Underwhelming once again

Rating: 4/10 (15 March 2018)

This follow up to the Andrew Garfield-starring reboot of the SPIDER-MAN franchise is marginally better than its predecessor, but that really isn't saying much. This is another overblown, bloated, and unappealing mess of a movie, with a ridiculously overlong running time at two and a half hours. It just goes on and on and on, through the same old plot scenarios (the Green Goblin AGAIN?) and cheesy romance already witnessed in the Sam Raimi trilogy, and failing to add anything new whatsoever. Okay, so the CGI web-slinging scenes are better, but the film is still light and superficial and doesn't even try to connect on an emotional level. Garfield is stuck playing an immature character and the rest of the cast aren't much better. This film is at its best in the energetic opening and closing sequences, both starring a cameoing Paul Giamatti, and in the scenes involving Jamie Foxx's entertaining villain. The rest is merely mundane, and the 3D effects are completely uninspiring too.