SPIDER-MAN EARLY REVIEWS ARE MEDIOCRE

Uh, oh. Things aren’t looking all that great for Spider-Man. Today’s (Thursday) Los Angeles Times reports that The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is due to open on May 2, is receiving mostly so-so early reviews. “Most film critics agree that director Marc Webb’s second installment is somewhat overstuffed but benefits greatly from the sparks that fly between Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man/Peter Parker) and Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy),” the newspaper reported. The Times cites a review by Indiewire’s Oliver Lyttelton, who remarks, “It’s not really about anything. … The various villains and side characters don’t add up to anything thematically coherent, beyond ‘these guys will look cool as toys.'” But the Times also quoted Xan Brooks, the film critic for Britain’s Guardian newspaper, as concluding that on the whole, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2 turns out to be so savvy, punchy and dashing that it won’t be denied. It’s the thread that won’t break and the yarn which still binds.”