It's the Amazing Hipster Spider-Man

Rating: 6/10 (11 May 2014)

I'm sorry, I really want to love this film and in general the film series but for the most part I was mildly thrilled. I still have a soft spot for Raimi's film's even though I know Garfield and Stone are way better to watch than Maguire and....ugggggh...Kirsten Dunst and the 3rd film was awful.
However I will give credit to where credit is due, this film does do some stuff better. Like they show the Rhino, pre-armour, as this crazy Russian gangster. The swinging and action sequences look cool as hell. Spider-Man makes his wise cracks, which were rarely in the Raimi films. Also Peter Parker takes the initiative and researches ways to defeat his foe. And Spidey's got the original costume.
Yes I said foe, singular. The plot is too dense for it's own good and it ends up devoting screen time to the wrong things. The villains are one of them. It eventually ends up being that Electro is the main villain, and man is his story arc weak and silly to begin with. Seriously, who keeps a vat of electric eels lying around, and conveniently place them under a live wire and- OK calm down. And they call Raimi's films silly.
There are way too many plot threads, and some really didn't require a resolution. Especially that thing with Peter's dad. Any idiot from a mile away could've easily figured out that his dad was fleeing because this company wanted to misuse his inventions and blah blah blah screen time wasted.
Another thing that wastes screen time is the on again off again relationship between Peter and Gwen. Sure the two actors have chemistry but this stuff relative to the plot was tooth rotting. And also it really pushes the hipster aesthetic on you. And for those who've read the comics, you can tell that this movie has way less than subtle foreshadowing.
And this is where my argument, on why the previous decade's Spidey films (at least the first two) are actually better, comes full circle. The Raimi film's have more of a timeless quality to them. They have that post 9/11 vibe and the stories flow really well albeit being very simple. When I watch the Amazing Spidey films, I can easily tell how dated they are. From the bad haircuts and clothes to the dubstep-ish music. Thank you director of 500 days of summer.
In the end this movie is enjoyable. I can nitpick it to death but we all know Marvel needs to consolidate all their characters, now.