Point / Counterpoint is a special feature where editors of Cychron debate issues and events from the news and pop-culture head-to-head, no holds barred.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has undoubtedly caused quite a stir in recent weeks amongst not only hardcore comic-book fans, but casual movie-goers as well. In our inaugural segment of point/counterpoint, This Week in Geek host Erik Lucas and staff writer Angel Garcia present their best arguments for why you should either love or hate the latest big screen iteration of the wall-crawling hero.
Erik: Camp without conviction
I could go the easy route here and lambast The Amazing Spider-Man 2 based on its comic-book material sourcing alone, but for the sake of being fair to the general audience I’m going to look at this as a complete movie. If we strip away all the elements that make this a Spider-Man movie, what we’re left with is a poorly paced, horribly scored and incoherently written romantic-action flick that was clearly used as a set-up piece for the next 3 installments of Sony’s cash-cow franchise. It’s a return to the campy comic-book film in an era where audiences crave realism and compelling story-telling. In short, it’s Batman & Robin in a Dark Knight era.
Angel: Amazing is Amazing
First things first, I’m more of a DC Comics kind of gal than a Marvel girl. I have not read the Spider-Man comics, and I am not too familiar with his back story – besides what I have seen through Spider-Man films. With that said, I definitely have a different perspective. To be honest, I am quite surprised to hear a number of negative reviews on this movie; I thought it was absolutely amazing! Although it was a lengthy film, the nonstop action kept me interested throughout and the plot did not drag on. On the other hand, I felt that the subplot with Harry Osborn/Green Goblin needed some improvement. He was never mentioned in the first movie, and he just… popped out of nowhere.
