The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (12A) ****

Real-life couple Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone bring terrific chemistry to the big screen and Peter Parker and his first love, Gwen Stacey. Their onscreen charm keeps this movie grounded even when the pace sometimes flags.

It’s of little surprise that the appropriately named director Marc Webb gets the best out of their dramatic romance  -  he brought us the wonderful indie hit 500 Days of Summer.

Here, he cranks up the action, a lack of which was the main criticism for the first film in the reboot, and gives us two villains for Spidey to combat.

Torn between his love for Gwen and a promise to her father to protect her, they end their romance in fear that she will become a target for Spider-Man’s enemies.

And there are new foes to deal with: an unassuming factory worker (Jamie Foxx) at the powerful company OsCorp  -  where Peter’s father once worked  -  meets a dramatic accident, transforming him into the deadly Electro, a baddie who powers up to lethal effect every time he gets mad.

And there’s a sinister corporate rival in the form of his childhood friend Harry Osborn (in a terrific performance from Dane DeHaan) who has inherited OsCorp from his father and may or may not have Peter’s best interests at heart.

It’s a sparky, extremely likeable film to kick off blockbuster season, packed by many great performances. Garfield, in particular, has shaken off the shadow of Tobey Maguire to give us a charming, believable Parker, suiting up with ease when required.

What a pity about the overcooked and overlong finale, jam packed with CGI that delivers thrills but overstays its welcome.

The Sea (12A) ***

ADAPTING JOHN Banville’s Booker Prize winner, spanning three different timeframes, was always going to be a challenge for any filmmaker.

And while director Stephen Brown has fashioned a good-looking, well-acted tale from Banville’s book, it all comes across as remote and uninvolving.

Filmed along a number of different locations in north Co Wexford, the film moves in and out of three different periods.

We meet Max (the reliably good Ciaran Hinds) and his wife (Sinead Cusack) as they deal with her cancer diagnosis and failing health.

We also see Max in the months after his wife’s death, struggling with alcoholism while staying at a guesthouse run by an enigmatic woman (Charlotte Rampling).

A young cast including Matthew Dillon and Missy Keating do a good job with the third story thread, set in the same home when Max was a child, and developing a crush on the house’s wealthy owner (Natascha McElhone).

Broad themes of bereavement, love and jealousy are dealt with but the film’s main stumbling block is in trying to harness its structure. Solid, but not the sterling adaptation fans of Banville’s novel will have hoped for.