The Amazing Spider-Man 2

****
UK Release Date: April 16th 2014

Peter Parker runs the gauntlet as the mysterious company Oscorp sends up a slew of supervillains against him, impacting on his life.

Director: Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man)

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Little time has passed since the events of The Amazing Spider-Man. Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Garfield) and Gwen Stacy (Stone) are still very much in love. Their affection for each other is distinguishable in TASM2. The romance is genuine and natural. Anyone can relate with their affections. 

In both the first film and this one, Gwen Stacy has more to do than look pretty and be a helpless damsel (unlike Kirsten Dunst in the original). Gwen is just as much a hero as Spider-Man is.

Spider-Man is the youngest of the superheroes out there right now. TASM is the only superhero film that is specifically aimed at a younger audience. It's lighter-hearted than the like of Batman or X-Men and will reel in a different crowd that the others might not.

Joining Garfield and Stone this time round is a trio of villains, two of which suffer in different ways under the hands of Spider-Man. The third has a smaller part and will probably feature later on. Everything that's happened, past and present, Oscorp is responsible for all. From the demise of Peter's parents, to the new villains, Peter/Spider-Man is effected by the companies' actions more than anyone else.

Harry Osborn (DeHaan) has no choice but to return to New York due to his father's (Norman Osborn) illness and discovers that the fatal disease is hereditary. He seeks the help of Spider-Man through Parker, insisting that his blood will cure him. Furthermore, estranged Oscorp employee Max Dillon (Foxx) becomes infatuated from the attention Spider-Man gives him after saving his life. He soon blames our webbed hero for selfishly hogging the attention of the public.

The trio of youngsters (Stone, Garfield and DeHaan) keep us focused and electrify more than Electro does (Dillon's alter-ego). Garfield soars in more ways than one with how well he portrays emotion and DeHaan's teenage angst leaves little room for others to shine.

Overview: The dialogue is a little cheesy in places and a lot of time is invested in setting up future films rather than focusing on the present. Besides that Sony has delivered the goods to expectation.