That’s what The Amazing Spider-Man 2 does best, waste inherent potential. It’s got a great actor as the main character; does almost nothing with him. Has a wonderful actress as the female lead; gives her embarrassingly little to do. Casts two great stars – one up and coming, the other a bona fide Oscar-winner – as the bad guys; gives them precious little of substance to do.

Dredd didn’t do much for me, and while my final judgment is hardly as negative as it could have been, that doesn’t mean my passing of sentence labeling the film as forgettable is an endorsement people should purchase a ticket to see it in a theatre.

The final hour of The Dark Knight Rises is a kinetic whirlwind of Shakespearian tragedy mixed with a Puccini opera.

For all The Amazing Spider-Man gets wrong the template it sets for the future and the actors it spotlights to bring it all to life are part of a fairly solid foundation so I’m curious to see what happens next.

What’s amazing isn’t that Sam Raimi’s follow-up to his 2002 smash is a lot of fun, but instead that it might just be the greatest superhero comic book adventure film I’ve frankly ever seen. Spider-Man 2 is superb.

American Splendor is an absolute delight.