Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

“Soon everyone in this city will know how it is to live in my world. A world without power, without mercy, a world without Spider-Man.”
– Electro

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is still fighting crime under his guise as Spider-Man. Graduating from high school alongside his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), his life is just setting out to begin. Peter, meanwhile, is struggling to deal with the fact that he promised Gwen’s deceased father, police Captain George Stacy (Denis Leary), that he would stay away from Gwen as to keep her out of danger. Oscorp employee Max Dillon (Jaimie Foxx) meet Spider-Man one day when Spider-Man is out fighting crime, and develops a rather obsessive interest in Spider-Man. Dillon is an extremely socially awkward person. Peter ultimately wishes to leave Gwen and she does the breaking up, saying she cannot deal with his emotional swings concerning the promises that he has made her father.

“You’re Spider-Man and I love that, but I love Peter Parker more.” – Gwen Stacy

Norman Orborn (Chris Cooper) meets with his son Harry (Dane DeHaan) shortly before he dies, telling Harry that he, too, will die of the illness his father suffers as it is a genetic disease, but tells Harry he has left the entire Osborn fortune to Harry, maybe he can save himself. The two have a very strained relationship, and Harry has a lot of things he cannot forgive his father for. When Peter learns that Norman Osborn has passed away and that Harry is in town, he meets with him. The two of them click back into their rhythm easily again and spend some time together. Dillon, on the other hand, is dealing with some awful things at work, and an accident as Oscorp kills him. Dillon comes back later, but there is something wrong with him. Going into the city, his powers are amplified with the energy flow from the grid beneath the city, and Spider-Man swoops in to stop him. Spider-Man believes that Dillon is innocent and not responsible or in control of what happened to him, but Dillon’s own personal issues rapidly become a problem and he learns to the more evil and angry side.

“We have the power now. We literally, can change the world.” – Harry Osborn

Dillon is caught and locked up at Ravenscroft Institute, where scientists are running tests on him. Harry is unaware of this, as well as the death of Dillon, and Donald Menken (Colm Feore), an Oscorp board member,  is using it to blackmail Harry at a later stage. Menken is enraged that twenty year old Harry got the Osborn empire. Harry is looking for a way to cure his illness, and contact Peter, requesting he speak to Spider-Man. Harry is convinced that Spider-Man’s blood can save him. Peter denies the request, and Harry flies into a rage when Spider-Man pays him a visit and denies him the request, too. Peter, meanwhile, is looking into his parents’ past, trying to uncover why they left him and why they were killed. Peter is struggling to let Gwen go, who is looking to move to England and study at Oxford University on a scholarship. Harry approaches Electro, the mantle Dillon has taken up after his capture, after Menken manages to successfully usurp the Osborn throne. Electro gets to kill Spider-Man, whom he believes has betrayed him, and Harry gets access to the spider research that Oscorp houses.

“Think bigger, Max! I’m not the one you want. You want Spider-Man and I can give him to you!” – Harry Osborn

Will Electro carry out a successful attack on Spider-Man? What will happen to the friendship between Harry and Peter once Harry makes his hatred for Spider-Man clear? Will Harry regain power of Oscorp? Will Electro ever relinquish his bad ways? Will Peter learn more about his parents’ deaths? Will Gwen and Peter ever be able to work something out in their relationship?

“Everyday I wake up knowing that no matter how many lives I protect, no matter how many people call me a hero, someone even more powerful could change everything.” – Peter Parker

A 7/10 for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I am still Team Garfield. All the way. Go vote. Andrew Garfield was again entertaining and amusing as Peter Parker, and a fantastic choice. Emma Stone was again excellent as Gwen Stacy, and I liked the fact that their relationship was more fleshed out this time. Those two have stunning chemistry! Dane DeHaan absolutely thrilled me in here, and was the big reason I was insistent on seeing it in cinema. While I was not sold on the Green Goblin completely (it just had to do with the fact that he looked a little ridiculous and all), I cannot deny that DeHaan was thrilling. I just loved seeing him on screen, and my faith was greatly rewarded (not that I expected much different). I loved the relationship between Harry and Peter, though I really wished that Webb had spent more time developing it, maybe saving the Goblin for later. I felt the villains were a little rushed here, and certainly needed a little bit more work. The Goblin popped up way too fast, and Electro definitely needed some more filling out. Neither villain resonated with me. I thought the effects to be decent, though sometimes the CGI was excessive. The humour was great, I had quite a few laughs in here, and that is always fun. Overall it was definitely entertaining, and I liked that. It was nice to see a bit more going on between Peter and his Aunt May, a lovely addition there.

Rapid Review: Django Unchained (2012)

“Gentlemen, you had my curiosity. But now you have my attention.”
– Calvin Candie

King Schultz is simply the best!

 

YES! After all this time, all the excitement, the time has finally arrived for me! I am sure I damn near drove you all insane (most notably Chris, Ryan and Tim – sorry, forgot to link) what with posting about it, all the eagerly reading reviews and lamenting the fact that I have not yet seen this film. Tarantino pulled out all the stops, as per usual. It was a really rough thing to watch certain things, and to see the slavery, the despicable Mandingo fights, the injustice suffered due to racism of its time, and the total disregard for fellow human beings and their freedom. However, Tarantino again blew me away with the style that he brought all that drama out and made it tangible, all the while weaving it into a solid story. I know this may sound dreadful, but he packed in plenty of uproariously hilarious humour (but naturally, placed correctly). I laughed so hard at certain places, especially with the hooded group riding in with their lack of sight. Leonardo DiCaprio was again a pleasure to watch, and I was highly entertained by the total role switch of Christoph Waltz from outrageous racist German to a humanitarian German. He had me in stitches, however, being the lunatic that he was. The film was also visually appealing, and it would not be a Tarantino without crazily exaggerated blood, a serious showdown of note, and some core and/or lead character being taken down in a brutal blaze of glory. Overall, this movie was definitely worth the wait and the hype, and lived up to all the expectations that I had for it, and truly rocked my socks. It was worth the wait, and is highly recommended, though if you are not one that is able to stomach violence, then this will most certainly unnerve you and likely not be your cup of tea. Well done, absolutely!