Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker is not Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker; an obvious statement, but perhaps one that’s still necessary to make as fans continue to debate the “should they have” or “shouldn’t they have” aspect of Sony’s upcoming reboot of SPIDER-MAN. While this will never get a definitive resolution (except perhaps at the box office), one thing is clear after seeing Marc Webb’s film: Andrew Garfield likely gives the least conventional performance as a mainstream superhero you’ve ever seen.
Garfield’s Peter – and his Spider-Man – is a insecure, awkward, sometimes flat-out weird fellow, and Garfield’s various tics and peculiarities impeccably capture the inner struggle Parker/Spidey goes through from start to finish. In all honesty, I appreciated the performance all the more after sitting down with the rising star; Garfield (up until now best known for his role in David Fincher’s THE SOCIAL NETWORK) is the charismatic and self-assured “cool” guy that Peter Parker never could be.
“The internet is such a loud voice.”