"Why the sudden interest in cold blood?"

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2012)

There was no way I was going to miss this film, but after reading a number of reviews by fans here I began to have some reservations. Most of that had to do with the retelling of the origin, and fundamentally I agree that this probably wasn't necessary after only ten years since the Tobey McGuire version. But now that I've seen it, I can say my second thoughts were unwarranted because this film provides an adrenaline rush with every spider web fired.
I always had this unsettled feeling with the McGuire Spider-Man, or more accurately, with the McGuire Peter Parker. I found him to be too much of a wuss, wimping out whenever confronted as the timid teenager. With Andrew Garfield, I didn't get the impression he was OK to let things go whenever a bully came on the scene. With only one picture under his belt as opposed to Tobey's three, I'm going with the new kid in town.
Whether intended or not, I also preferred the darker tone to this take on the Spidey character. Many of the action scenes occurred at night and better conveyed a sense that this costumed hero might be more of a menace than a friend. Peter Parker's dinner clash with Captain Stacy (Denis Leary) helped push that agenda and it worked pretty well.
As for the main villain, a mixed reaction. There were times The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) looked a bit corny and other times truly menacing. It seemed to me that the film had trouble establishing the villain's proportion in relation to Spider-Man and other humans. In some scenes he looked like a monster, at others merely somewhat larger than Spider-Man. However the concept of cross-species genetics on which The Lizard came to being was handled rather well and proved effective.
As always, my favorite moment in a Marvel hero movie did not leave me disappointed. Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance once again, this time as the oblivious librarian listening to a symphony while Spidey and The Lizard make a shambles of the bookcases in the background. I can't believe he'll be ninety at the end of this year.