I’d give The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a 6 out of 10, maybe a 6.5 if I’m grading it on ambition instead of execution.

This is one of those movies that frustrates you because you can see the better version of it hiding underneath. There are moments here that feel like the definitive live action Spider-Man. And then there are long stretches where the film is clearly juggling too many ideas and dropping several of them.

Let’s start with what genuinely works.

Andrew Garfield is excellent here. More confident than in the first film, more relaxed in the suit, and more emotionally transparent out of it. His Spider-Man feels agile, playful, and expressive. The opening swing sequence through New York is kinetic and fluid in a way that captures the fantasy of the character beautifully. The quips during action scenes feel natural rather than forced. It’s one of the few live action portrayals where the humor and physicality feel completely integrated.

His chemistry with Emma Stone remains the emotional anchor of the film. Gwen Stacy continues to feel like a fully realized character rather than a narrative accessory. Their arguments feel real. Their intimacy feels unscripted. The push and pull over Peter’s promise to Captain Stacy gives the relationship actual tension. You can feel the weight of that promise shaping his behavior. Professionally speaking, their dynamic elevates the film significantly. Without it, the movie would feel far more hollow.

And then there’s the clock tower sequence.

The handling of Gwen’s fate is, structurally and emotionally, one of the strongest scenes in modern superhero cinema. The slow motion fall, the web reaching her hand, the sound design cutting down to near silence, it’s restrained and tragic rather than sensationalized. The aftermath, particularly Peter’s grief, feels earned. The film commits to the emotional consequence instead of immediately pivoting back to spectacle. That choice alone adds credibility.

Now the issues.

The biggest problem is narrative overcrowding.

The film attempts to balance Peter’s relationship drama, the mystery of his parents, Harry Osborn’s reintroduction, Electro’s origin, Oscorp conspiracies, and franchise setup for future villains. That is simply too much. You can feel the studio ambition pressing against the story structure.

Electro, played by Jamie Foxx, starts with an interesting concept. Max Dillon as an invisible, socially isolated man obsessed with being noticed is thematically aligned with Spider-Man’s own struggle for identity. But the execution leans unevenly between tragic and cartoonish. His transformation scene in Times Square is visually striking, but once he becomes Electro, the character loses psychological depth. He shifts from lonely and unstable to generically vengeful. The emotional groundwork isn’t given enough time to evolve organically.

Then there’s Harry Osborn, portrayed by Dane DeHaan. The film introduces him, builds his terminal illness arc, rekindles his friendship with Peter, and then accelerates him into the Green Goblin in what feels like narrative fast forward. There isn’t enough buildup for that transformation to carry full emotional weight. It feels compressed, almost as if it belongs in a different draft of the script.

The parents subplot continues from the first film, but instead of clarifying Peter’s arc, it muddies it. The secret lab on the abandoned train platform, the genetically locked spider bloodline concept, these elements shift Spider-Man closer to destiny territory rather than random accident. That choice undermines one of the character’s core thematic strengths, which is that anyone could have been bitten. Turning it into a genetic inevitability reduces that universality.

Tonally, the film struggles to balance sincerity and spectacle. Some scenes are emotionally grounded and intimate. Others feel heightened and almost exaggerated. The dubstep infused Electro sequences, while stylistically bold, clash with the grounded romantic drama happening elsewhere. It creates tonal whiplash.

Structurally, pacing is inconsistent. The first act moves briskly. The middle portion becomes crowded with exposition and setup. The final act rushes through major character transformations while still trying to maintain emotional gravity. It is not incoherent, but it is unfocused.

That said, visually, the movie is impressive. The cinematography during swing sequences, the reflective glass battles, the electrical effects surrounding Electro, they all demonstrate a high level of technical polish. When the film focuses on pure Spider-Man spectacle, it looks fantastic.

Compared to The Amazing Spider-Man, this sequel improves in energy and confidence but declines in narrative discipline. Compared to Spider-Man 2, it lacks structural tightness and villain cohesion.

In the end, it feels like two different films stitched together. One is a compelling romantic tragedy about responsibility, love, and loss. The other is a franchise expansion blueprint trying to set up a larger cinematic universe.

The tragedy works. The blueprint does not.

That imbalance is why it lands at a 6. There is real heart here. Real ambition. Real standout performances. But the film never quite decides what it wants to prioritize, and that lack of focus keeps it from being something truly great.