The Not So Amazing Spider-Man

Rating: 5/10 (23 July 2014)

TASM2 has had a number of things going against it, namely:
1) The bar has been set very high indeed for Super Hero films -- esp. the Dark Knight Trilogy, Avengers, Cap, Iron Man and X-Men DoFP have all been on average fantastic. It's great for comic book lovers like most of are. Not so great for film directors and producers that don't really bring their A game.
2) The plot is extremely unoriginal and very derivative -- for a refresher on a fantastic re-boot, re-watch Batman Begins. Or 007 re-boot Casino Royale with Craig James. When I saw that for the first time, I was like "what the heck... is this James Bond? This is absolutely fantastic!" It hits you right between the eyes. Does anyone get that sense from watching the TASM / TASM2 films? Not I.
3) The villains (i.e Electro and GG) not only looked ridiculous, the dialog was uninspired and the costumes looked liked they were made from someone who had never read a comic book. Rhino was embarrassingly bad. Really.
4) But, the main thing the TASM series has going against it is, frankly, Andrew Garfield. I don't think he's a bad actor. He was miscast, that's not his fault I guess. But he isn't a convincing Peter Parker. He's too old, he's too lanky and too depressing. Spidey / Parker, if nothing else, is bursting with personality with an amazing sense of humor, and he's gutsy -- I'd argue that only Captain America rivals Spidey's level of bravery / courage. As Parker, he has everything going against him -- loner nerd, has to hustle part-time job -- but I think deep down that's why comic book fans love and identify with Peter -- because WE could be Parker, hence, WE could be Spidey. That's why we root for Spidey. At least that's why I do.
And I didn't feel an ounce of that from TASM2, and I have no interest in seeing TASM3 knowing we will get more of the same.