Currently there are only three (3!!!) films running in the whole of Metro Manila –Transcendence and for some unknown reason Da Possessed– because the sequel to Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man has finally arrived.

Personally I loved the reboot and couldn’t wait for the next installment. So how did it fare?

Here’s my round up of Marc Webb’s (500 Hundred Days of Summer) The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield – Never Let Me Go) is struggling with a lot of things: high school graduation, his rocky relationship with girlfriend Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone – Easy A), unearthing the secret of his parents’ past, reconnecting with childhood best friend Harry Osborne (Dane Dehaan – Chronicle) and living with the guilt of being the indirect cause of the death of his girlfriend’s father. Oh, and he’s keeping the city’s crime rate down by being Spider-Man during his down time, which includes fighting off dudes like Electro (Jaimie Foxx – Dream Girls).

THE GOOD:

1. Dane DeHaan. I’m digging the whole emo Harry Osborne vibe. He brought out a little bit more of depth to the character, and even though it wasn’t thoroughly explained why there was a rift between his dad in the first place, you still feel for him. It was a shame that we didn’t get to see more of the normal Harry, he seemed like an interesting character.
2. Sally Field was a joy to watch as Aunt May. It’s still a tiny bit disconcerting because she doesn’t look a lick like the Aunt May in my head, but Sally Field ‘s version is a great modernization of the character. Of course she’s struggling financially. She’s raising a teenager solo, hello.
3. That they stayed true to how it happened in the comics. Well. As true as they can get. Honestly the movie only got interesting when they reached the tower. The set up was impeccable and the whole thing kinda snuck up on me; I didn’t think they’d do it but it did make me sit up and pay attention when they did.
4. The chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. It was pure and electric and who doesn’t enjoy watching two beautiful people make googley eyes with each other?

THE BAD:

1. The villain was forgettable. Electro was sort of bleh, even though it was Jaimie Foxx.
2. The whole corporate conspiracy in the Osborne board was interesting but there wasn’t enough of it. The power struggle between Harry and Donald Menken piqued my interest and it seemed like the thing that would’ve been fun to watch drawn out. It’s a shame they cut it short.
3. Jerk! Peter Parker. I know that that’s how the character is, but damn if I didn’t want to slap him during one of his selfish moments (basically all moments where he was being an indecisive prick to Gwen).

THE UGLY:

1. They jammed too much into the damned thing. It already ran for a little bit over one hundred forty-two minutes but because of the numerous sub-plots, most of it still felt rushed. I wish they committed to either shaving off some of the stuff for the next movie or commit to a full blown three-hour film.
2. That little kid he saved in the end. It irks me that he was only there as an opening to the eventual replacement of Andrew Garfield. I know that yeah, foresight is important and shit but come on. Come on.

All in all The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a good sequel. It just seemed like the filmmakers were more focused in setting up plot points for the future movies than making this a good one.

THE VERDICT: 7.3/10.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.