Underrated but probably would've worked better as a first movie with less characters

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2014)

I gave it a 7, simply because I felt like a 6 was too low, although it may warrant such a rating.
Let me start by saying I felt like the movie parts were better than the sum of those parts. The movie was very overly ambitious, although it did well to hit many important Spider-Man beats while missing many others. The most noteworthy misfire is how callously the movie casts aside Uncle Ben in favor of Peter's father and Captain Stacey who frankly are not as central. The first movie really shot itself in the foot by diminishing their relationship severely. This is supposed to be the man Peter admired and loved the most. In the comics his father is gone before Peter has made many memories of them. This movie series he has more vivid memories. But even here I found myself siding with Aunt May that essentially these were just people who abandoned him; that she and Ben were his true parents. As it should have been.
However overall this movie trumps the last one, and demonstrates some understanding of Spider-Man that felt very absent in the Raimi movies. Namely the quips, his confidence while being Spider-Man versus his awkwardness as Peter, his connection to the 'common folk' of New York (although Raimi touched on this as well), making all his villains kooky science experiments, making Electro and Rhino basically overpowered henchmen as they usually are in the comics. All that stuff was great. The fight scenes were also spectacular.
There's a lot in these movies that reminds me of early 80s Spider-Man, and a fair bit that reminds me of the initial Lee/Kirby runs mixed in with some of the Ultimate Spider-Man. It does a good job of "feeling like" a comic without coming off completely campy. This tone strikes a balance I haven't even seen in great movies like TDK and X2.
The problem with the movie is the plot, or complete lack of one. That too, almost adds to the comic feel. The movie to me felt like a series of one shot issues, rather than one complete story. It felt almost like a musical, but instead of breaking into song, they broke into Spider-Man versus villain fights. But it seems like they don't know precisely where to take anyone. No one develops, no one has a Catharsis. They all just show up, overact a line or two, then move on.
The movie, as I would describe it, is very raw. It's almost like Webb understands Spider-Man very well, but struggles to find what story to tell, but he knew he had to hurry up and SPOILER ALERT kill that one person we know HAS to be killed. I loved the way he handled the death. It was perfect. But that, itself could've been a movie. Electro could've been a movie. Rhino, could've gotten more to do. It's a mess.
But it is a fun mess. I was entertained, so I won't be too hard on them.