The Amazing Spiderman 2: A new fangirl's review

SPOILER SHMOILER!

WE LOVE THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2!
I know that sounds pretty weird after writing a not-so-happy review about The Amazing Spiderman 1. But this time around, this all new version of the Spidey franchise floored us. Simply floored us.
The upside?

FIRST PERSON CAM
Gamer perspective! Every web-slinging feat is like riding on Spiderman's back. Sweet!

STUNTS!
Spiderman's moves are just way cooler now. The slow-fast-slow crawling, the crazy-wide leg-spread during leaps, the creativity in web manipulation, the ballerina-esque fight choreography, the jumping over speeding trucks in precise insect-like agility… *slow claps*

SCIENCE!
We're geeks. We totally dig it whenever Spiderman attempts to crack an enemy's code or enhance his web using batteries and what-nots --and then fails. Yuh.

BETTER PARKER
I'm a huge Toby fan. He was the only Peter Parker for me. When Garfield came around, I found him to be too cute and acted too cute to take his place. But then he shed that self-conscious shtick and went down to acting real. Loved how he delivered the jokes in the movie! He's actually funny now!

COOLER HARRY
Not just a pretty boy, this guy has angst. Not just avenging his dead father, he has his own inner demons. And he looks hot in a leather jacket. Good one!

THE GOBLIN DOESN'T WEAR A MASK
Instead, he wears the rotting face of a dying maniac. How. Cool. Is. That?!

GIRLFRIEND DIES
So much like the original Spidey, this lankier Spidey has issues with having a girlfriend, too. How do you solve that dilemma? Kill her off! Now that's realism for you.

COOL ENDING
That last frame where Spiderman catapulted into the air to bonk a good one right on Rhino's metal skull, and then the scene cuts to credits before impact. LOVE THAT!

Okay, okay… calm down. I'm making it sound like it's all perfect. Of course not!
Hello, downside.

ELECTRO
Sorry, I know he's the top bad guy in this story, but he just didn't do it for me. My kids liked him for the sheer electrical KZZT! AND FZZANG!, but for me, he didn't really have a focused evil plot. And you CANNOT be a villain without focus. First, he was pissed because he was being ignored. Second, he wanted to take revenge on the people who stole his plans for the grid. Third, he's just a whacked up job who couldn't deal with the fact that a) Spiderman forgot his name; b) Spiderman had more fans and more New York billboards' screen time, c) Spiderman set him up for a duel.
Dude, if you want to make it bad, find that single reason why you're mad. First lesson in Villainy 101. Look it up.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is still webbed to cinemas. Sling yourself right over!

The Amazing Spiderman Spoiler

The best way to watch this is to come to the movie house without any extra baggage --say, an 'I bet he can't top Tobey Maguire!' attitude.

But, that's easier said than done.  Spiderman has always been Tobey Maguire just as Harry Potter has always been Daniel Radcliffe.  It just feels weird seeing someone else filling that unitard, ya know.  Oops, was I fangirling?  Forgive me.

I'm not saying Andrew Garfield sucked.  He's a good actor.  But he just didn't quite get the awkwardness and dorkiness the original Peter Parker had.  Perhaps he was just way too good-looking.  Seriously, when someone smiles and kisses that often on screen, you tend to think it's not the Peter Parker you bullied and grew up with.

When he donned the Spidey suit, it was odd, too.  His legs are way too long (hence, the spider with the longer legs on the movie poster, I assume.  Haha!) so that you don't get that much-loved sprawled, flying Spider in the air imagery.

Now, the story.  I think it should've been called The Different Story.  I came in thinking this would be a prelude to the film sequels we've known, but it wasn't.  It changed the story... a lot.  From how Uncle Ben died, how Spiderman got his powers, how he even thought of his costume. 
I thought this was going to detail the secrets of his parents.  But it did only a fraction of that.  The rest was rewriting the whole history.
So I guess when they said this was a Reboot, they meant a real restart.

Onto scenes I'm a little off with.  When Doctor Connors/The Lizard kept hearing voices, just like Osbourne/Green Goblin.  Is this going to be a thing with bad guys?  When construction workers got together to provide cranes for Spidey to swing to from one building to another.  What are the odds of construction happening in every building, eh?  And the punchline in the end about finally telling the secrets of Peter's parents in part 2.

There are positives, too, of course.  I'm not a total whiner.
I did like how Andrew projected a teenager's mean streak.  The rebellious depth was dark and real and almost scary.

I thought the Chief of Police was a better character to hate on Spiderman than Jonah Jameson.  Good choice there.  Spiderman was doing HIS job.  Doing better at it, too.  I'd be pissed.

The stunts, choreography, and effects are way over bar none!  This time around, Spiderman moved as quickly as a real spider.  That part where he wrapped the lizard villain in web --spectacular!

The fight scenes put you right in the middle of the action with its crazy camera angling.  And the choreography for every stunt sequence was superb.

What really got me was the great creativity poured into web usage for this film.  The web shoots out like bullets. turns into a slingshot, a bandage, and a lasso to twirl a girl in for a kiss.

So, yeah, if you're watching The Amazing Spiderman (and honestly, you should), do so with an open mind.  Take it in as a brand new movie.  Because it is.  And you'll love it.