My favourite Spiderman yet with more to come!

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2014)

I'm just going to start off by saying I was never a fan of Raimi's films (please no hate) but my personal preference is the more Dark Knight style. The main reason as to why this is my favourite is because it's far from your cheesy superhero movie. So I never found (Raimi's) Spiderman 2 that much of a challenge to beat. However I get why people call this a movie part of a franchise rather than a stand alone blockbuster. I'll go through this by each category and no major spoilers are given away only stuff we know from the trailers.
Plot: I'll start of by saying I really like the way TASM endeavours into Richard Parker and to why Peter is orphaned. The way Richard ties into the movie is quite clever and without giving too much away, we see him give an explanation as to how Peter could become Spiderman and how Harry could become the Green Goblin. I also like the way Harry was introduced and to how he came to hate Spiderman. The movie has been criticised for trying to do too much and I felt although Peter's inner conflict over Gwen is necessary, getting her to go to England was a bit much. It is a totally realistic situation (well for a superhero movie) but it felt too much seeing Peter jump from trying to help Harry, to discovering about his father and then to Gwen who's going to England. It felt a bit disjointed with the transitions between all of the dramas.
Main Characters: Spiderman: Did a great job of portraying wise-cracking Spiderman without going over the top and being a total dick. His fighting was pretty badass too. After TASM 1 the general consensus was that Garfield was a better Peter and Maguire was a better Spiderman. Of course Maguire fans will still say Tobey was better but I reckon the majority will call Garfield the better Spiderman after this one.
Peter:I loved Garfield's non cry-baby version of Peter TASM1 and he backed it up with another great performance here! There was a great bit of acting between him and Aunt May when talking about Richard.
Gwen: I'm trying to avoid bagging out Raimi's films but its fair to say Emma Stone is far better than Kirsten Dunst. Gwen gives a powerful non naggyperformance. In Spiderman 2 MJ and Gwen have a similar problem, Petercan't date them because of personal reasons. The main difference is that Gwen isn't a naggy female dog! Yes Gwen knows that he's Spiderman but she doesn't make it all about herself. OK enough comparison to Raimi's films, Stone does amazing and has great chemistry with Garfield and she does what she can to make herself of use and help Spidey.
Electro: A solid performance from Foxx but not show stealing. Max Dillon came across as very creepy (intentionally) and credit to Foxx he still made us feel sympathetic to him. He was a badass villain for sure who thrived on attention but wasn't given enough screen time!
Harry(Green Goblin): One more Raimi comparison. The first time I watched the originals I really liked Franco as Harry, the second time I felt he was cheesy and over acted. DeHaan was fantastic as Harry! I even felt sympathetic towards him but as the Green Goblin wasn't given enough screen time as well. DeHaan was a superior Osborn in my opinion but his appearance as the Goblin wasn't lengthy or memorable enough to overshadow Dafoe's version.
Action: The action in this movie is brilliant! The fight scenes are my favourite from any Spiderman but there wasn't enough! The middle of the movie was deep, focusing on the conflicts of Peter but it is still a superhero movie, we want action. The way the movie went they could have made a real badass classic Spiderman vs Goblin fight but other reasons did prevent it. I hope in the Sinister Six they focus less on Peter and more on fighting! The first fight scene with Electro was awesome and I loved the spidey sense slow mo!
Soundtrack: I love Hans Zimmer and his soundtracks and he did not disappoint in this one! Him and Pharrell Williams made a really intense atmosphere when Spidey and Electro met for the first time! However, I thought they blew a huge opportunity when Electro rose from his Darth Vader style bed. They could have made a really intimidating atmosphere like Star Wars does with Vader but they went for a comical soundtrack instead which really didn't appeal to me
Conclusion: A great film but its more of a setup for bigger things to come! I can't wait for a Sinister Six film and also Venom! My fave Spidey yet but there is room for improvement!