A fair review (IMO)

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2014)

This was my favourite Spidey yet and I hope this review will do justice to what really was done well and poorly.
The story really had me engaged. Moments with Peter and Gwen were very well done. I read a review about how selfish Peter Parker is which thereby makes him not at all heroic. He is a hero, but he is also a teenager which naturally leads to a conflicted protagonist. That's fair and more than acceptable.
Fanboys constantly complain how movies don't stick to the source material but I think Marc Webb and the writers have done a decent job in blending the standard canon and ultimate Marvel universes. My only question about this is: why skip over Norman Osborne? Perhaps we will discover that in Spidey 3 and 4. Perhaps not. Keep in mind, as Sony prepares to challenge Disney/Marvel by expanding the Spider-Man universe, this series must act as a giant set up for the Sinister Sixwhich, so far, it has done well. Sure, at the end of the day it's all a giant cash grab, but so is The Avengers, so we're comparing apples and oranges here. Profit-oriented fruits.
Only a few criticisms, the first of which ignore Peter Parker as a nerd. Kid's got swag in these movies and while as Spider-Man he's got the cockiness/wit DOWN, Peter Parker is still a nerd. You see moments of this nerdiness when he talks to Harry, but other than that, not really.
Furthermore, the character development of Electro and Harry needed some work; Harry more so. While Electro's reasoning is extreme, it is a reason that made sense nonetheless. Jamie Foxx, IMO, did a meh job as Max but a much better job as Electro. Harry was way too rushed but I thought Dane DeHaan still did a good job playing the role.
Cinematography and SFX were great and this edition of Spidey had the best web-slinging. All in all, as mentioned before, my favourite Spidey yet. It wasn't perfect, but it definitely wasn't s*** as some people think. It was a very enjoyable film.