The first few minutes of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” will leave you wondering why the film is revisiting the same introduction to Peter Parker’s past as it was told in the first film in this series. Eventually, the plot (or at least, the first of several) becomes clear, and the audience gains new knowledge that could answer the agonizing question of Peter’s life: What the hell really happened to his parents?

This question does get answered—eventually. Despite the filmmakers’ attempts at placing action where deemed appropriate, there is an absence of excitement due to the painful predictability of each plotline. The only conflict worth some debate is whether or not Peter and Gwen Stacy will end up together.

And truthfully, there is only one amazing thing about “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”: the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Their on-again, off-again romance in the film is the sole figure keeping things alive and moving. The only problem is that this is not supposed to be a romantic comedy. It’s a superhero film, for crying out loud. There are bigger issues to be resolved.

All right, so Peter Parker’s past is finally explained. And yes, Jamie Foxx is in this movie. But the filmmakers really didn’t take into account that dropping new and completely random characters onto the scene wouldn’t automatically make the movie enticing to watch. In fact, it made it pretty exhausting. Another letdown is that this is probably the first film Paul Giamatti has been in where his character is actually not convincing at all.

Fans of the first “Amazing Spider-Man” will likely be disappointed by the sequel. What is witty in the first movie is just corny and over-the-top here. By the end of the film, I was disappointed that the film failed to explain why plotlines resolved the way they did. However, there’s no questioning what the moral of the story is: never lose hope.

Hope is the prevailing theme throughout the movie, but just to make sure you get the message, it is hammered into the final moments of the film for good measure. My moral of the story? Wait for this one to come out on DVD.

★★★½ / 5

arildefonso@mavs.coloradomesa.edu