AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 was GOOD, so please SHUT UP!


I’ve seen too many articles speculating about a supposed reboot, soft or not, via the upcoming Sinister Six flick. It’s annoying! The franchise is not in some death spiral where it leaves executives wondering” how the hell can we save what was once a multi-billion dollar money printing machine?

I’ll be the first to admit that there are problems that need to be addressed but come on Amazing Spider-Man 2 had a bigger opening then it’s predecessor and still racked in over 700 million worldwide. Sure it had the lowest domestic numbers of the franchise but that doesn’t mean we need another cast and crew going forward.

Maybe it’s just me but I left the latest outing grinning. Sure there are logic faults, but be honest what movie doesn’t have those?

Case and point: if the parents had a secret lab underground why didn’t they just hide there instead of flying away on a jet-plane.

Sure there was angst up the wazoo but let’s be real that’s kind of a big part of Peter Parker. He ALWAYS carries guilt about the ones he thinks he failed and Andrew Garfield did a fine job conveying that. Plus he excelled in the revamped costumed while continuing to be my favorite iteration of the famed wall-crawling menace!

Garfield Spidey Rules

I thought what Jamie Foxx did with Electro was passable. The actor carried a gravitas that took a c-list villain and made into a notable threat. I remember reading ASM monthly as a kid and this was just one of those character’s that was largely laughed off the page but in this film he had depth and enough intensity to get me to take him seriously.

Sure they screwed up the Green Goblin and wasted Dane DeHaan on a rushed plot that served to only get us to a pre-ordained event. But there’s hope there, and why do I think that? Because after having the mighty morphin iteration of GG back in 2002 and New Goblin in 2007 it can’t get much worse. Hell Sam Raimi wanted to do Goblettes, thank the Watcher that he never made a 4th movie.

Green Goblin Fail

My big reason for wanting this version of my favorite webhead to go forward is because the creative team behind it has found a way to be more true to the comics then the ones that came before them. In this nifty new package we get the classic quips, mechanical web-shooters, a connected (flawed and over the top) narrative with a sense that we’re actually going somewhere.

It would have been easy to avoid ever doing Gwen‘s death but they didn’t. The studio knew that they had winning chemistry between their two leads so who in their right mind looks at that fact and says: “yep, kill the girl!” It was a risk and a clear bone thrown at dedicated enthusiasts, and you know what? It worked! The whole sequence was heartbreaking, so much so that I wish it would have ended on that dark note instead of with a montage followed by a goofy mechanical iteration of an over the top Rhino.

Goodbye Gwen

I’m going to miss Emma Stone as the living love interest for our young Mr. Parker but I’m downright eager to see what other women get the big screen treatment. And come on I need my Venom movie to come quickly and unimpeded by an unnecessary soft reboot because I’m still getting over the most successful (890 million) and gut wrenching viewing experience I’ve ever had, Spider-Man 3.

Here me out my fellow fanboys and fangirls, because to be honest I think a lot of you want this franchise to fail so you can see Spider-Man onscreen with the Avengers just in time for the big fight with Thanos. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that too but I’m also very comfortable with them being separate for now. Just like how I dig where X-Men is going with Fox, I’m interested to see what Sony has going on.

For a change: let’s be optimistic for the future.

The ASM Conspiracy

Amazing Spider-Man 2 was imperfect but good. The cast did what they needed to do with a script that was trying to increase the scope of what should be a simple property because we live in a time where we have the Marvel Cinematic Universe and whatever DC is cooking. In that regard the missteps are understandable but, like the first one, I can tell there’s heart there and I want to see more of what this creative team has to offer.

To sum up: you can consider me a supporter of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3, especially if it’s directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield.

’nuff siad.

Spider-Man 2 stare-down