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?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The fifth one

I'll try to resist any America puns I can.
Probably going to be spoilers.

Marvels star spangled hero returns (I tried.) for his latest venture and we see a post battle of New York Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) struggling to place himself in modern day Washington DC. Splitting his down time between taking thirteen mile jogs around the Washington Monument and doing undercover stealth missions against Algerian pirates, he's torn up about his current fate and as a familiar face tells him 'he can't go back to that time'. This film changes the game a little and at times feels more like a political thriller than your average comic book movie, at least until the third act The Winter Solider is more spy vs spy just with extraordinary people in it.

Evans has found his Steve Rogers. What sets him apart from the other members of his team is that at heart he's a genuinely good guy among the good guys, sadly for him he's a man lost in time and struggling to come to grips with the modern way of warfare. He was never happy with what he had to do in the forties but as he puts it to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his controversial project Insight, "This isn't freedom, it's fear." There's an endearing innocence about Steve compared to his morally grey team mates.

Most recognizable would be Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, self assured and flirtatious all the while proving that the super hero business isn't just left up to the guys. Full of witty comebacks and all said with a wry smile, Johansson is having fun with it and yet at times there are allusions to her dark history that was mentioned in The Avengers, it's at these points Johansson shows her range and happily steps away from being a one trick pony.

Thankfully compared to Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World the comedy doesn't seem shoehorned in or takes away any seriousness from a situation, newcomer Antony Mackie stars as The Falcon, an ex para-trooper with a flight harness you can't help but want to try out, visually it looks incredible while he weaves in and out of explosions and cannon fire and really steals the majority of scenes he's in. Hopefully we'll see him in the sequel or the next Avengers because the guy brings humor whenever it's needed.

Our seasoned veterans in the film come to clash quite often and their chemistry is somewhat lacking. Samuel L. Jackson breathes charisma as S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury and often comes to clash with Cap himself an how things should be handled, but when he butts heads with world security council member Alexander Pierce (spy movie veteran Robert Redford) the connection doesn't seem as fierce. Both of them actively stand out in the ensemble and by themselves thoroughly convince you but it seemed Redford was just coasting off what felt familiar to him and didn't try much new.

Last but not least and my favourite part as a comic book fan is the films title villain, The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). So anyway spoilers he's secretly Bucky Barnes from the first movie. Captain America's best friend. Fell off the train? I honestly wish they'd made his apparent death more momentous in the first movie because although it's alluded to near the start of the film the reveal that he is the brainwashed villain lacks a little. That doesn't change the fact though that he's the perfect match for Captain America, equally as fast, skilled and strong (a robotic arm will do that to you) as his old friend but fights in a much more brutal manner. Paying no heed to collateral damage and even putting fear into someone as skilled as Black Widow you know he's a big hitter. Stan shows his range between slowly regaining memories lost for 70 years to uncontrollable rage as the memories come back whilst fighting his former friend, it's the first marvel villain since Loki that's had such an impact on the lead characters and the audience themselves, something the past few films have lacked monstrously.

All in all you know what you're in for here, classic action with witty repertoire between provocative characters with all the classic cameo's, Easter eggs and an epic post credits scene that I don't feel at liberty (geddit?) to talk about. Go see it already.