The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Thanks to the May 1 holiday, I managed to see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the cinema within the first couple of days of its Philippine release. I'm a fan of the first Amazing Spider-Man with Andrew Garfield so I was determined to see this second installment despite the fact that it has been getting more than it's fair share of not-so-good reviews. I was ready to be a bit disappointed but it didn't turn out that way and I actually really enjoyed the film.

photo from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Spider-Man_2

First things first, this isn't your typical super-hero movie. There are only a handful of action sequences where Spider-Man battles his enemies (and those scenes are very visually impressive; I've read that this movie looks great on 3D so maybe I'll go see it again LOL). In my opinion, it is more like a human drama framed in the context of a superhero film. Yes, one could argue that it is borderline chick flick, but it was important to highlight the intense and complicated relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy to tie the story in with the first installment and set the stage for The Amazing Spider-Man 3. In fact, when you look at it, the villains in the movie seemed almost like they were there to move the story along and lead it towards its explosive climax.

I've also read that there wasn't a lot of character development, specifically for the villains. I personally don't agree with this. I think the plots of these characters were defined well enough to make the audience understand exactly why they both had it in for Spider-Man. The fact that both Jamie Foxx (Electro) and Dane De Haan (Green Goblin) put in great performances made their characters even more believable.

Speaking of, this is probably the best acted superhero film I've seen (alongside the first Thor). Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy), and Sally Field (Aunt May) all put in very solid performances. I will echo what so many other people have said that Andrew and Emma really do have the best chemistry of any superhero couple I've seen. I had a discussion with a comic book geek friend of mine who hadn't seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2 yet and he mentioned to me that Spidey really has one of the most unstable personalities among all superheroes because he was an awkward teenager when he gained his superpowers. Well, if that truly is the case, then this film stays very true to the comic books as you will definitely see an emo Spidey/Peter Parker here.

Clearly, I'm not the only one who enjoyed this movie. A lot of other friends of mine who saw it also thought it was good if not great. I read a very articulate and in-depth review by Mark Hughes on Forbes.com that analyzes why this film is the Spider-Man we've been waiting for and why it does a great job in staying true to the comic books. Check it out here.

I definitely recommend The Amazing Spider-Man 2. If you're a bit concerned about the bad reviews you've been reading or hearing about, I suggest you set that aside and go see the film since I'm guessing you will still enjoy it.