The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), PG-13, ★★1/2

Spider-Man to the rescue.

The adventures of Spider-Man progresses...when he continues rescuing people and stopping criminals from doing any harm to New York City citizens. Many comic-book films try to elevate the tension and the excitement contained everybody's prospects of possibly witnessing the next best comic-book film. The Dark Knight, in my opinion, is still the best superhero film next to Superman, Iron Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and even Spider-Man 2. What each of those very entertaining films have in common is that they have a compelling plot that makes us care about every character. I had a few reactions in that certain aspect, but, this is an overstuffed film with an implausible plot.

Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) (Andrew Garfield) is swinging and webbing his way all over The Big Apple. While having a bit of "spider-like" fun, he picks up some helicopter radio communication announcing a plutonium shipment stolen from Oscorp. Spider-Man swings into action to help overtake a big tow truck driven by a bald Russian man (Paul Giamatti) while bashing into multiple vehicles on the streets. In the midst of this chase, an Oscorp employee named Max (Jamie Foxx) is stumbling through the crowd while carrying many blueprints. The prints get knocked out to the middle of the street and the Russian crashes the cab and almost hits Max, as Spider-Man rescues him.

When the chase is nearing at an end, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) is at graduation waiting for Peter as she is about to deliver a valedictory speech. Peter remembers his broken promise to Gwen's father as he was dying in the previous movie to stay away from Gwen. Spider-Man subdues the Russian and makes it to graduation. When Peter is about to go out on a date, he tells Gwen that he could not break his promise to Gwen's father, he wants to protect Gwen from harm, so, they break up.

Peter's childhood friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) returns to Manhattan to visit his dying father, Norman, and Norman tells Harry that the illness is hereditary and Harry gets concerned about when it is going to strike. Norman gives Harry a small device that can propel more research on his father's work. Meanwhile, Max is doing some research and loses balance and falls into a tank of genetically modified electric eels. People attack him as Max mutates into a living electric generator and calls himself "Electro" because he accidentally causes a blackout. It's on as Harry and Electro ally together to stop Spider-Man.

Jamie Foxx as Electro.

This movie was a tad less entertaining than the first one, even though, I still did not like the prequel. I felt that the filmmakers try too hard to make a crammed superhero film full of energy and excitement. The stories do not interweave too well as the movie is so unfocused that we cannot attain ourselves to the characters' development. It did seem like little episodes piling on and only one episode worked. The relationship between Peter and Gwen is sweet because the relationship is natural and the dialogue seemed crisp.

Andrew Garfield is fine but is not as compelling as Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker again. This sequel is no match for Spider-Man 2 with Doc Ock as the memorable villain and with Peter really struggling with his college life and his life as Spider-Man. Again, that was a great movie. Here, it's kind of the same types of struggles, but a lot more special effects and camera styles being in the way. Stone is likable and cute as always. She and Garfield, again, have a natural romantic chemistry on-screen (as they are a couple in reality). I liked Jamie Foxx's Electro as he is a threatening villain but he is underused. DeHaan's performance is nothing special in my opinion as he portrays Harry Osborn as a predictable evil character.

Marc Webb from 500 Days of Summer fame focuses so much on great dialogue in the romantic scenes that the action sequences are muddled and tiresome especially in the third act. The only action sequence I enjoyed was the last fight between Spider-Man and Electro. I am aware that certain characters' fate are in the balance, but they do not pay off or they are plain laughable. One major character's fate does not really pay off for me anyway. I admired the actors' performances, romantic chemistry, and Electro, but the rest of the movie was tiresome and forgettable. So, a mixed review for me for the latest Spider-Man film. I do not think that I am anticipating for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 anytime soon.

**1/2