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The short-lived The Amazing Spider-Man (TASM) movies featuring Andrew Garfield as the web-slinger are often criticized and overlooked for several reasons. Garfield did a solid job as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, as did Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, however, the villains fell short of what comic book bad guys should look and feel like. The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man was the only villain and he was played by the talented Rhys Ifans, but his CGI looked cartoonish and his soft voice didn’t mesh well with the look of the usually frightening Lizard.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (TASM 2)went the opposite route, they went overboard on the villains and unfortunately, none of them felt authentic to the comic books. Whether it was Jamie Foxx’s blue Electro or Dane DeHaan’s terrible makeup as the Green Goblin, the villains felt stuffed into an already packed movie about Peter and Gwen’s relationship. However, despite appearances and a convoluted plot, both films featured some strong action sequences and at least gave the fans a couple of awesome fights between Spidey and the villains.
7 Spider-Man Returns To Confront The Mechanical Rhino – TASM 2
It’s hard to believe that the final “fight” scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was shown in the trailers leading up to its release, and yet it still was, and unfortunately, it didn’t last very long. After Gwen Stacy’s death, Peter constantly visits her grave and gives up being Spider-Man altogether. However, when Aleksei Sytsevich is given mechanical Rhino armor and threatens a young boy dressed up as Spider-Man, Peter decides to show up and lend a hand.
After listening to Gwen’s graduation speech about hope, Peter realizes that Spider-Man gave the city hope and shows up to fight this giant criminal Rhino, essentially letting the people know that he’s back and he won’t go away again. After a few funny quips to Rhino, Spidey grabs the top of a sewer and deflects some of Rhino’s bullets, then runs towards him and as he’s about to web the top of the sewer at Rhino’s head, the music builds and the film ends. It’s a nice moment and a unique way to end a superhero movie, but seeing these two fight for another minute or two would have satisfied fans more.
6 Spidey’s First Battle With A Pre-Rhino Aleksei Sytsevich – TASM 2
The first Spidey scene in the second film starts with Peter on the way to his high school graduation, however, he has to take a detour and stop Russian gangster Aleksei Sytsevich from stealing some dangerous chemicals. Although this takes place before Aleksei is given the Rhino armor, there’s a fun nod to the character when Spidey webs down his pants and he’s wearing Rhino boxer shorts.
The whole chase is well done and truly showcases Spidey’s web-slinging through New York City, which is one of the main strengths of the TASM franchise. Andrew Garfield’s humor is hit or miss in this sequence, but the realism of the web-slinging and his comic accurate costume made this scene stand out so much more. Paul Giamatti is great as Aleksei and he would have had a meatier role in the franchise, however, the Sony Sinister Six movie and TASM sequels were canceled, which sent Spidey back home to the MCU.
5 Spider-Man & The Lizard Battle In The Sewers – TASM
After their brief confrontation on the bridge, Peter heads down into the sewers to chase down The Lizard and sets up some web lines to see if he can track him. The webs start to vibrate so Spidey thinks it’s obviously The Lizard, but at first, only small actual lizards start walking towards him and he decides to follow the smaller reptiles. As Spidey is crawling, The Lizard’s gigantic green tail comes into the picture and he attacks Spider-Man, telling him he stopped him once before but he’s getting stronger every day and won’t be stopped again.
The Lizard then cuts into Spidey’s chest with his claws, but when Lizard goes to take off his Spider-Man mask, Peter’s camera goes off and it distracts the giant creature. Spidey is able to slip away into a small drain pipe and goes to Gwen’s to get help for his wounds. The fight itself was short-lived but it showed the ferocity of The Lizard and the agility of Spider-Man to get away before more damage was done.
4 Spidey Confronts Max Dillon’s Electro In Time Square – TASM 2
After falling into a tank with a large number of electric eels, Max Dillon was declared dead but woke up at the morgue, seemingly frightened at first because he didn’t know what was going on. Although he didn’t understand what was happening, he starts to crave power and starts ripping into electric cables in Times Square, leading Spider-Man to confront him in a friendly manner.
Spider-Man pretends to remember Max from their previous meeting, which calms him down for a second but a hotheaded police officer shoots at Max, prompting him to shoot his electric shocks at everyone. As shocks are headed to a group of innocent people on a metal platform, Spider-Man thinks quickly and is able to rescue everyone from getting electrocuted. Electro and Spidey trade some shots back and forth at each other, but finally Spidey and the New York City Firefighters turn on the big hose and knock out the former Max Dillon.
3 The Loss Of Gwen And Only Battle Between Green Goblin & The Web-Slinger – TASM 2
Dane DeHaan is a very talented actor and did a good job as an angry and dying Harry Osborn, but his Green Goblin left a lot to be desired. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 doubled down and turned Harry into a mutating goblin, which was a bad idea, and he ended up looking like an elf with a bad skin condition. His Goblin laugh was decent but everything about his face and hair was just awful and it really distracted viewers from the Spidey/Goblin fight and Goblin kidnapping Gwen.
Similar to the other fights in the entire franchise, Goblin and Spidey’s rumble didn’t last very long. Perhaps the most memorable moment in either of the two movies is also the most heartbreaking, which is Gwen Stacy’s death. Spidey is able to get free and knock the Goblin out, but his web can’t safely reach Gwen in time and it accidentally snaps her back and neck from free falling. Andrew Garfield is amazing during the sequence, especially with his ability to cry and the pure shock he is in from the love of his life dying in his arms.
2 Spider-Man Swings To Battle Electro At A Powerplant – TASM 2
While Electro’s blue body was a tad over the top, his final fight scene with the Wall-Crawler was awesome and looked like a video game come to life. Electro takes control of a giant power grid, turns the entire city’s power off, and his blue face is plastered over parts of the buildings in a subtle but frightening way. Thanks to Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man magnetizes his webs and is able to level the playing field against Electro’s lightning powers.
Spidey and Gwen figure out how to stop him and work together to finally get the power back on, which stops two planes from crashing into each other and it causes Electro to overload, seemingly killing him. However, Jamie Foxx is confirmed to return to the MCU as Electro in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is most likely going to be a different variant of the character. Hopefully, Jon Watts and Kevin Feige will give fans a comic-accurate Electro and will hopefully utilize Foxx’s talents better than TASM 2 did.
1 The Lizard Follows Peter To School Which Leads To A Classic Cameo & Library Fight – TASM
The Amazing Spider-Man had the potential to be an excellent comic book movie, unfortunately, parts of the story were awkwardly forced and The Lizard’s special effects looked like they came from the classic 90s sitcom, Dinosaurs. However, even with The Lizard looking less than ferocious, his fight with Spider-Man in Midtown High is the best part of the TASM. The Lizard and Peter go head to head in the hallways, the classrooms and eventually end up chasing each other into the library.
In a memorable cameo, Stan Lee is shown with headphones listening to classical music as the Web-Slinger and The Lizard trade punches in the background. Stan walks out of the picture as the two super-beings continue going at it, which eventually leads back into the hallways and as Spider-Man saves Gwen and gets the upper hand, Lizard disappears into a hole in one of the school’s bathrooms.
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