Faithful to the comics. Worth watching

Rating: 7/10 (16 April 2014)

Im not going to reveal any spoilers in this review, but I do mention a few things so don't read me if you haven't seen the film yet.
There are a few plot niggles that irritate die-hard comic fans like myself. For example, Spider-man does not get ill, he has a healing factor which is the entire plot point for several of the other characters in the film. He could heal from electric hits in seconds, but is taken out with the common cold?
There were a lot of subplots. From the school graduation, to Aunt Mays new job. The origin of Rhino, Electro, Goblin and several others which are rather easter eggs for those in the know, the Gwen love story, the aftermath of the first film, the death of Several key characters, hallucinations of past characters, moving to another country, the back-story about his parents, the corporate takeover, the Ben parker conspiracy investigation. If you don't pay attention you will miss a lot of exposition. And some of the plots like The conspiracy and London don't add anything to the overall story. They just fizzle out with that strand of the plot apparently ended and deemed no-longer important.
They could have edited a lot more out of the film and you wouldn't have missed anything. Im glad they edited out Mary Jane as there would have been no reason for her to be there.
The action is great, and the special effects superb. At some point though, they have to start equipping the cops with decent weapons since they know the danger levels they are facing and handguns are no-longer appropriate. Also maximum security prisons seem to be stupidly lapse in security. That scene was a joke. Transporting plutonium through a major city and letting it get hijacked by three thugs was also a joke. Where are the spike traps, helicopters, snipers etc. We need our superheroes to do the stuff us normal humans cant do. Not make the humans so stupid that the heroes simple balance out their inadequacies of common sense.
The film is enjoyable viewing that I recommend. But better character motivations, fine- tuning the police to seem competent and eliminating irrelevant plot strands would have been welcomed. I also would have liked to see his injuries carry on to the next fight or day, so we can see what impact that being Spider-man has on his life of Peter Parker. He may have a healing factor, but he's not Wolverine. His scars are suppose to take days to heal, not seconds.