i liked the previous franchise more

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2012)

Tobey Maguire's Spider-man last came out in 2007.Just 5 years on and we have a reboot.The old franchise earned close to $2.5 billion from the 3 films.Now in 2012 we have Andrew Garfield's Spider-man.Even though the 3 films achieved a lot of commercial success,seeing movies like Avengers and Iron man earning a lot of money(about $1.5 billion for The Avengers) Sony decided to reboot the franchise.Why? Earning easy money most probably.Even though this is a reboot people are going to compare the 2 franchises.Well,Which of the franchise looks good? I will go with the former one though its still early considering the Amazing Spider-man is just 1 movie old.
Lets get to the story. Peter Parker(Andrew Garfield) lives with his aunt May(Sally Field) and uncle Ben(Martin Sheen).His parents had died mysteriously when he was a child.Peter is shown as a nerdy guy who is not really famous in school.He is often bullied at school at the behest of Flash Thompson.All this is similar to the previous franchise.One day in his basement Peter comes across his father's briefcase.He comes across a photograph which shows his father's then partner Curt Conners (Rhys Ifans).He gets to know that his father was researching on cross genetics at Oscorp.Wanting to learn more about his father he meets him.It is at Oscorp that he is bitten by a genetically modified spider that transforms him into Spider-man.Curt Conners has his own problems.He has lost one of his arms and Rajit Ratha(Irrfan Khan) is putting pressure on him to complete his research quickly.With the help of Parker he is able to perfect it but side effects take its toll on him transforming him into the lizard.Now it is up-to Spider-man to save the city from 'The Lizard'.
Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) plays Parker's love interest in the film and I feel her character is well written as compared to Mary Jane in the previous films.Her father is the captain of the police and at times appears to be the second villain in the movie.
When I first got to know that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were going to be play the lead in this film I was quite excited. I liked Garfield as Eduardo Saverin in the highly acclaimed film 'The Social Network' and Emma Stone well, how could you not like her after so many good films she has done already.Andrew Garfield was good in this movie but I feel that his character as Peter Parker wasn't written well.His sudden transformation into Spider-man and well getting a hold of his powers was poorly written.The villain didn't have a strong presence in the film as Dr Octavious or say the Green Goblin (he isn't there till the interval in the film).I think his character could have been explored a lot more.Irrfan Khan marks the Indian presence in the film.Marc Webb said that he plays an important role in the film while Irrfan said that it is a really small role.Its up to the viewers to decide how good was his role.There are many changes that have taken place in the new Spider- man.Unlike the previous films here the Spider-man needs to make his own webs to swing around the city.This film has its own moments though.The scene in the subway is quite hilarious and the scene with Flash at the basketball court is quite funny as well.The action sequences are 'amazing'.The scene where Spider-man saves the child on the bridge is well written.The romance between Peter and Gwen for some would be the highlight of the film.The 3D effects tend to lower the value of this film.At times the movie appears to dark for our liking.
I am not saying this a bad film but the fact that the previous franchise had ended just 5 years back made you have higher expectations from the new one.I would prefer you watch this film in 2D.I would call this movie a one time watch.
PS if you do go on to watch this film, wait till the credits are rolled for the post credit scene which gives the hint about the possible villain of the sequel
My Rating 7.5/10