TAS 2 Has all the makings of a summer blockbuster

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2014)

The Amazing Spiderman 2 manages to be cheesy, romantic, dark, funny, and epic, all without feeling bloated.
Now that the new Spiderman series has its origin story out of the way, it ups the ante with more characters and plot lines that manage to all work without this almost two and a half hour movie feeling too crowded. Paul Giamatti's Rhino, who is only in it for a few minutes, and Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon bring a cheesiness to the series that is reminiscent of the original. Once Electro is cemented as the main villain of the movie, Spiderman doesn't see much of him. The marketing of the movie would lead you to believe that Spiderman is taking on three enemies at once, but not only does that not happen, there really isn't that much Spidey action overall.
The film focuses a lot on Peter and Gwen's relationship, which surprisingly doesn't slow the movie down, and Harry Osborn gets a lot of screen time too. He is introduced as Peter's friend, who is a likable and sympathetic character, and Dane Dehaan does an excellent job.
One subplot that seems thrown in is the mystery of Peter's parents. With a lot of buildup from the first movie, the solving of the mystery wasn't satisfying and that story arc was unnecessary in the movie.
Overall, it is a great summer movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.