10 Changes That Would Have Improved The Amazing Spider-Man 2

10. Giving Electro A Proper Motivation

Jamie Foxx's turn as Electro isn't exactly bad. When the Oscar-winning actor is let off the leash, he's actually very good, and well worth his set-piece value. Yet a villain can't survive on just set-pieces alone €“ there's got to be characterisation, otherwise he's just a flamboyantly-dressed (or in this case, skinned) guy with a neat party trick. Without motivation, you could probably book him for children's parties. And this, sadly, is what Electro lacks €“ his motivation is almost heroically laughable, to the point of caricature. Obviously, the term 'caricature' has to be used sparingly €“ after all, when Foxx is pretty much fluorescent for the majority of the run-time, you can't really ask for too much realism. But other super-hero films €“ hell, other Spider-Man films €“ have imbued their villain with a more understandable axe to grind, making Dillon's angle as an obsessive Spider-Man fan who's slightly annoyed that Webhead took the cameras off him during their Times Square barney seem pretty ridiculous. Oh, and he forgot his name too, but that's hardly a good enough reason to drain New York of all its power, is it? The fault seems to lie in how Dillon's portrayed pre-superpowers. His problem's an understandable one €“ he's lonely and downtrodden €“ but it's hedged so much in the loner/outsider archetype that it's positively vanilla. If they'd have given regular Dillon a more unique backstory and a more understandable thirst for vengeance, he wouldn't have been so forgettable.