Nowhere near as good as the last trilogy

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2012)

While not bad, this version was nowhere near as good as the Raimi take on Spiderman. Here's why, in my humble opinion.
1) Peter Parker is supposed to be a goody two shoes at home and a nerd at school. That's part of the legend. Tobey Macguire hit it spot on. The new Parker comes across as moody, whiny, and a little selfish. He doesn't respect his Aunt and Uncle the way he should and he is irresponsible more often than the one time he fails to do the right thing and costs his uncle his life.
2) Speaking of Uncle Ben, his death scene in the the new one has almost no emotional impact at all for the audience. It is just not shot well.
3) There is very little romantic spark between Gwen Stacey and Peter Parker. It just isn't there. In the Raimi films the emotions between Peter and Mary Jane Watson were a potent part of the story.
4) Batman is the one driven by obsession over his dead parents, not Spidey. He was raised in a warm loving household by parental figures who helped him get over it and grow up relatively well balanced. Leave the angsty back story and Freudian neurosis to the Bat, he is unhinged enough for both comic universes.
5) The visual effects were far less impressive than in the previous films. There were way too many night shots that hid the acrobatics. The reptile monster looked kind of Barnyish compared to Sandman or Doc Octopus. Even Spiderman's costume looked less impressive.
This film just comes up short compared to the old one.