The Not-Yet-Amazing Spider-Man 2

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy might stand as one of the best superhero trilogies. I'm still dumbfounded and puzzled as why would Sony reboot a trilogy so fine that soon with 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man, just FIVE years after 2007's Spider-Man 3. And the fact that they added 'Amazing' in the title made me even more infuriated. The Amazing Spider-Man was an exact carbon copy of the original with a second-tier villain. Instead of bettering the first film, the sequel went Spider-Man 3 and Captain America by introducing multiple villains and setting up future films. To clarify, Spider-Man 3 was the weakest among the trilogy and Captain America is the most bland MCU film. The trailers spoiled EVERYTHING. I hated Sony for it. As much as I hate the idea of Spider-Man being rebooted I still need to see the film in its full integrity without spoilers. I only saw the first trailer and maybe looked at some TV spots. It was enough for me.

In this film, Spider-Man meets a new foe Electro and also gets reunited with an old pal Harry Osborn who's dying because of a genetic disease. While at the same time trying to juggle his own feelings toward Gwen Stacy and investigating his father's unfinished business. That's about it. Really.

My first impression about the film was it's definitely better than The Amazing Spider-Man. It improved but only for a little margin. The action scenes were well-directed and staged. They were one of the best things about the film. The Times Square set piece was incredible. Marc Webb seemed more comfortable and confident here. It shows because there were less awkward moments here. The second best thing was the cast. Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Dane DeHaan was top-notch. I keep wondering what would it be like to have Shailene Woodley in the mix too. The charm and chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone is what made the boring love story and the climactic scene works. If it were anybody else it would've flunked within the third second of the scene.  My main complaint was still that this Peter Parker is too cool. I always love Tobey Maguire's awkward Peter Parker. No hate for Andrew Garfield but I prefer Sam Raimi's Peter Parker. But I do love the wise-cracking, talkative Spider-Man. The movie felt alive whenever Spidey's in action. There's also an overabundance of nods and characters. There are little reference to future villains played by Felicity Jones and BJ Novak. There's also Chris Cooper as the totally unnecessary Norman Osborn.

The second is the villains. Jamie Foxx is nice in his role as Max Dillon/Electro but his character is annoyingly unfit to be a villain. Electro is not even a main villain because he's more like a pawn to Harry Osborn. It's like the awkward, nerdy version of Jim Carrey's Riddler in Batman Forever. Electro is also like the electric version of Doctor Manhattan. And the way he thought of his own villain name is simply ridiculous. Not to mention that he played a song during a fight is even more ridiculous. Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn would never have the same effect as James Franco's Harry Osborn. In Sam Raimi's trilogy, the transformation was so understandable because we were invested in the character already. Here, not so much. But Dane DeHaan is siiiickkk. But that hairstyle must die. Lastly, the FUCKING Rhino is only shown for maybe five minutes and it's at the end of the film! Pro-tips: don't show a film's spectacular last shot in the trailer and don't sell Rhino as the third main villain when the fact is the whole movie was about Electro and Harry Osborn. Another complaint, Hans Zimmer should go learn some music because the score reminds me a lot of The Dark Knight Rises and Hans Zimmer-produced, Ramin Djawadi-composed Clash of the Titans. And to the Magnificent Six, don't call yourself Magnificent when you're composing forgettable music. All I can say about the film is, it's a satisfying film and a good universe-building film but as a stand alone film it's lacking. In 142 minutes, the film felt short because the story was incoherent in favor of building up to future films. And there's also a misleading after credits scene from X-Men: Days of Future Past. As much as I disliked this film, I would recommend you guys to see this in IMAX. The Spidey scenes alone justify it. At least fool yourself to enjoy this film more. The Amazing Spider-Man 2: rated 2.5/4.