A sequel that doesn't live up to the first one.

Rating: 5/10 (2 July 2014)

2 1/2 out of 4 stars.
Marc Webb's 2014 film "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is your average Blockbuster film that doesn't build very well on its first film. I was excited for this film after watching Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man." I thought Andrew Garfield did a really good job playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man and bringing much more emotion to the role. However, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" just makes things bigger and hopes that it will be better.
I will admit, the visual effects are cool and seeing shots from Spider-Man's perspective are impressive, but it doesn't hold up for a film that's almost 2 1/2 hours. The storyline for the film is also weak. We're told things before we really need to know them (like in the opening scene) and there are too many villains (just like Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3). There is Paul Giamatti's Rhino (who doesn't get much screen time), Jamie Foxx's Electro (who gets the cheesiest lines), and Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn/Green Goblin (who could've been a much more effective villain if he was given more screen time). All these villains become more one-dimensional. If they just picked one, I think the film would've been better and the villain could feel much more real.
Luckily, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (playing Gwen Stacy) have great chemistry and bring life to a film filled with too many visual effects. Sally Field is also effective as Aunt May. The film has interesting themes of life, death, pain, and what it means to be a hero, but none of them feel complete by the end. Peter Parker deals with these heavy themes, but it's not reflected in his Spider-Man identity.
If I didn't like the first film as much as I did, I probably would've given this movie a lower rating. There are more Spider-Man films to come and I hope that the filmmakers can learn from the mistakes in this film to give Spider-Man a film he deserves.