. You can really see the love that Andrew has for the character come through in this movie. The first movie struggled with its footing and finding the right characterization of the character but the Amazing Spider-man 2 should have put all of those reservations people might have had about Garfield's interpretation/performance of the character to rest. It is a coming of age story for Peter Parker, a story about a young man trying to find his place in the world. The actor was able to keep up the energy of the character. He played up the fact that Peter is light hearted and fun that in his own special way he is very charming. But Garfield genuinely played the touching moments with skill. We were allowed to feel for and with Peter Parker which is kind of the point. Seeing Peter's brain at work in the film was also something I enjoyed and something I found lacking in the first attempt at comicbook/movie adaptation. There are so many things I love about the character in this movie I am struggling with the idea that people don't like Garfield's Peter : .jpg)
- Peter's relationship with Gwen (Spider-Man Blue is one of my favourite Spider-Man stories. To see their relationship play out on screen is something I enjoyed)
- Peter's relationship with the 'little guy' (sticking up for the kid being bullied)
- Peter's love of science (Helping the kid with his science project, being impressed by the science project, tinkering with his web shooters, researching the effects of electricity and conductors)
- Throwbacks to comics like the tuque and scarf and the parents' origin story.
- That Peter was an integral part of New York
For me the flow of the story felt / read like a comic book, more specifically a Spider-Man comic book. The action sequences, the music and the choreographed fights all play out like a Spider-Man Ballet. Visually very appealing to watch. I also think there were very interesting artistic choices that read very comic book like the web hand grabbing out for Gwen. For all of these reasons I really love the films.
One of the biggest complaints I see about the film is Electro as the villain, granted he is poorly written but as a theme I think his character works very well. " Soon, everyone in the city will know how it feels to live in a world without power," Unfortunately the idea I feel never really gets to be executed to it's full potential.
But Dane Dehaan's Harry Osborn is something to marvel at. His ability to exude confidents and power while all the while coming through as weak and vulnerable is amazing. Harry being born out of desperation and fear is far more compelling than out of vengeance.
I couldn't talk about how much I loved this movie without talking about Gwen Stacy. For me the character was handled far better in the films than on paper. Maybe that's because I love Emma Stone but a lot of it has to do with Gwen's determination and being completely in control of her own decisions. She isn't ready to settle and she knows that she is intelligent. But never in my life had I been so stressed about something I knew was coming.
The decision to cut Mary Jane from this movie also doesn't seem like a mistake to me. It in fact allows both female characters a life outside of Peter Parker. Their downfall as characters is the "rival" relationship they suffer from over Peter Parker. Bringing her into the films would have allowed too easily for people to hate Mary Jane or create an unnecessary love triangle. For me it was an interesting and smart decision to separate them.
Lastly we have to talk about the great choices by the costuming department. Should anyone ever ask me again what character's wardrobe would I love I would say movieverse Gwen Stacy.
The boys aren't bad either.
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