Not so amazing

Rating: 6/10 (3 May 2014)

Like it's predecessor, ironically named director Marc Webb's 'Amazing-Spider-Man 2' is a very frustrating film. There are a number of really good ideas, scenes and performances, but they're all held together by an over-stuffed and under-cooked story that clunkily moves along for a mind-numbing 142 minutes. It's curious that with that much screen time Webb is unable to work in rather important aspects of Peter's life, such as going to college (which is barely even hinted at, let alone shown) or his job with the Daily Bugle.
Instead, the focus becomes split between the admittedly well handled love travails of Gwen and Peter and the development of two entirely new villains. Real life couple Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are quite good as the web slinger and his best gal, while Dean DeHaan manages to make co-villain Harry Osborne scary and sympathetic at the same time. Unfortunately his partner in crime, Jamie Foxx is horribly miscast as a milquetoast techno geek who dreams of becoming as popular and beloved as Spider-Man. Even worse is Paul Giamatti, who is downright embarrassing in a smaller role that is obviously a set-up for the next film.
Like the drama, the action is also polarizing. On one hand, it's over-stylized and relies too heavily on slo-mo gimmickry, but yet it's thrilling to swing along through New York city with Spider-Man.
Ultimately the 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' is bogged down by trying to spin too many plates and undermined by a misplaced, and ultimately dissipated, focus.