Worth a look?...

Rating: 7/10 (7 July 2012)

I found it quite hard to look at this film without drawing parallels with Sam Raimi's 2002 film Spider-Man. The two are very similar in many ways although this one did try to stay a little more grounded. As far as performances go, well everyone did a decent job; Andrew Garfield coped well with the dual role of Spider-Man and Peter Parker and Emma Stone did a decent job as Gwen Stacey. I thought Rhys Ifans did a very decent job as The Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors and Denis Leary was fine as the cop Captain Stacey (Gwen's dad). But I must give a special mention for Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben and Sally Field as Aunt May; a masterful piece of casting; both were perfect (IMO).
Comparing the two films (it's hard not to), I felt that this one didn't really add anything that the original did. Yes, it's a slightly different take on it, but essentially the same. There are long periods spent setting up dramatic plot points that don't always pay off and I also felt it was far too long. The CGI is all very well done and the fight sequences are also well executed but I did have the nagging feeling I had seen it all before. Don't get me wrong, it's a good film, but (IMO) not different enough from Sam Raimi's effort to be a great film. Even soÂ… Recommended, especially if you haven't seen the original 2002 movie.
My score: 6.8/10
IMDb Score: 7.8/10 (based on 29,271 votes at the time of going to press).
MetaScore: 66/100: (Based on 42 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 72/100 (based on 228 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 84/100 'Liked it' (based on 291,053 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.