Well, after my botched attempt to catch this Saturday, I finally got to see it this morning.
The good:
To me, Garfield is Parker, it's not just the look, it's the heart. I know it seems small, but things like him rubbing aunt Mays temples while holding her, it's so freaking immersive. I know some people said they couldn't see Pete and Harry being close after all that time, but it seemed so real.
Jamie Foxx... I definitely see the comparison to Carey's Nygma character, but I definitely think Fox elevated it. It may have seemed like they wasted a lot of Foxx's talent on such a character, but I think the character could have been trash in other hands. I liked Foxx as Max, period.
Spidey.... OMG that suit and the action, the superfluous turns and twists that belong to someone with superhuman reflexes. I finally get the Spidey look I wanted matched with an awesome Parker.
A lot of small touches went into making this fun, Garfield's mannerisms as I mentioned above, but some of the small parts like the convenience store worker play webbing the gunman. The stuff with the little kid was very cool, even if a bit cheesy, I thought the humor shown by Spider-Man was great, I really didn't understand the criticism, and I've read a lot of it saying the comedy was misplaced or bad.
The Neutral:
Slow-mo... As cool as the scene was with the electrified handrails, this was overused in the Max showdown, I think they should have just let the action roll like they did with the Goblin.
Rhino... looked surprisingly good onscreen, but unless they greatly refine him, he's just a waste of space. It's a mech, not a Spidey villain. I'm glad for people who thought it was cool, but that suit should stay in iron man movies.
Pseudo Goblin.... Right before he showed up, when DeHaan cackled, it took me back to the goblin from the early cartoon series, the problem is the acne issue looks very much like they're afraid to embrace the goblin. I did like his suit and glider though. I'd be very happy if they keep him as is and have him mutate green. I don't need the purple hat, just a better face.
The Bad:
Electro... His cgi was bad or just cheesy, especially in the final battle, I just didn't think it did the character justice, especially the glowing pink brain crap. Just seems like he could have been handled a little better. Every face closeup looked horrible. His suit was pretty cool, it actually had more contrast to it than I expected, but this wasn't enough, he should have wore a bag on his head.
JJJ... really? An email reply is all we get? Un- ****ing -believable. I'll tie this complaint into the continuing stupid sub story of dad being an international man of mystery. So much cool stuff, but the powers that be need to tighten this **** up. Really just keep it simple and concentrate on what works. They made a good movie, but this thing could have fish tailed into SM3 territory with its bloat.
