Even with it's flaws, its still a Spidey movie

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2014)

Yes this movie has some pretty big flaws, and yes I was somewhat let down because of my sky high expectations. But it's still highly entertaining and pretty fun. I really like this movie but I wanted to love it. Andrew Garfield is the definitive Spider-Man and is way more entertaining than Tobey Maguire ever was. And the love story between Peter and Gwen is twice as good as the Mary Jane and Peter story. This movie has some of the best scenes of any of the Spider-Man movies, and by far some of the most emotional. But I do feel like director Marc Webb threw almost everything into this film which became packed with far too many story threads. The story about who Peter's parents really were should have been resolved in the first movie, and this movie would have benefited without the opening deaths of them. But also the chemistry between Gwen and Peter is the best on screen duo in all of the franchise, so really I shouldn't be complaining.
The narrative itself is packed. I liked the multiple villain approach because at the least it kept us guessing what was next. But I also think the death of Electro was anti-climactic and should have been handled differently. Speaking of deaths, I don't believe for one second that Norman Osborn is dead. If you get Chris Cooper to play a villain you don't kill him off after 5 minutes of screen time. The death of Gwen Stacy hurt though. I knew it was coming but even then it was heartbreaking because of how much Peter is really at fault for all this. Garfield nailed that scene, and actually so did Dane Dehaan as Harry Osborn. For the limited time he got, he showed the true menacing (and actual Goblin) side we didn't get to see with the original Spider-Man film. Electro was cool but underused and somewhat wasted.
I liked the little hints to the future of the franchise, and especially the hints toward J.Jonah Jameson. The Sinister Six hints were also cool but question, are they going to be in Amazing Spider-Man 3? If not who will the villain be? Which by the way if the credits were really suppose to tease the Sinister Six it was too tough to tell, and didn't think the X-Men credit scene was needed, why not just give us an actual Spider-Man teaser.
Also it's worth noting how cool the scenes are when Spider-Man is just swinging around, it's definitely the best effects the franchise has had. Not to mention how cute that scene was with the kid dressing up like Spider-Man. I mean come on that's everybody's dream right? So my overall feelings are mostly positive. Anyone can enjoy this film, and I will see it a few more times so that should tell you something about it considering how expensive movies can be these days. Here's hoping the future of the franchise can make that GIANT step like The Dark Knight and Cap 2 did.
8.0/10