The Amazing Spiderman

The Amazing Spiderman 2 was everything I wanted it to be. Not only was the story well developed and a natural progression from the first film, but the acting was fantastic. I've been a long time fan of superhero films and in particular the Spiderman series. Since the first film of the new regeneration, I put a lot of faith in Andrew Garfield to continue the legacy with grace and subtlety. His acting has vastly improved since his early days in films like Social Network. He knows how to command the screen now whilst not over exaggerating his movements and making them seem unrealistic. In my mind, he has already surpassed Toby Maguire in my ranking of actors who have played the insect-human hybrid. Nicholas Hammond is still in last place, CBS really dropped the ball on that one. But back to the film in question, it was long. And long enough that it felt long, even though it was paced nicely, friends should be aware when seeing the film that it will take three hours from your day including pre-film adverts. However, I love a long film so Spidey and I were a great fit. I particularly enjoyed the introduction of Electro. Jamie Foxx managed to create a villain that I empathised with and frankly wanted to help!

My favourite two moments of the film were nearer the end. The first is a huge SPOILER... After defeating Electro, Spiderman and Gwen Stacy are about to celebrate when suddenly the Green Goblin a.k.a Harry Osborne arrives and makes the connection between his childhood friend and the hero he hates. In attempt to acquire his revenge, the Goblin scoops up Gwen and another fight scene commences. Sadly it ends with Gwen hitting the ground hard despite Spiderman's efforts to save her. She dies and what follows is five months without Spiderman's presence in the city. The reason why this scene stuck out was because it was unexpected. The whole film leads us towards a happy ending for the pair, so her death is shocking. I was also a little disappointed that this meant the end of Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. I had grown to love her in the role and was expecting to see more of her in the third film.

My second favourite moment was shortly after the first. As I said, Spiderman had been absent from the city of Manhattan for five months which resulted in Osborne (from his cell in the local mental institute) orchestrating the creation of destructive villains. As one of these take the streets, a young boy, seen earlier in the film befriending Spiderman, runs past barriers and police to stand in front of the villain in his Spiderman costume. The image was so powerful and worked to represent the connection that many young children have with the hero in our society. So many of them look up to the character as a role model and in some cases as a friend. Thankfully, in the film, the real Spidey turns up and saves the day.

Overall, I found the film to be surprisingly uplifting and captivating. It seems like this generation of Spiderman films has found its stride and is really hitting home with audiences around the world through its realistic themes between the love interests and the elaborate fight scenes reminiscent of the original comics. Whilst I am excited for the third film of this series, which was recently announced, I am interested to see if the films continue to impress fans like the last two have.