Which Spider Man Movie Is Better?

 My wife and I loaded up another movie to watch as she’s on the mend from a brutal cold.  This time we watched the new Amazing Spider-Man reboot.  I never saw it in the theaters, mostly because I just don’t make it out to see that many movies these days.  I wasn’t too keen on the idea that we would have a reboot of Spider-Man so soon after the original Tobey Maguire ones finished, but hearing the issues with the contract, it made sense.  Plus, with the mess of the third movie and the fact they weren’t able to get everyone back for another one, a new look at the story worked fine in my eyes.

I’m not going to get into a huge review of the movie.  Suffice it to say I enjoyed it, and I look forward to the next one.

The big question in my mind after the movie finished was whether I liked the original Spider-Man or the new Amazing Spider-Man better.  I had heard friends of mine offer their opinions both ways.  Once the final credits were rolling I sat back to answer that question.  And I finally came up with: I don’t know.  I don’t know which one I like better.  The Tobey Maguire one was one of my favorite comicbook movies when it was released, and remains one of the better ones out there.  The new one improved on it in some ways, but in other ways it fell short.

So I figured I’d do a comparison of the two movies, talking about where I thought Amazing Spider-Man beat out its predecessor, and where that doe-eyed Tobey Maguire took the prize.

First, who was the better Peter Parker?

Tobey Maguire was hard to top.  Andrew Garfield was going to have his work cut out for him to beat him out.  There are a few things to consider.  First, who had the better look?  For this, I had to give it to Andrew Garfield, hands down.  He had the skinny nerd-look far better than Maguire.  However, Maguire played the nerd angle far better than Garfield.  Garfield’s Peter Parker felt like a normal teenager – awkward around girls, but not really nerdy other than being smart.  Maguire really felt like the outcast in high school.  I think in the end, I’d have to give Maguire the edge here – he just felt more genuine as a nerdy character.

Second, Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy

For me, this was no contest.  Gwen Stacy was far more interesting than Mary Jane Watson.  Much of this likely comes from the fact that I like Emma Stone as an actress more.  Gwen Stacy had her own share of issues.   Parker had almost no issue with landing Gwen Stacy.  It was far too easy for him to do so when he’s supposed to be the nerdy, every-man character.

The other thing in Gwen’s corner is that I am glad to see her in the movies.  I felt she had such an important part in the development of Peter Parker and Spider-Man (the comic series Blue is one of my favorite Spider-Man stories).  That this new series is taking the time to explore that angle is fantastic.  I’m actually hoping that Mary Jane Watson makes her debut in the next movie alongside Gwen Stacy.

Third, which film had the better Spider-Man

This one doesn’t come across as much of a contest for me either.  The new Spider-Man was done far better than the first one.  He does a lot more of the Spider-Man banter that’s such a draw to his character.  And when he’s in action, he feels far more athletic and aerobic.  More than the first movie, Amazing Spider-Man felt like they were going with the Todd Mcfarlane version of Spider-Man, which I still think is some of the best-drawn Spider-Man stuff out there.

Fourth, web-shooters or wrist-webbing-things

I’m going to have to go with web-shooters.  I’m a purist I guess.  I wasn’t really upset when they had them part of his mutations, but having the webshooters helps to accent how smart a guy Peter Parker really is.

Fifth, which film had the better villain

Oh, now this is a hard one.  I love the Green Goblin.  I think it’s impossible to beat Willam Defoe’s performance as the Green Goblin when you’re working with the Lizard.  Though the Lizard did look about a thousand times better than the stupid armored Green Goblin.

Here’s the thing, though.  I think by taking the time to set up the story in a movie or two before introducing the Green Goblin, they’re going to make a Green Goblin that’s even better in the new line of movies.  Still, when simply comparing these two movies, I’ll give the edge to the Green Goblin.

Sixth, the backstory of the Parkers

Okay, I didn’t like this.  I don’t like that Richard and Mary Parker have this old super-secret backstory as spies or scientists or whatever they are.  It detracted from my feeling of Peter as an every-man kind of guy.  It’s like he was destined to do all this stuff because his father and mother developed it all.  It’s too clean and neat a package.  I liked it better when the spider bite was essentially just an accident that happened to him.  Not that his parents were involved in it somehow.

Seventh, the better Uncle Ben and Aunt May

I’m going to split on this one.  Uncle Ben was better in this movie.  Aunt May was better in the original one.  I never got the close feeling with the new Aunt May I did with the original one.  And the flip-side is that I felt more like the new Uncle Ben.  His “with great power comes great responsibility” speech was better, and the way he met his end was more powerful.

Eighth, why does he keep taking off his mask

Yeah, really?  This kinda pissed me off.  By the end of the movie, at least three people knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man because he told them, and then a dozen or so others knew it because HE KEPT TAKING OFF HIS MASK!  Why?  It makes no sense and it just frustrated me.

Ninth, what about the supporting characters

Where was Harry Osborne?  He was as big a part of Peter’s growing up as Gwen was.  On the other hand, I think this version of Flash Thompson was far better than the previous one.  He and Peter Parker did hang around in the same circles, though Flash did make fun of Peter a lot.  Seeing Flash wearing the Spider-Man shirt at the end of the movie was great – I liked that touch of how much Flash respects Spider-Man.

So overall which one did I like better?  Unfortunately this exercise did not help me at all.  I’m still left without a clear-cut favorite.  I see more potential with the new series than the old series had, given that they are building more relationships over time, and are holding the best Spider-Man villain until later.  But it’s not a movie without its faults.

What about you guys?  Any of you have strong opinions one way or the other?