The best Peter Parker, but not the best Spider-Man

Rating: 6/10 (23 August 2013)

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an extremely intelligent but awkward teenager, wants to find out why his parents disappeared when he was young. His search leads him to scientist Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans); but it also leads him to getting bitten by a mutant spider, turning him into the Spiderman.
I was never a big fan of the Sam Raimi-Tobey Maguire incarnation of Spider-Man, mainly because I'm not really a big fan of Maguire. So I was actually quite interested in this reboot, because I am a very big fan of Andrew Garfield, and I was interested to see what he could do.
What he did, in the end, was give what I think is the best portrayal of Peter Parker to date. His speech patterns, his physicality, his presence on screen; everything about Garfield's performance was exactly how I imagined Peter Parker to be. And, coincidentally, Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy was also near-perfect. It helps that the two are a couple in real life, bringing their off-screen chemistry to their on-screen romance. It's very well done.
And yet, despite two fantastic lead performances, this wasn't a very good movie. It was just okay. I found myself being bored for large parts of the movie, which you can't say very often for most Marvel movies. Part of the problem is that the villains don't hold up their end of the deal. Rhys Ifans is a very good actor, but I never felt a threat from The Lizard, as though this was a terrible danger for Spider-Man. Sure, the visuals are good, but that's not really enough. It also seemed like parts of the story had either been cut or shortened, certain sequences feeling rushed and undeveloped.
Like all comic-book movies, there are the nods to the past, and that is always fun. And you have cameos from stalwarts like Martin Sheen, Sally Field and even Stan Lee himself, but it doesn't help the overall enjoyment of the movie. However, and maybe this is because of my appreciation for Garfield and Stone, but I'm willing to give them another chance. There is a sequel on its way, and I'm looking forward to it. I wouldn't say the movie was awful, because it was far from it. I just think it was somewhat below my expectations, and they now have one more chance to win me round.