Surprisingly, the reboot surpasses the original

Rating: Null/10 (24 May 2014)

The Amazing Spider-Man, in my honest opinion, is better than the Sam Raimi trilogy. Not by much and both franchises have their fair share of both good and bad, but on average, the new ones are better. As controversial as that sounds, and I know there are those that don't share my sentiments at all.
But, let me explain. The two main reasons why I think The Amazing Spider-Man is better are Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. I never quite liked Tobey Maguire in the originals. Sure he made for a very convincing Peter Parker at his most geekiest, but I never bought him as Spider-Man. Garfield, on the other hand, can do both. Sure his Peter Parker is a more self-confident take on the character. He's more of an oddball tech genius than a nerd, but that's a valid take on the character so I have no complaints. Plus that characterization lends much more easily to what Spider-Man, at his core, should be: a trickster. Add in Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy and you have one of the best romantic pairings ever seen in a superhero movie. The two have incredible chemistry together and you'll totally buy they're in love. Plus Gwen Stacy is a lot of fun. She's active, independent, genius in her own right and actually has a role in the film beyond being the romantic interest and a damsel in distress.
Furthermore, the advances in special effects are put to a good use and the action scenes are very cool to look at. The actual settings are perhaps a bit more ordinary than in the originals, but the fighting styles are more varied and you can feel the speed of the combat. There are also some really cool slow motion scenes, reminding me of the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes films.
The one aspect where this film is clearly inferior is unfortunately the villains. The ones in the originals were given a lot of depth and emotion and they were certainly memorable. Sure they were goofy, but that was part of the charm. Not so much in this one. The style overall is more realistic and perhaps even a bit darker, which hits the villains the hardest. They just aren't that interesting or memorable without the over-the-topness.
It's also worth noticing that the storyline is very similar to the first Spider-Man. Usually a reboot that just rehashes the same would be doomed to failure, but this time it surprisingly works. Once again the stronger actors pull this film back from the brink.
In the end it comes down to a matter of taste. Do you like Tobey Maguire or strong, enjoyable villains? Then you'll probably prefer the originals. Do you want to see a more joking, confident Peter Parker and a romantic lead that's actually worth a damn? Then The Amazing Spider-Man might just surprise you.