A Refreshing Restart for the Franchise.

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2012)

Whilst this film may not be the untold story it says it is, it's still a very well told story that I feel explores the past in a way previous Spider-man flicks have not, without spending too much time dwelling on the past.
The acting is far better than the previous Spider-man films. Andrew Garfield portrays the character of Peter Parker in the geeky way he should be portrayed, without being the full blown nerd that Toby Maguire came across as. In addition to this he's got a decent sense of humour too, making the film more enjoyable in parts for it's comedic value. Now I come to the absence of MJ. Sam Raimi's Spider-man films brought in many new fans for the franchise and made the hero more 'mainstream', meaning that many of those fans who aren't familiar with previous stories regarding the character would not realise that MJ didn't actually come into Peter's life until later. I think the absence of MJ was a good decision in terms of this film, not only because Gwen Stacy played an important role in his younger years but also because the whole Peter Parker/MJ thing in the previous films just got on my nerves (especially with MJ being as stuck up as she was). In addition to this, Emma Stone is a far better actress than Kirsten Dunst. Rhys Ifans is a great and well established British actor anyway so I don't need to go on and explain why he's another benefit to this film.
Now for the film itself, I thought the effects were superb. Especially when compared to those of Sam Raimi's films. The swinging looked far more realistic and the suit just looked cooler somehow, they were simple changes to the suit but they added up to make a very refreshing new look to the character. The film also seemed darker than previous incarnations of the superhero, not as dark as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy but darker than some other Marvel films. Which I like and think could be good for this franchise, seeing as this film was a hundred times better than Sam Raimi's trilogy and left me eagerly anticipating a sequel (unlike its predecessors). The Lizard was a great choice of villain for this film, not only because it helped to tie in the storyline but also because if they'd chosen one of the more known Spider-man villains such as the Green Goblin or Doc-Oc there would have been no end of complaints from half-wits claiming they're just trying to copy Sam Raimi's renditions. Also, the effects for The Lizard were just splendid. I've heard a few people complaining that once the Lizard started showing up in the film that it was just silly and far-fetched, but they're the people who claim to know about Spider-man, yet know nothing beyond Sam Raimi's trilogy.
The only thing about this film that lets it down is the 'convenience' of the layout of the cranes throughout the city towards the end of the film. The film was going so well without any silly coincidences before then and the cranes had to go and ruin it. Still, I don't see this as too much of a bad thing, seeing as almost every film today has moments like these with most films being worse than this. So all in all I think Marc Webb and the gang have done a superb job on the Spider-man reboot. I just wish it did better at the Box-Office, because it deserves a $700+ million gross far more than its predecessors did.