Sony steps in to ruin Spider-Man....again

Rating: 6/10 (24 April 2014)

Simply stated, this movie is a bloated mess. Too many characters, too many plots and no real reason for most of it.
I really liked The Amazing Spider-Man. I thought it was a welcome departure from what had become of the Raimi franchise after Sony stepped in and sabotaged the narrative to shoehorn an underdeveloped Eddie Brock/Venom and unnecessary comedic elements.
With this version of Spider-Man we got a better Peter Parker and we actually got a true Gwen Stacy. We saw Gwen become Peter's first love and knew that her eventual demise would become the next defining moment for Peter to become the hero he's destined to be. Instead we are short changed by a flabby screenplay that attempts to spin too many plates and leaves the viewer feeling short changed.
First off, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are great together. Good chemistry is not the issue here, bad writing is. The foreshadowing of her eventual death is so heavy handed at times that when it finally does happen it's poignancy is lost. Jamie Foxx is a good actor but he is given very little to work with in terms of depth of character so immediately he just feels one dimensional and flat. Dane Dehann shows up as Harry Osborne and is suddenly thrust into this plot that just doesn't have enough room for him to develop as he should.
Action is fine when it occurs and Garfield's wisecracks and personality are still the highlight of the movie for me. He and Stone work great and you believe in their relationship. It's the villains that have no motivation or weight. Their expository dialogue pushing the story forward but never giving a real reason to hate the web slinger.
Stone is smart, fearless and a welcome addition to what is usually a thankless role for most women in these types of movies. She doesn't have the powers of Peter Parker but her existence in the film is more than just damsel in distress.
Sony is to blame for this movie because like in SM3 they tried to fit in too many characters and didn't develop them like they need to be. Here the push for The Sinister Six and for a Venom movie are so obvious that feels like one big commercial for the next movies instead of a compelling story in this movie now. This idea of an expanded universe poisons the plot and gives us almost no emotional stakes or interest as this whole movie feels like a 2 hour trailer for another movie.
It's a shame. but this movie just simply isn't that good and that's just too bad.