Too soon!

Rating: 5/10 (1 January 2013)

I have nothing against a franchise reboot. It certainly didn't hurt the recent Batman films, or Star Trek. However, the conditions have to be right. And conditions were decidedly NOT right for a Spider-Man reboot.
Sam Raimi's first two Spider-Man films are not only recent (the first only 10 years old), they are also successful, popular, and well-liked. We haven't had a long period of time go by and/or tolerated a series of mediocre franchise entries. As a result, the audience is inevitably comparing this film to the previous ones (I haven't seen a single IMDb review, even the sparse positive ones, that avoid mentioning the Raimi films). Even worse, it's obvious that the film-makers were comparing the films as well. As a result, it's nearly impossible for ASM to include things that WORKED from the previous films because they'll seem too similar. Thus, the whole origin sequence seems forcibly, awkwardly different rather than natural, organic, and elegant.
The film has other problems too. It's incredibly inconsistent in how it treats plot points. Significant elements are raised (the fate of Peter's parents, Spider-Man's hunt for Uncle Ben's killer) and are then dropped for no discernible reason.
Characterization, especially of Peter, is another problem: for a kid who's obviously a scientific/engineering prodigy, he's astonishingly inarticulate. I suppose this was an attempt to recreate the verbal stumbling typical of adolescence, but unfortunately it results in a character who seems more stupid than he really should be and a lot of awkward, forgettable dialogue.
It's too bad, because in some regards the film showed promise. Martin Sheen was great, as he always is. The effects and action sequences are well-done, if not exceptional. And one thing they did better than the Raimi films is including more of the non-stop wise-cracking typical of the comic book Spider-Man. I really think if the film-makers had either (a) let 5-10 more years go by or (b) as some other reviewers have suggested, just got a different director and cast and did Spider-Man 4 without retelling the origin story, it would have turned out a lot better.