The Amazing Spiderman 2 at Gold Class

I won a pair of Golden Village Gold Class tickets during last year Great Singapore Sale and they are expiring in August 2014. I was planning to use it for Spiderman 2 and X-men: Days of Future Past and when Spiderman 2 was out earlier this month, I was disappointed to see "no free passes" sign. I thought it would be rubbish if I could only use the free tickets a few weeks later when the movie is no longer "hot". I was expecting another week for the sign to disappear so I was quite shocked when I checked this morning that that sign was gone. What was more shocking was that I only had today or tomorrow to catch 5:50pm show. Wew..

I claimed 1 hour time off from work just to watch movie. Yeah.. call me crazy.. Haha.. Guess what, when I checked the free ticket one more time, the back of the ticket stated that the ticket is valid even for "no free passes" movies! Holy crap!! I had been emo-ing for 2+ weeks for nothing..

Ticket stub for today and the other free ticket

Before I write about the movie, let me share the movie experience first. I felt pretty excited and I looked forward to watch in an elite environment :p My biggest fear was that I really enjoyed the experience that it made me no longer want to watch in normal cinema halls. Well, my biggest fear did not come true. In fact, I thought the experience was kinda underwhelming.

The customer service, as expected, was premium. It was my first time and the lady at the front desk guided me through things so that I felt less lost. I think it was kinda obvious that it was my first time. While waiting at the Gold Class lounge, she passed me the menu and I could actually choose to have the food at the lounge before the show or at the cinema hall during the show. It was quite difficult to choose without having pictures in the menu so I followed her recommendation of Beef Burger which "is pretty good and filling" according to her. I also got a brownie+ice cream for dessert and I was given a choice of when to be served with them during the show. They also provide ice water (for free) if you want to save money on the drinks.

I told her I wanted to pay for the food first but I guess she forgot about it. At about 5:45pm, another person informed me that the cinema hall was ready. There are only 32 seats in the cinema hall and I think there were only about 10 of us watching. Hehe.. I guess that is the good thing about watching a movie a few weeks after its release. 

Here are the reasons for my underwhelming experience. I find the couch very uncomfortable. Perhaps it is due to my small size that my leg is off the ground when I lean back. I saw no panel to control the tilting of the couch too! Bleah.. There was a blanket provided which was kinda pointless because I found the cinema hall was kinda warm! I did not mention but the lounge was also not cold. This is a major turn off for me as cinema hall should be "freezing" cold to make me feel shiok.. The table is also tiny. My main+dessert+water could barely fit so I can't imagine 2 people sharing that tiny table. The position of the table and the couch makes it very unconducive to eat and watch at the same time.

If great meal is a pulling factor for this elite movie watching experience, then at least it is a hit on this aspect. The $16 Beef Burger and $12 brownie+ice cream are reasonably priced and the taste can compete with other western restaurants/cafes. I am very satisfied with the food. The beef patty was thick but despite that, the whole burger was relatively easy to cut and not so "messy" to eat. The girl was right to say that it was very filling. Haha.. At a glance, the portion looks small but I am still full now.

Overall, Gold Class is not something that I would recommend or I will be interested in the near future. Well I have to return another time for the other ticket so let's see if my experience will be different then.

Let's move on to the movie itself.

Never seen this poster but I got this from Sony Pictures Singapore so that makes this official :)

It is kinda funny to think and to reason why I want to watch this. I am not a fan of Spiderman and in fact, I did not watch all 3 Tobey Maguire Spiderman movies. Cast-wise, I don't think Andrew Garfield is handsome and I hated Emma Stone in the first movie but their on-screen chemistry is just beautiful. I guess that is what happens when you have a real-life couple on-screen. My friend is not too pleased with the amount of romance here but I am fine since they look lovely together. Andrew Garfield is still a great Spiderman with his joker side and he cries convincingly on screen. Surprisingly, I sort of becoming to like Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. I guess it is a rarity to see a girl who can stand up for herself and to fight along side her superhero boyfriend, and not just becoming a damsel in distress. Her death is kinda expected so it takes away any surprise or sad factor.

Harry Osborn is played by Dane DeHaan. I don't know this name before but his face looks somewhat similar. He is actually the main guy playing Chronicles. He looks bad-ass as Green Goblin but his hair makes him look lame as normal Harry. Not a fan of the portrayal of Harry here as he already looks evil even before becoming a Green Goblin.

If you honestly ask me, I think the director is good in masquerading the lack or the weak plot with all the kaboom, explosions, adrenaline-filled action scenes. However, these action scenes are exactly the things that make the movie very enjoyable to watch despite its 142-minute run. The romance scenes are not really going anywhere so it is really a spam of Andrew-Emma kisses just like the countless times Andrew is shirtless while taking off his Spidey suit. The are a lot of easter eggs (hints of other things present in Spiderman universe which is not directly shown in the movie) that Spiderman fans will enjoy.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the 3rd movie will be, especially with people saying to re-cast Emma Stone as Mary Jane.