Good, but there are faults to be found...

Rating: 7/10 (17 April 2014)

There's probably spoilers in this...
Alright, so I literally just watched this and understand I do like the film. i really do. I think there are many jewels in this film, but I can't help but also point out my personal flaws with the movie.
I'll start with the story, since all good movies should have a good story. For Peter and Gwen it was a love story, a romance that kept getting inevitably interrupted by Peter's duties as the web slinger. For Harry, it was a quest to make sure he didn't die like his father. For Max/Electro it was the quest to... be noticed? Honestly I'm not quite sure what Electro wanted. A spidey fanatic who was treated badly and when electrocuted becomes a electric wielding individual. When unable to control his power fully and almost harming people he then... wants what? Revenge?
This brings me on to the characters, namely Electro. I think one of the most important things in a film is the characters, and in a super hero movie, the villains too. The villains need to have a plan, an end game, if they don't have a conviction and an aim then they're not entertaining. Defoe's Green Goblin suffered from this problem and I think it also applies to Electro here. I just don't get what he planned to do. He gathers up all this power and for what? So people notice him? It seems like a poor drive to me and it only makes the villain look poor to me. Granted Electro blowing things up is a lot of fun to see in the movie but I always felt there wasn't a reason other than to just hurt spider-man just because he stole the spot light.
Then we've got Harry Osbourne. I'll admit I was slightly bummed that we wouldn't have more Norman Osbourne, and for some reason I always preferred Norman being the Green Goblin rather than Harry. DeHaan, I think, gives a very good portrayal of Harry, better than James Franco's, but there are elements of the Harry in this film I just can't jump. How does Harry get so ill so quickly when Norman Osbourne got ill and only died recently at such an old age? Even Norman said 'it started when I was your age', so how did it happen so fast? What was the point of mentioning how Norman threw Harry aside if only to never really delve into how it affected Harry? And the appearance of the Green Goblin... oh god... I hated the look, I did not like the look of the goblin at all. He didn't look scary, he didn't seem insane, he didn't ever really seem a threat, probably because the Goblin is only about 5 minutes of the entire film. And yet again I felt there was no endgame. Why the hell did Harry want to take out Spider- Man? Why? Because Peter didn't give him his blood to save himself so Harry became a monster? That seems more reasonable but after that, then what? There wasn't an endgame for either villains and it really hit the movie hard. I didn't really care for either and I would of loved to have seen more Green Goblin.
I bought the Peter/Gwen relationship, I honestly thought their relationship was the best part of the movie, I think in a way Gwen was more of a threat to Peter than Electro or the Green Goblin ever were and that conclusion, to me, seemed to literally fly out of nowhere.
That brings me to the pacing of this movie, it was all over the place. Half the time it was quick and snappy and the other half the time it moved at the pace of a demented snail. It didn't ever really settle on a speed.
What was the point of the entire 'Roosevelt' thing? I understand it's Peter discovering more about his dad and Oscorp but it added nearly nothing to the story, at all. Peter would of already known Oscorp was bad after realising Connors, Max and Harry had all become monsters after direct involvement with Oscorp. Peter shouldn't need to be told their bad news. In my opinion this scene could have been scrapped for much needed Peter/Harry interaction at the start of the movie.
Seriously, I know it's been ages since Harry and Peter talked but it all felt so stoic to me. I understand the two are a little uncomfortable after such a time apart but I never really bought their supposed friendship.
And Rhino at the end... what even was that ending? I think it would've been more effective to end in the graveyard... even if it does herald back to the first film, I think it would have been a very powerful ending.
I've ripped into this film, but honestly, I really did like it. I bought the romance, I thought most of the acting was solid and the effects were mind blowing. I'm still debating on the score but for now I'll leave it to rest.