An Amazing Sequel

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2014)

I saw "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", starring Andrew Garfield-The Social Network, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; Emma Stone-Gangster Squad, The House Bunny; Jamie Foxx-Django Unchained, Law Abiding Citizen; Dane DeHaan-Metallica Through the Never, Lincoln and Sally Field-Lincoln, Forrest Gump.
This is an amazing second installment to the new Spider-Man trilogy-the third one is in the works. The Spider-Man character is now more like the comic books, both in storyline and just the fun one-liners that he zings at whoever is within listening distance, as he does his crime fighting or life saving duties. Andrew returns as Spidey and Emma is Gwen-FYI: the two actors started dating in real life and I think it makes their relationship look more realistic on screen. Sally also returns as Aunt May. Newcomers include Jamie as Electro, the main villain, and Dane as Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn. There is more story here , rather than just the big fights and explosions that are usual in these movies- although there are plenty of those, too. You get some back story on why Andrew's parents had to leave him with Sally during the first film. There are two major villains and one minor one-he has about 5 minutes of screen time-that are used in this film but there are a few subtle hints of future characters in the next movie. Some are character names, like Alister Smythe and Felicia Hardy-hint, hint-and some are glimpses of their costumes that are hanging in secluded labs. I know some comic book purists might get angry with the portrayal of certain things-Electro doesn't look like that, etc.-but they have sort of merged things from the regular Marvel Universe with the Marvel Ultimates-the same way they did it with Nick Fury now being a black man-so I wish they would quit gripping until they have at least seen the movie-then, they can gripe all they want. As far as the effects go, they are very good. When Spider-Man is swinging through the city, you might get a little dizzy if you are afraid of heights. I saw it in IMAX 3D and it looked great. There is a scene right after the end credits start that is basically an advertisement for the next X-Men movie-due in a couple of weeks-but no scene at the very end. It's rated "PG-13" for the violence and has a running time of 2 hours & 22 minutes. I loved it and would buy it on Blu-Ray.