Surprisingly compelling!!

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2014)

I must admit, as a staunch Sam Raimi fan I was initially very reluctant to go and see The Amazing Spiderman. But then I was curious to see how the franchise would be revamped. Though I was left somewhat nonplussed by the first film, I found the second surprisingly compelling.
I enjoyed the film immensely from the outset. It did something that the franchise had yet to do – explore further the lives of Peter's parents. We also saw a lot more of Aunt May, and her struggle adjusting to life without Uncle Ben.
We had 2 villains – both quite formidable, particularly Jamie Foxx's Electro – with different, but similar motives. Electro felt invisible and he wanted to be seen – however, his motivations for wanting to kill Spiderman were a little weak. I understood he didn't like the fact that Spiderman was getting all the attention, but he did remember his name and he did want to help him. At any rate, he was clearly irrational so I suppose his motivation to kill Spiderman didn't exactly have to make a lot of sense. But going after Spiderman definitely did give him a purpose. Foxx's performance was fairly decent as well, he really brought the character to life in an unexpected way. I especially loved him as the fumbling, balding Max Dillon at the beginning, he was certainly a character that I'm sure many can relate to – feeling lonely, invisible, brilliance going unnoticed.
In general, the pace of the movie was good. It had highs and lows, light and shade. There were extended action scenes when there needed to be extended action scenes, and quiet intimate scenes at the right moment.
The special effects were rather incredible. I loved Spiderman's sarcasm and cavalier attitude. The film was visually gripping as well, and had a strong message as its undercurrent, securing an emotional connection to the audience.
The message to take home from this movie is that you can choose the way you respond to misfortune. You can be like Harry, who turned to villainy, or like Peter who decided to go on doing what he did best: giving hope to the people of the city.