MovieChat Forums > The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Discussion > Gwen - the only appealing character, and...

Gwen - the only appealing character, and they kill her. Awful movie.

posted 8 years ago by Treuburg
25 replies | jump to latest

Horrible, horrible movie, just like The Amazing Spider-Man 1.

Gwen is the only good character in either film, so of course, what does this movie do? It kills her. Sheer idiocy.

That death left this reboot series with nowhere else to go. The actor playing Spider-Man is horribly unappealing, as is the way in which PParker is written for this series (even worse in Amazing Spider-Man 1, to be fair).

The villains are all lame here, and this version of Aunt May is a useless character.

Seriously, this reboot series had only one decent element -- Gwen Stacey -- and killing her made me never even want to watch this movie again, let alone see more of this dreadful reboot series.

Thank god it's over.

[–] ee_dixon 8 years ago

Gwen's death is part of Spider-Man's story, it has to happen just like Uncle Ben has to die. The Amazing Spider-Man movies would've been just fine without her as she's not even the main character.

[–] Treuburg 8 years ago

Gwen's death is part of Spider-Man's story, it has to happen just like Uncle Ben has to die.

I don't care what's "part of Spider-Man's story." Like most viewers (except for comic-book geeks), I only care about what makes a film satisfying to watch vs. what doesn't.

Gwen is the only good character in this film (indeed, in this mercifully now deceased reboot series). Her death was a mistake, making this film unsatisfying to watch even once, and actively repelling repeat viewings.

(That's notwithstanding the fact that the film was generally unsatisfying in every other way too; but the Gwen death was its worst of many, many mistakes.)

[–] pmf200074 8 years ago

I agree with you. I also hate that they ended the movie how they did and their won't be another. Like wtf why bother ending like that in the first place

[–] midwestdawg83 8 years ago

I was satisfied by her death, so....

 me.

[–] c-ryan 8 years ago

I thought Emma Stone signed on for 2 more films this one and the cancelled 3 one. I was curious if she was still going to be killed off even if the 3rd film got the go ahead.

[–] ee_dixon 8 years ago

Gwen was going to be killed off in TASM2 regardless. They had no idea of the Marvel deal nor did they think this movie would become the trainwreck it became while they were making it. They already had release dates for TASM3 and TASM4 and everything before TASM2 came out. TASM3 was supposed to come out this year but after TASM2 received bad reviews and underperformed, they delayed TASM3 until 2018 (which was originally the year TASM4 was supposed to come out) then Sinister Six was supposed to take TASM3's place in 2016 then the Marvel deal happened and everything got scrapped.

[–] Thenewnexus 8 years ago

It does not matter what you care about, Gwen was destined to die that's a fact even if she lived in this movie she would die at some point. Her Death is one the best things in this movie.

Class is Pain 101. Your instructor is Casey Jones

[–] TMC-4 (19391) 5 years ago

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries

The sequel became subject to this by unashamedly featuring three supervillains, which is generally not seen as a good thing by audiences after Batman & Robin (especially after a similar issue was part of the Franchise Killer of the previous trilogy, Spider-Man 3), and kept people from seeing it. The sequel also switched tone from dark and gritty to Lighter and Softer like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which only furthered suspicions that these movies were heavily influenced by a corporation following whatever the current trend is. Then, the alienation went even further with the movie's borderline Cruel Twist Ending, which killed off a character that people considered to be one of the good things about the movies and resulted in a number of people being discouraged from watching the movie again.

[–] manchof1 8 years ago

Killing her off was too predictable and cut this series short, when they killed off Harry in Spider-Man 3 it caught me off guard and felt like a punch to the gut.

[–] ee_dixon 8 years ago

Why? Harry dies in the comics as well.

[–] manchof1 8 years ago

It wasn't telegraphed as much as Gwen's death was which is why it was more surprising.

[–] TMC-4 (19391) 4 years ago

And at this point, just about everybody who is aware of Spider-Man and his mythos, is more than likely aware that Gwen Stacy dies (or more specifically, the manner for which she dies and the Green Goblin's involvement in her death) just like they're aware of Uncle Ben being shot to death during a robbery attempt. It isn't necessarily that she died per se, it's just the way that they depicted it on screen was a little bit too close to the comics to be surprising. The only difference is that they didn't drop Gwen from a bridge since they already did that with Mary Jane Watson in the 2002 Spider-Man movie.

[–] TMC-4 (19391) 5 years ago

I had a gut feeling that Gwen was going to die and I'm someone who tries very hard to avoid reading anything about a movie prior to seeing it. I recall the adverts showing Gwen falling and Spider-Man trying to catch her. And of course, if the Green Goblin is in it then, then of course, that's a big indicator that Gwen was going to die. I think that they even had Emma Stone wear a similar outfit to the one that Gwen was wearing in the "Night Gwen Stacy Died" story. My point is that, the whole thing felt awfully telegraphed if you're well aware of the comics. It just came off like the filmmakers killed Gwen off because it was dedicated by the comic mythos (like what happened with Uncle Ben), and not because it truly makes sense from a narrative standpoint. Gwen Stacy' death was probably the ultimate example of fridging, where a female love interest is killed or maimed to provide an cheap and exploitative excuse to emotionally torment the hero.

[–] sherae915 8 years ago

Agreed. They had to stay true for the comic fans though (not the brightest, like you said it's a film). Imagine the geekrage if they hadn't killed her off! I just wish the scene would have made sense..

[–] manchof1 8 years ago

They didn't have to kill her off and it wouldn't have pissed anyone off if they didn't.

[–] bobsta98 8 years ago

It just doesn't do the comic justice. Spider-Man becomes enraged and goes to kill the goblin but realises that revenge has driven him mad. In this one, it's just another recreation of the Spider-Man: No More story and he mopes (because that's what all teenagers in this decade do). Her death just didn't feel earnt and just leads to the shoehorning of the Green Goblin for the one purpose of making her death close enough to the comic.

[–] lbarron20 8 years ago

I agree with you. I also hate that they ended the movie how they did and their won't be another. Like wtf why bother ending like that in the first place

Why won't there be another one?

[–] norman-dostal 8 years ago

because they were *beep*

[–] norman-dostal 8 years ago

Emma Stone was terribly miscast-she looked and spoke like some dumb valley girl and she was supposed to be a brilliant science student! fail-her death was the ONLY good part in the two new movies!

[–] manchof1 8 years ago

I don't get the appeal of her in these films either, she was wide eyed and completely flat as a character.

[–] ee_dixon 8 years ago

Exactly, they played Gwen WAY too safe. In the comics she hated Spider-Man and blamed him for the death of her father. Plus she died not knowing that Peter was Spider-Man. Why couldn't we get that in the movies? It's almost like they were afraid to do that because of the complaints Mary Jane got in the Raimi movies.

[–] TMC-4 8 years ago

http://whatculture.com/film/9-iconic-comic-book-storylines-that-sucked-in-movies?page=3

It felt like a given that Gwen Stacy wouldn’t be sticking around long in the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man universe, and while the second movie tried to play coy in the advertising, it was already a foregone conclusion she was going to die when we all say down for a sequel even more disappointing than the original.

In a mess of subplots and villains the relationship between Gwen and Peter was one of the few bright spots in the movie, but because of poor framing her eventual fate still lacks the impact of the comic. Her death was meant to put Spider-Man in an unwinnable situation, and reinforce the toll being a hero takes on Peter. In the comic, The Green Goblin does this by dropping her from a bridge and Spidey, by trying to web her, accidentally causes her death.

In the movie this moment comes after the audience is already tired from the Electro fight, and have forgotten all about the Green Goblin stuff. There’s a boring fight in a clock tower between them, and eventually, Gwen meets her fate. It’s rushed and meaningless, and the CGI web hand is unintentionally hilarious

[–] ee_dixon 8 years ago

I really don't think people forgot about the Goblin stuff and that final fight with Spider-Man and Electro would've been a crappy way to end the movie on. The Goblin and Gwen Stacy stuff would've been more impactful had:

They should've kept all of Harry's scenes as the Goblin in the movie

Norman should've stayed alive until the end of the second act. Harry would've tried to find a cure for both of them to gain acceptance from his father but Spider-Man refuses to help, Norman dies and Harry blames him for his father's death which results in him teaming up with Electro and later turning into the Green Goblin.

Harry should've been more connected with Peter and Gwen especially after they brake up which would've resulted in the final confrontation being more meaningful especially when he finds out that Peter is Spider-Man when he sees Gwen.

They should've removed the slow motion, dramatic music and the web turning into a reaching hand when Spider-Man was trying to save Gwen as it made it way too obvious that Gwen was going to die.

[–] TMC-4 (19391) 5 years ago

To me, they should've kept Electro as the sole villain and maybe have Harry become the Green Goblin in a possible third movie. But instead, the filmmakers made the same mistake as Sam Raimi and company made in Spider-Man 3, in that they had to double-up on the villains that Spidey faced. As a result, it often felt like we were watching two movies at once being awkwardly joined together. Again, it just comes across as something reminiscent of the '90s Batman movies where two supervillains, who otherwise have little else in common, abruptly team-up to take down the hero.

[–] texascoon2 8 years ago

For Amazing Spider-man 3, they could have done something different from the older stories and, at the same time, use something from the newer books by having Gwen come back as Spider-Gwen.