Sensational Spider-Man, The

I watched the individual fan edits, the Organic Eggs and Sparkles versions, before viewing this one, and I enjoyed both, even though I still considered the original Amazing Spider-Man films to be less than amazing- especially the second, which I thought was a real mess. However, I really enjoyed this version, which uses most of the first film and a few parts of the second to make one large standalone story, and does so really well.

Peter is made a far more likable character in this version. He never goes after Uncle Ben's killer, which I thought was a real problem in the first film. I never really got behind a main character who I watch for about twenty minutes on just his personal vendetta.
Dr. Ratha is completely changed. Throughout the film, you hear him being harassed by Norman Osborn through a radio, and it's kind of funny, but creepy at the same time. But at least all of his scenes have more depth than just him being a moron.
Harry Osborn is much more likable in this version, mostly because this version uses the first half of his story in this one, which was the part I originally liked, and even Chris Cooper as Norman is better done.
Dr. Connors is a much stronger villain- most of his deleted scenes are restored, and his character is much more three-dimensional.
Most of the third act remains unchained, and that was always my least favorite part of the original movie; however, it feels a lot more satisfying here, because there was a lot more buildup, and Spider-Man has a more credible foe to against.

Not completely free of flaws though. The last part does go on for a while, and it is a little strange to see Peter discover everything only after he beats the Lizard and breaks up with Gwen and all that. But I suppose that's a better option than just not discovering it at all or needing to make a sequel.
The runtime is a little long, but the story is more dense, and learning about all the parts that happen offscreen is more interesting here, so that's another plus. Most of the story issues I have are things that just hold over from the original, but I think this version does the best it can.

Overall, if you kind of liked the original films but still think they did have a lot of problems, you'll probably enjoy this version. Definitely recommend it!

Being a life-long Spiderman fan, i really anticipated this fanedit - the first "Amazing" film was always deemed a better one, and taking bits and pieces from the second one to enhance the weaker points in the first half of this series was a genius idea.

Almost all of the first film's main problems are fixed in this edit:
-The Parents Storyline gets resolved in the first one.
-Uncle Ben's Killer, which went nowhere in the original cut - never adressed.
-The lack of a supporting cast beyond Gwen and Aunt May - Harry's in this one, and you can sorta count Flash with this being a one-film affair.
-Dr. Connors' villainy is better-built, and so is the third act - it makes so much more narrative sense.
-Dr. Ratha's antics are completely turned on their hands.

Just to make clear how this movie managed to turn things around, even The RHINO was better in this cut (i guess it's more watchable when it's not right after the tragic death of a love interest, which made it borderline comical in the original film).

I did kinda like the inclusion of Norman Osborn's voiceover in the film, even if it didn't make all that sense - it helped build him up as a spectre of sorts, seeing everything from above. It also shifted Ratha from just an asshole businessman to more of a reluctant servant, constantly harassed by his boss.

This movie wasn't free of qualms though - some of the audio transitions between scenes of different origins were harsh and noticeable, which is a minor problem but still kinda takes you out of the experience.

The Harry story was interweaved pretty well into the first one, especially the part in Oscorp Tower, but i feel like he could have contributed more to the plot. On the one hand, he did build up the Parents storyline better, but on the other hand it was kinda non-sequitor right when the Lizard plotline got into motion. He could've shown Peter Connors' recordings or something.

Also maybe the Harry and Peter hang out scene could have been better placed instead of the skateboard-riding scene, instead of just having them both - Peter even references something going on with Gwen (before they really talk seriously), and the skateboard scene in my opinion never really went anywhere.

All in all though, this film was a great ride, it both gave this series a (much needed) conclusion, and realized a lot of the untapped potential in this series by freeing the first one of it's flaws. I'd recommend it both for fans of the Amazing series, and for people who were sorely disappointed by it (like me).

So I sat and watched this at the weekend, I'd previously seen Sam's 'Organic eggs' edit of the first film and I rather enjoyed that. I'm not a huge fan of Amazing Spider-man 2 so it's minimalist approach in this edit seemed like exactly what i was looking for.

On a technical level this is better than the Organic eggs, the deleted scenes stick out far less, I think he learned how to better incorporate them, and one which I believe was incomplete previously was used here, but with a flashback montage to hide the use of the unfinished effects... brilliance!

Narrative was a bit here and there, I thought the Harry scenes were well done, even though Peter's Short back & Sides made it slightly jarring, i was along for the ride, I have to agree with the other review about Norman's voice being out of place, it doesn't seem like he's really talking to the guy because the guy doesn't really respond, I can see what sam was going for but it would have been hard for anyone to pull off.

I loved that he included Norman in the hologram at oscorp. That was great. I'd have probably liked to have seen Gwen's death & showdown with Peter pan...goblin. Gwen's death was the only part of ASM2 I kinda liked (apart from the spidey banter, he hit his sarcasm stride much better in 2.)

It's a solid effort and well worth a look if you want something a little different from the theatricals.

great work