The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - Webb's Spidey sequel squanders time and money in boring blind alleys

♥

+ Worst Poster of the Year

The two male stars of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 stand amazingly close in the rain before a giant phallus on a poster that promises to end a time of secrets - but please don't get your hopes up

Peter Parker fights bad memories and a new Russian criminal in New York, when engineer Matt Dillon suffers a freak accident that turns him into super-villain Electro!

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). It is written by Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek Into Darkness 2013)), Roberto Orci (Star Trek Beyond (2016)) and Jeff Pinkner (The Beast (2001), TV-series), with James Vanderbilt (Zodiac (2007)) contributing story elements, and directed by returning great filmmaker Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer (2009)).
The film has some action sequences that look expensive (and truly were), but they most often make one think of computer games, and they made me want to play that game much more than watch the film.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 clearly wants to appeal to young teenagers, and Webb makes a puppy-eyed Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge (2016)) and Emma Stone (Gangster Squad (2013)) play well below their actual ages. The chemistry between them is slight, and it is in stern contrast to Garfield's scenes with Dane DeHaan (Two Lovers and a Bear (2016)), who plays Parker's childhood friend Harry Osborn here. They lend their scenes together an erotic magnetism, SPOILER until DeHaan becomes the ghastly-looking Green Goblin. Sally Field (Lincoln (2012)) is tiring as aunt May in several scenes in which the only thing on her mind seems to be Spidey's dirty underwear. Sexy Jamie Foxx (Ali (2001)) is made to look unattractive as the engineer, - an ambition that's hard for me to accept, - and the super-villain he turns into is a poor and incomprehensible heavy. Finally Paul Giamatti (Sideways (2004)) is slightly agonizing as the film's third bad guy, the screaming simpleton Rhino.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 suffers from a messy structure, incoherent plotting and being just plain boring.

Related posts:

Marc Webb: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
The Amazing Spiderman (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey
(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 200 mil. $ - possibly as high as 293 mil. $
Box office: 708.9 mil. $
= Some uncertainty, but likely a minor flop (and a big flop if also figuring in the colossal marketing budget)
[The Amazing Spider-Man 2 premiered 10 April (London) and runs 142 minutes. Filming took place from February - June 2013 in New York and California. Shailene Woodley shot scenes as Mary Jane Watson, but these were scrapped by Webb, who wanted to focus on Peter's relationship with Gwen Stacy. The Times Square action scene in the film was incredibly tedious to make, with computer designers working a full year to complete it. The film was shot on 35 mm film and converted to 3D in post production. The marketing budget was reportedly 180-190 mil. $, which would put the film's success point at around 1 bil. $, if the budget was indeed the enormous, reported 293 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 91.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, almost 30 mil. $ higher than the first film. It stayed in the top 5 for 3 more weeks (#2-#3-#5) and grossed 202.8 mil. $ (28.6 % of the total gross) domestically. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 94.4 mil. $ (13.3 %) and the UK with 40.4 mil. $ (5.7 %). The 2014 North-Korean hack on Sony Entertainment revealed in leaked e-mails that Sony had courted Sam Raimi to return for a new trilogy of Spider-Man films. Plans for a 3rd and 4th film were scrapped following the disappointing performance of the film, and the Spider-Man film rights befell Marvel exclusively after negotiations, with a new Spider-Man seeing the world in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is rotten at 52 % with a 5.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Amazing Spider-Man 2?

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey

♥♥♥

An entirely animated poster for Marc Webb's The Amazing Spiderman

 

Peter Parker's parents died in a plane crash, and his uncle dies, because he neglects to stop a shop-robber. With his superpowers, Parker has to save New York from a mad lizard-doctor!

 
That is the story of The Amazing Spider-Man, a premature reboot of the beloved Marvel character following Sam Raimi's spectacular Spider-Man trilogy (2002-07). It is written by James Vanderbilt (Darkness Falls (2003)), Alvin Sargent (Paper Moon (1973)) and Steve Kloves (Wonder Boys (2000)) and directed by great Indianan filmmaker Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer (2009)).
The film starts with indications that it will bring some more realism to the franchise than we got from Raimi films, but then it later ends in a pudding sea of sentimental twaddle.
Andrew Garfield (Boy A (2007)) is pretty cute as a new, swearing Parker, (though I still prefer the coupling of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, as well as the later Parker, Tom Holland); Rhys Ifans (Chromophobia (2005)) makes a fine reptilian villain, CGI-animated to make one's eyes pop; and finally Dennis Leary (The Moodys (2019, TV-series)) is good as police captain, SPOILER only why does he also have to die? (Many key characters die in the film.)
The Amazing Spider-Man feels anonymous and overlong, (it runs excessive 136 minutes). The action and sound work is top notch, but the entertainment value just so-so.

Related posts:

Marc Webb: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - Webb's Spidey sequel squanders time and money in boring blind alleys 
The Amazing Spiderman (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey
(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 200-230 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: 752.9 mil. $
= Box office success/big hit (returned between 3.27 - 3.76 times its cost)

[The Amazing Spider-Man premiered 13 June (Tokyo) and runs 136 minutes. Raimi left the franchise and plans for a 4th Spider-Man film once he realized he could not meet the schedule plans and retain creative control, in light of not having a good enough story yet also. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in New York from December 2010 - May 2011. The film opened #1 to a 62 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 2 weekends (#2-#3) and grossed 262 mil. $ (34.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 48.8 mil. $ (6.5 %) and the UK with 40.2 mil. $ (5.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Spider-Man returned in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), again with Garfield, which ended the reboot. This was also Webb and Garfield's next film. Emma Stone (Aloha (2015)) returned in iCarly (2012, TV-series) and theatrically in Movie 43 (2013); Ifans in The Corrections (2012, TV-movie)), Playhouse Presents (2013, TV-series)) and theatrically in Another Me (2013). The Amazing Spider-Man is certified fresh at 72 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What did you think of The Amazing Spiderman?

(500) Days of Summer (2009) or, Cute & Cuter

♥♥♥♥♥

The refreshing, eclectic poster for Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer

A greeting card writer, Tom, falls for his boss' new assistant, but their romance becomes problematic, because while he believes in fate and love, she believes in keeping things casual. 

(500) Days of Summer is one of those films where the end is revealed in the title, - and the narrator makes this even clearer at the onset. The film's indie-cool parameter is blinking red; what with protagonist Tom's unlikely, creative vocation, the animated sequences, and even a dance scene in a park, - along with the casting of two of the day's cutest actors, talented Joseph Gordon Levitt (Lincoln (2012)) and indie-folk singer/actress, Zooey Deschanel (Our Idiot Brother (2011)).
Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)), a music video director, makes his feature debut here with an original script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (The Fault in Our Stars (2014), both). They have chosen the uncommon LA as background for this romance, and succeed in making the city, which is widely regarded as flat, huge and not very romantic, seem both interesting and romantic.
The film also benefits from lots of smart editing, (the scene with expectations vs. reality is especially fine), and fine supporting performances from Geoffrey Arend (Worst Friends (2014)) and Matthew Gray Gubler (Beautiful Girl (2014)) as Tom's friends, who bring liberating laughs to this sweet little pearl of a film.

Related posts:

Marc Webb: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) or, The New and Unimproved Spidey
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel practically battling each other in cuteness in Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7.5 mil. $
Box office: 60.7 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 8.09 times the cost)
[(500) Days of Summer premiered 17 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 95 minutes. Neustadter has revealed that the script is based on a real romance and breakup of his. Filming took place from April - July 2008 in LA, using several notable buildings in the city. The film opened #12 to a 834k $ first weekend in 27 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,048 theaters (different weeks), grossing 32.3 mil. $ (53.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.5 mil. $ (12.4 %) and Australia with 4.3 mil. $ (12 %). The film appeared on several critical top 10 lists of the year and got nominated for two Golden Globes and 3 Independent Spirit Awards, winning for Best Screenplay. Webb returned with 8 short and TV-series episodes before he hit theaters again with The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Gordon-Levitt returned in Women in Trouble (2009), Deschanel in 6 short and TV-series credits before Our Idiot Brother (2011). (500) Days of Summer is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.6/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of (500) Days of Summer?