On April 25 I came out with a story where I predicted why The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was going to fail. The rundown of what I said then was I thought that the plot was just going to be cluttered with characters and storylines and action, a sentiment that I previously shared with a reporter who reviewed the film and said more or less the same thing.

I am beyond happy to report that I was completely wrong.

The review I read made this movie sound like it was nothing but over the top action sequences and special effects. In actuality the only real instances of that were the very beginning and the very end. It probably just didn’t seem like that because at the end we’re treated to a Man of Steele type climax that comes in two parts:  the climax of the hero battling the secondary threat and then the post-climax which is just a one on one against the main villain. This may or may not be your cup of tea, but like I said before, it’s only a small part of the movie. The majority of the film is actually about the characters and what they have to face that determines their decisions. One of the things I love is that, with the exception of Paul Giamatti as the Rhino, all the villains in this new series aren’t evil for the sake of being evil.  They’re evil for highly simple and symphathetic reasons.

This leads me to one of the best parts about the film:  the acting. Everyone is phenomenal on all accounts. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone do a good job of conveying a romance that isn’t entirely implausible. Jamie Foxx is perfect as the loser who becomes a revenge driven villian. Dane DeHaan is also great, as is Chris Cooper, despite the latter making little more than a cameo in the film. Giamatti does what he’s supposed to, and all in all, this was indeed a great cast.

The only thing that I really didn’t like about this film is that they answer the big question of what happens to Peter’s parents (Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz) within the first five minutes. You don’t reveal that in the second film; you reveal that in the third film and then further tie it into the story somehow. Granted that really is only a minor thing.

To make a long story short, if you haven’t seen this movie I would definitely recommend seeing it. Take it from me. I walked in completely ready to hate this movie and I ended up really enjoying it.