How Not To Make a Comic Book Movie -

Rating: 3/10 (17 August 2015)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm a bigger fan of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies than the Andrew Garfield version. My excuse is and has always been that Sam Raimi was such a fan of the Spider-Man movies that he knew how to do it right. On the other hand, the Andrew Garfield version was more about the Ultimate Universe version than the real Spider-Man, and there was the difference. There are elements in both movies that work very well, and elements in both movies that don't. Tobey's version was more like basic Spidey; Garfield's was more like the updated version. They were two different versions, and despite the fact Raimi did a better job, Emma Stone still kicks Kristen Dunst as far as sex appeal. On the other hand, Garfield's sense of vengeance over the murder of his uncle is a poor substitute for "With great power comes great responsibility." Amazing Spider-Man 2, however, seems to get worse than its original with even more plot lines to fall over and crash into each other. I couldn't keep up with everything that was going on, and quite frankly, there was nothing about them to make me interested. The villains are kind of lame and shallow. Electro terrorizes the city for no reason but to be noticed. The weird part is that when he gets arrested they terrorize him by electrocuting him. This makes as much sense as punishing an Ewok with a bath and flea dip. However, Paul Giamatti as the Rhino does nothing but yell and threaten kids. When he shows up in a giant ridiculous robot Rhino tank, it looks as if he's auditioning for the next "Transformers" movie. Harry Osborn's motivation makes a little sense, but as the Green Goblin, all he is an amped-up school bully on crack. At least Sandman, Doctor Octopus and Venom had clear goals that went far beyond just killing Spider-Man. I mean, in Spider-Man 3, the villain that had the least to do was Sandman, but at least, he had some really cool bank robbery scenes. Even Venom had a little worth doing as an alien-possessed psychopath. Another thing that annoys me about the movie is that it feels as if it runs just way too long with moments that feel like its ending but then it drags its way to yet scene that once again runs toward an ending before starting again. The only good parts of the movie I like are Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's chemistry. The web-slinging scenes are okay, but they're all but stolen from Sam Raimi's work. At times, the whole movie feels like two movies loosely interconnected with enjoyable scenes, such as the Peter-Gwen relationship broken up by the interims with what feels like the DC Universe version of Spider-Man. The movie is bothered immensely by the fact that it's trying to create all these lead-ins to an expanded Spider-Man Universe that unfortunately has no part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and thank God for that since Sam Raimi's version fits in a lot better with those films).