I went and saw it last night. Other than some bratty kids, two seats down from me, yammering throughout and two other idiots using their cellphones during the entire movie I thought it was a very well made piece of cinema! Yeah, I was getting ready to face-palm when Max appeared, thinking of another Jim Carry/Riddler fiasco, but luckily he is not Max very long and becomes a very cool Electro pretty quick. I thought he was well done. I was wondering how his powers would be shown, not being able to see past Star Wars Force lightning, but I thought his powers and the vfx for them were pretty cool and done in a fresh new way.
I am not too familiar with the guy playing Harry, other than Chronicle, but I think he is an exceptional actor and really brought a good take on the son of Osbourne. I was a little leery of him actually being the Goblin instead of Norman, but I thought it was done in a very logical way and it worked for me and since the Goblin is actually only on-screen for such a small period, I am glad he didn't die yet and lives to see another movie.
I thought the chemistry between Peter and Gwen was very good, so much moreso than the Raimi movies. Garfield really gets Spider-man and has the perfect personality for the wise-cracking, but not goofy Spidey I know and grew up with in the 70s.
After the first bit with Rhino I was beginning to think I had missed something--"Where the hell is Rhino? Did I go pee and miss it and just forgot I went to the bathroom or something?" I was beginning to question my sanity for a bit until he finally came back at the end.
Obviously they are setting up The Sinister Six which could be cool except we all know how convoluted these movies get when you start piling on too many villains. This movie had enough. If they are going to do it I certainly don't want to see six more origin stories in one movie. Isn't Garfield contracted for two more? Let's see a good Sinister Six movie. Let's have them led by the Goblin, but keep him in the background as the mastermind instead of the main villain focus. Then let's have a major Spidey/Goblin showdown in the fourth movie, leading to the Goblin's death.
Overall I was well pleased with it, but I'm a little confused by the X-men credits scene. Was that some kind of tie-in or just a preview? What were those vials they were after?