The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Director: Marc Webb
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Colin Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Elizabeth Davidtz, Campbell Scott, Marton Csokas
Rating: (M)
Four stars (out of five)
It is these two different levels of audience foreknowledge that makes films such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Rialto) such a difficult balancing act.
What is a shocking surprise for one group is just the way things are for the other.
So if you already know which way the wind is going to blow, all the careful foreshadowing looks heavy-handed and unnecessary, while if you are not in the know a plot twist seems to break all conventions.
The film opens with everything going fine: Spider-Man is doing his thing, the kids are graduating from high school and it seems that all their troubles are behind them.
If only it were that simple.
Peter wants to know what really happened to his parents, he feels bad for breaking his word to Gwen Stacy's dad (he promised to leave Gwen (Emma Stone) alone at the end of the first film) and his old friend Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) has returned with his own daddy issues.
It makes for a nice emotional stew, but really this is all about Spider-Man flinging himself from one New York skyscraper to another.
Best thing: I know that I am always moaning about 3-D, but this is the one film where it actually makes sense and the second time around they have got it spot-on.
Worst thing: The quality actors playing villains really hammed it up - I'm talking to you Jamie Foxx and Paul Giamatti.
See it with: Teenage girls. After all, Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy are teenage star-crossed lovers.
- Christine Powley
