So I've got back from seeing the film, review as follows (Spoiler Free).
The biggest flaw I found with the first film was that it really felt like it took itself way too seriously and never really shifted in its story. The overall film was never bad but at the same time it felt like it was driving in first gear the entire time and repeating an all too familiar story (we never did get that 'untold origin' the trailers promised). With ASM2 the story is a lot wider however it's infused with a tone and execution that feels all over the place, with elements bordering on cartoonish at times. In fact the movie this reminded me of was Batman Forever which can be a good or bad things depending on where you stand with that movie.
A big problem with the movie is that it's not really clear what the story is meant to be about. There's so many plot elements that feel genuinely unfinished or rushed, in the end it kinda just comes across as a dressed up hero versus villain story with Spider-Man battling Goblin and Electro by the time the climax comes. Both Harry Osbournes and Max Dillon's arc fail to rise above anything other than a one dimensional level, the later's arc and motivations coming across like something from a cartoon, the former's relationship with Peter never really coming across as deep as it wants us to think making his turn less credible. For Peter's arc it too feels all over the place, his guilt over going back on his word to Gwen's dad is touched upon, forgotten about and and then touched upon later on, he's still looking for secrets about his parents which doesn't amount to much, and his relationship with Gwen feels completely underdeveloped. The other major elements that feel inconsistent is the tone of the film, it tries to straddle a line between fun and serious but the execution is way off with some parts of the film feeling outright silly. On top of that the score is some of the worst music I've heard in a superhero film in a very long time.
With that said however the undeniable redeeming feature with the movie is that whilst the story is bloated the film itself is at the very least still entertaining. I'm generally not a fan of of slow-mo action but if there's a character which suits that style of filmmaking it's Spider-Man. The action set pieces are fantastic and really show off Spider-Man's skill set extremely well. On top of that the design of the overall film is spectacular, the finale in particular deserves special mention. The new suit works great on screen, Electro looks brilliant and the Green Goblin actually looks frightening in what it a vast improvement over the Power Ranger suit we got 12 years ago. Even though the film is long it doesn't feel it's length at all, there's a briskness in the editing and the cinematography is well shot.
As for the cast Garfield is solid as always, as is Emma, the both of them work well together and have good chemistry even if it doesn't feel as strong this time around. The villains of the piece are another story, DeHaan feels like he's trying a little bit too hard to come across as evil, his childish looks certain don't help that. Foxx comes across as really over doing it, especially in the first half of the film. He redeems himself in the second half but it's almost like he plays two characters making any sympathy toward Electro virtually impossible.
Overall, it's not necessarily a better film than the previous movie, but I feel it's the more entertaining of the two. It has some very noticeable problems which may bug people, and it's not going to rank near the top of anyone's superhero movie list, but it's hard to imagine fans coming out feeling as if they wasted their money.
A decent but not spectacular 7/10.
