He does, but not when a villain is outright obliterating cars with drivers in them. Honestly, the destruction feels more like some quota the filmmakers were contractually obligated to fulfill. But it's there, and it's very stupid in the context of Spider-Man's wisecracking.

I despised The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony's first bid to reboot the web-slinging franchise only a few short years after the lucrative and largely satisfying Tobey Maguire-led trilogy concluded. Despite the charming romantic energy shared by freshman stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, I found the film to be a lethargic, unimaginative, and at times even unpleasant copy without distinction. The second film (or one could call it the fifth) is a tad more satisfying, perhaps because it is more absurd and therefore more distinctive by default. It is still, however, flawed through and through, further cementing poor Spider-Man as a hero with a fading star compared to, among others, Batman, Iron Man, and the X-Men. Garfield and Stone are once again a pleasant pair, even when forced to go through predictable motions involving standard-issue secret-identity-versus-romantic-stability tension and a potential move to England for her.

The most dire problem here, as already diagnosed by many, is the vast amount of character and story crowded into every corner of its overlong two-and-a-half-hour length. There is so much going on! An example which illustrates the overall issue is the character of Harry Osborn, the troubled heir who is foe to Spider-Man, but friend to his alter-ego, Peter. Dane DeHaan, replacing James Franco in the role, is a fantastic up-and-coming actor. His icy blue eyes rivet, and he can sneer with style. There is only so much he can do, though, when, within the space of this single film, Osborn is introduced, established as an old friend of Peter's, pushed to the edge of desperation, and then spends around five minutes as the notorious Green Goblin, complete with elf ears, a half-decomposed face, and a maniacal chortle reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz. There is no grace, no sense of a natural human trajectory. The character is always pushed by the mechanical requirements of the storyline, so the intended impact of every turn is at the very least halved. This charge holds for most of the film's elements, including Jamie Foxx as Electro and an ongoing espionage-flavored mystery regarding Peter's parents, a bit of intended intrigue unique to this vein of Spider-Man films which is beyond uninteresting. Kinetic, if plastic action sequences and a gifted cast can only compensate so much for a forced, soulless narrative.

C

Peter's father's untouched subway lab is such a moronic, lazy piece of writing.

I love how Peter's walls are covered with posters for DIIV, the Smiths, and the xx, but the one time he listens to music, it is Phillip f-ing Phillips. What a howler of a song choice.

And what is up with the people in this film lining up to watch the action? This nutcase in a giant Rhino machine is firing machine guns, and this mother is standing a few feet away with her son, gasping and pointing as if it is spectator sport. Hit the ground, bitch, or run. Imagine if these people were in Heat's shootout sequence.

To start with, Spidey didn't care about people; at one point of the film, he was supposed to go to live in England, it means he didn't care about New York's fate, he just cared about fucking Gwen in London

On the other hand, Superman did everything to stop Zod, he didn't want Earth becoming Krypton, Superman saved the world!!!!!!!

Who paid for this elaborate setup? Osborn and his company, of course, right? Yet they never bothered to investigate it nor to confiscate the computer. Please. This is insulting.

By throwing Zod through occupied buildings.

The movie sucked, Brian. That's just one of the reasons why.

BEST ACTION SEQUENCES

Ghost Denis Leary showing up every time Peter gets a hard-on. Class.

Buildings weren't occupied. If a news building evacuates, you can bet your ass that every other building has long been evacuated. That's just common sense.

Black guy in a hoodie walking down the street, setting off the alarms of cars he's not even touching. Now that's class.

At the end, maniacal Rhino is nice enough to stop shooting for a minute or two so Spider-Man can have an inspirational conversation with a child. So considerate.

Paul Giamatti might have the most pointless role of all time in the history of cinema. Did he get a picture deal or something? I've never seen such a great actor get wasted for 5 lines of dialogue with a terrible Russianish accent??

He is truly awful. I respect Giamatti--he can be a tremendous actor--but holy shit. It is unpleasant on a physical level to see him play this character this way.

Oh, on another note, since Felicity Jones is one of my favorites, I want to comment on her involvement. Obviously it is a brief, boring role. By extension, I seriously doubt anyone but the most ardent, most hardcore, Marvel fans will even remember the fact this film set up a "Felicia" if/when they utilize her for a Black Cat storyline. I wonder if the role will just end up going nowhere.

Well my Spiderman knowledge really is only of the animated series in the 90s, until I heard her name I thought Gwen was Black Cat, but as soon as I heard Felicia I knew that's who it was. Honestly, I'm not sure this one will make 700 WW at this point. I mean at the very least, they have Mary Jane and Felicia in the same film, it'll be way too much to set up. But hey, after watching this film, maybe she's already Black Cat by the next film (Explained only by a flashback)

I AM THE RHIIIIIIIIIINO!!!!

It's so exciting that he'll be in the Sinister Six movie, don't you think?

This is already the most underrated movie of 2014.

The backlash against it is stupid.

I found it okay and all the actors are far better than their counterparts in the Raimi films. The action sequences are decent, and the humor was alright as well. The humor element of superhero films has diminished in recent years, so it's a nice aspect of this film. B-. If you have the actors from the new films and the story-line from the original films, you'd have a pretty perfect combination.

And the ending is also poor. Like Magnus said, it should have ended after the funeral with the Harry Osborne scene. Not suddenly introducing the Rhino and his assault on the NYPD.

Also, anyone care to explain the X-Men mid-credits scene?

While I can, in a vacuum, respect the idea of Spider-Man dispensing corny one-liners the way he does in the old comics, here it uncomfortably rubs against the heavy and violent imagery. If the film were more colorful, jocular, and zany on a stylistic level, the humor would be successful.

Fox released Marc Webb from a contract. In return, Sony agreed to free promotion of a Fox film. This is the result.

I would give it a B maybe a B+ if I was really generous. I enjoyed it but went it with low expectations. I agree about Electro, but at the same time I am not sure if the character could ever work. He can be very lame in the comics at time, especially when his main weakness is water. I liked Harry's story, although felt it was very rushed. They should have put Harry in the previous film. They really didn't have a good plan with that. I wonder when they decided to go that way. Also Norman Osborn is not dead, there are hints there and he will probably come back in the sequel. I did think the death of Gwen Stacey was one of the best things about the movie, especially since the scenes between Garfield and Stone worked.

Dat ending

Horrible acting from the Harry guy, from Giamati, and from the scientist torturing Electro.

The action, despite all that CGI, doesn't hold a candle to Captain America 2.

The story feels very unfocused. As if they asked 3 screenwriters to write 3 different screenplays and then said: let's mix that shit up randomly and see what comes out.

The worst superhero movie I've seen in a long time. I came in with low expectations... and was disappointed!

For your consideration.... Paul Giamatti for best actor!

If my valedictorian had given Gwen's speech, I would have been completely dumbfounded. "Death" as a talking point during high school graduation. Brilliant.