The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) - SPOILER-FREE Movie Review

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have had pretty awful and bloated trailers for the most part, but the film itself is an incredibly enjoyable comic book-to-screen adaptation, enhanced with some stellar action and special FX.
While the trailers do spoil the film to the point where the final shot is used, there is the odd twist that is thrown in there for the audience (although the film itself has plenty of not-so-subtle foreshadowing) that wasn't revealed in the marketing.
Emma Stone and Dane DeHaan are stunning in this film as Gwen Stacey and Harry Osborne. Harry is a complex character the portray, but DeHaan is so brilliant that he plays across the tortured insanity perfectly, and Emma Stone gives Gwen the heart that the film needs.
Andrew Garfield is good, although Peter Parker's complicated personality drags the performance down in places. Jaime Foxx is a little too hammy as Electro, but Paul Giamatti steals the ham as Aleksei Sytsevich, with a performance worthy of the Adam West Batman series!
The score from Hans Zimmer and the Magnificent Six is decent with some great tracks mixed in with dubstep and electronic music from other 'pop' artists that just hurts the film at points. The music used in the end credits is the definition of clashing tones.
However, the film has a faulted screenplay, and had many alterations been made (as well as some extensive scene-cutting), it would be better. It's written by the people who wrote the Transformers movies and Star Trek Into Darkness, so don't expect gold. It's probably better than the aforementioned films though.
Also, the mystery about Peter's parents is explained, so look out for that - even if it is underwhelming.
In IMAX and 3D the film looks amazing, despite its conversion, enhancing the depth of shots and adding to the action sequences and web-slinging. The cinematography itself is much improved, and although it doesn't top Sam Raimi's iconic imagery, it would be near-impossible for it to do so in the first place.
The film does have an incredibly rushed ending though, concluding the endless sub-plots and setting up series arcs in around five minutes, which makes for a rather disappointed feeling when exciting the cinema. Overall:



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