I do not understand why would I pay to watch The Amazing Spiderman reboot. I absolutely have no recollection on the first movie, except for a certain lizard running around and there was only Gwen Stacy replacing MJ as Peter Parker's love interest. I still need to adjust to Andrew Garfield playing the webslinger, replacing Tobey Macquire. Yup, I still do not understand why would I reach for my wallet to pay for the ticket but I sure did not regret that I do.The Amazing Spider-Man 2 pick up from the first movie where Peter discover his new found power, manage to hit on Gwen but in the final battle, caused Gwens father to die. The second movie tried to introduce everything fast as early as possible, so fast that it felt like a roller coaster ride. A very rushed one. At one point Peter appeared to be happy with Gwen, in the next frame they were having fights so bad that they broke up. Anyway, throw in some abandonment issues, and we have a Spider-Man at his low point. What is a super hero movie without super villain? The main baddie here is Electro, who manage to control electricity. He appeared cartoonish and amazing at the same time. And finally, to add the icing on the cake, we have the Green Goblin appearing, and delivering a final decisive blow which actually lift this movie above the rest.
To be fair, I still think Tobey Macquire is the best spider-man with his naive and innocent eyes. However, Garfield here did a very good job, and I really start to root for him as the web-slinger. Emma Stone, on the other hand, is rather likable as Gwen Stacy, though not everyone would agrees with me. The chemistry between them is so believable that I actually felt sad at one final scene when they need to part. Jamie Foxx is underutilized here as Electro ended up most of the time as CGI. Dane DeHaan, on the other hand, is really convincing as the confused yet menacing Green Goblin. True enough that the script did not gave him adequate chance to develop his character, but he shines in his limited screen time. He actually looked rather creepy in his scenes. Though he is still far from Joker in the Dark Knight but he proves that he could play a villain better than others.
The CG action will probably make the ticket price worth it though the opening web-slinging scenes appeared bit rushed. The final battle between Spider-Man and Electro is one of the better CG battle rendered recently. However, I actually grew tired of the stop-slow-motion gimmick used in some of the battle scenes.
Then again, the battle is not the thing that shine in this movie. It is how the story revolves around Peter-Gwen relationship that shines. It is the struggles, the confusion, the I-love-you-therefore-I-must-let-you-go moments that probably I will remember later. It is the one single poignant scene in the clock tower in the final battle that will definitely tug at the viewers' heart. It is rather odd how the first movie is so forgettable yet the second one seems to hit so many right notes. Probably it is the legacy of Spider-Man movies. In the past, the first Tobey's first Spider-Man movie was ok, but the second one was really great. So much so that I rooted for Dr Octopus in the end, and I still remember their battle mid of the movie in the train.With the amazing sequels, I hope this reboot would not end up with the curse of the third movie. In the similar past whereby the second movie was great, but the third actually kills the series. Hey, that happened to X-Men as well.
ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: could have been better if they make Electro more menacing as Green Goblin. Since Venom had made his appearance in the past movie, I still hope he will make it as the villain in the next one. Or at least, Carnage will do.
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