The Amazing Spider Man 2

Lucky number seven

If You weren't aware I will ruin things for you with this review so if you haven't seen it here's your warning, if you don't care too much anyway then press on you hardened powerhouse you.

Marc Webb's second outing for the upcoming 'spiderverse' may not actually be amazing, but when it's good it's pretty great.

Andrew Garfield has Spider-Man nailed now, he's quick with the quips and seeing him climb, swing across the New York skylines and pretty much doing whatever a spider can is visually stunning, Webb keeps you close and at times you really get a sense of what it's like to don the spandex. His Peter Parker however is a mixed bag, the happy go lucky and fun loving side is hard not to like, he oozes charisma especially alongside co-star Emma Stone as the chemistry between the two sparks. On the other hand the will they won't they couple often jackknife into overly angst ridden relationship babble you'd most likely read on a cringey Tumblr post. It's a little hard to watch at times.

Emma Stone brings a more human element to the whole ensemble, although she ends up a damsel in distress for the most part she gives as good as she gets to Peter, all the super powered hi-jinks rarely seems to unnerve her, any problems that arise she either charms her way through or beats it with great intelligence. If you're a comic book fan then what some of you assume will happen actually does and it. Is. Brutal. Webb absolutely nails one of the most iconic scenes of Spider-Man lore.

Not even Batman broke that badly...

The films main flaws sadly is with its villains, much like Spider-Man 3 it's main problem is that too many villains ends up cluttering the narrative and although at least two of the three bad guys have a good set up, they have little to no pay off, often being dealt with in less than a minute. There's really not much to say about Paul Giamatti's Rhino, a Russian mobster who chews the scenery like it's his last meal yet he's said in interviews this was his intention so I guess we can forgive him for that? 

A real shame that Oscar winning Jamie Foxx has so much talent to be wasted on a character with such little substance. He plays Maxwell Dillon, an electrical engineer for the dubious Oscorp industries, Max is meant to be a sympathetic loner style character but is a little too odd to really relate to or feel much for, his apparent isolation from everyone around him sets up his characters transition into an electrically charged super villain bent on destroying Spider-Man but as visually electrifying as he is (there's an excellent Times Square scene) the character just fizzles out into a disappointing end. 

I love puns.

If you have never seen the movie Chronicle I recommend you go see it first of all, but the creepy kid with super powers from that appears once again as a creepy kid with powers. Dane Dehaan plays the sometimes charming sometimes sociopath Harry Osborn returning to New York to take over Oscorp from his dying father Norman. We discover that Harry has also inherited the affliction that destroys his father and is desperate to get his hands on old friend Peter Parkers blood as he believes it's all that can save him. Dehaan is suitably creepy, his chemistry with Andrew Garfield feels genuine while they're still chummy but his eventual transformation into the Green Goblin (the change scene is great, the overall appearance however is more Billy Idol with gangrene) is a little rushed. I'm pretty sure he has only three minutes of screen time and although he makes Spidey struggle he's quickly dealt with. 

There is quite a nice set up for these guys though, at least a few of them.

Overall it has enough action beats to wake you out of some of the slow paced teen angst segments and disappointing sub plots (looking at you Parker parentals) an unforgettable third act and a hope filled ending gives it enough to warrant intrigue in Sony's 'spiderverse'

But lets be honest we'd prefer him in The Avengers right?

Muppets Most Wanted

Number 6

"We're doing a sequel, that's what we do in Hollywood, and everybody knows that the sequel's never quite as good" Flight Of The Conchords' Bret McKenzie writes in the opening track of the Muppets newest venture to the silver screen.

Despite it being true that Muppets Most Wanted feels watered down compared to the previous film, that shouldn't take anything away from this one, there's enough joy and humour to make the child and adult in you smile. The basic plot is that after the success of the first film the crew have no idea what to do now, in steps Ricky Gervais playing the superficially charming Dominic Badguy (pronounced bad-gee, it's french) and persuades the gang into doing a world tour much to the dismay of Kermit. SPOILERS though... it's all a clever ruse between Dominic and Constantine, the worlds most dangerous frog who looks exactly like Kermit apart from a villainous mole and a Borat esque accent. Together they hatch a notorious plot to rob the crown jewels which takes them all across Europe with stereotypical hi-jinks along the way.

While this is a Muppet movie it's still nice to see a human element present here, actors playing such caricatured individuals they'd be Muppets themselves if they were made from felt. A personal favourite of mine is Ty Burrel playing French Interpol inspector Jean Pierre Napoleon, a somewhat lazy and inspector Clouseau style partner to Sam Eagle who now works for the CIA. Both are hapless and on the hunt for Constantine and their back and forth is without a doubt the highlight of the movie, it's made all the more funny that Ty Burrel genuinely looks like Sam the Eagle.

Tina Fey also stars as the tough as nails Gulag prison guard Nadya. She rules the Gulag with an iron fist and constantly thwarts a certain green frogs attempts to escape after he is framed through the clever use of green paint and an extra sticky mole. It really isn't easy being green sometimes. It's within these prison scenes we also see a personal highlight of mine and that's Jermaine Clement (the other half of Flight Of The Conchords) along with Danny Trejo (Machete!) Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) and WWE's very own Hornswoggle. These high security prisoners all begin learning a routine for the annual prison talent show, apparently it's that or they riot and Kermit calls on his past experience with the Muppets to whip these cliche tough guys into shape.

We all came to see this for the Muppets however and sadly not all of them get their time to shine, of course Miss Piggy takes center stage throughout most of it in a sub-plot involving her desire to be wed to her beloved Kermie which didn't really pay off in any way. Fozzie, Animal and Walter (remember Jason Segel's little brother from the first one?) gradually crack through the arrogant Constantine's disguise and travel to find the real Kermit as for some reason he's the only frog who can stop him. Really though would it have been too much to ask for more Rowlf the Dog? He is the king of deadpan.

Bret McKenzie does another great job peppering the story with catchy songs you'll be humming to yourself for the rest of the day but none really reach levels of Life's A Happy Song or others from the previous movie, you can legitimately here a Flight Of The Conchords song in a later number however so that was a little bonus.

Slapstick laughs, witty one liners and more songs and cameo's you can shake a rubber chicken at, this one appeals to all audiences. While it's having a hard time getting out of the shadow of it's predecessor Muppets Most Wanted is a great little show to while away the hours.