Essay Sample: Andrew Garfield vs. Tobey Maguire

Have you ever wondered what Spiderman movie is the best? Spiderman has been one of my favorite superhero movies, but which Spiderman movie is better? Andrew Garfield's Spiderman or Tobey Maguire's? Well, first we can think about what makes a good spiderman movie. Ideally, it is around 2 hours long, most movies longer than that seem to drag on for ages, and can get boring over time. While some movies that are shorter than that can be missing some important information and could be even more confusing. Another thing it needs is an interesting plot and characters; including love interests, villains, and the main character. Between the two Spiderman movies, both have their pros and cons. It all depends on preferences and what you're in the mood for seeing. Personally, Andrew’s Spiderman is the better one out of the two, but that doesn't mean Tobey’s Spiderman isn’t as good.

In Tobey’s spiderman, the movie is about 2 hrs & 1 min long, making it almost the perfect length, still giving us enough time to understand what is going on in the movie without it dragging on for too long. In Andrew’s Spider-man it is about 2 hrs & 14 mins, making both Spiderman movies the ideal length. Neither of them felt like they were dragging on or not having enough time to explain everything.  Especially with a movie like Spiderman where the plot isn't too extreme. 

In Andrew’s Spider-man, the plot is interesting because it brings in the aspect of Peter's parents and what happened to them. Both of his parents are present at the beginning of the movie which we usually don’t see. About 5-10 minutes into the movie a problem comes up within Oscorp and both his parents have to leave, then leaving Peter with his aunt and uncle, May and Ben. They never come back but it is later revealed that they died in a plane crash. Peter is now a teenager and he finds a bag in the basement of Ben and May's house. The bag belonged to his parents, he goes through it finding things that could lead him to his parents' disappearance. He finds himself at Oscorp, where his parents used to work, trying to find out where they were. Peter finds himself in a  room full of spiders, then gets bitten. He researches everything he found and then later goes to doctor Connors and gives him his research. After an argument with uncle ben, Peter goes out to buy some milk but then falls a couple of cents short. While he is paying, a man robs the store, but Peter does nothing. Uncle Ben, who is searching for Peter, sees the man and tackles him down which leads to him being killed. Meanwhile, doctor Connors is working on a serum for limb regeneration. He injects himself with it and then turns himself into The Lizard. Spiderman fights him but leaves behind a camera, which was inscribed with his name, that he was using to expose dr. Connors intentions. Connors now knows Spider-man's identity and attacks him at school. While Peter is fighting the lizard, Gwen finishes making an antidote and Spider-man can restore dr. Connors to his original state. 

This brings us to Tobey's Spider-man plot, which was interesting considering that it was one of the very first Spiderman movies. At the beginning of the movie, Peter is on a field trip where he is bitten by a radioactive spider, causing him to have enhanced abilities. Pretty early on into the movie Mary Jane, MJ is introduced as our love interest. Peter likes her from the very beginning of the movie. He notices one night that MJ’s boyfriend has a shiny new car and he decides he’s going to get one of his own to impress MJ. Except he needs money, so he enters a fighting match. He enters in a prototype Spiderman suit. He ends up winning this fight and goes to collect the prize money but ends up scammed out of it. A robber then comes in and steals the money but he just lets him go. This person then goes on to kill uncle ben. This was an interesting plot point because Peter could have stopped him and saved his life. This also is very similar to Andrew’s spiderman where Peter could have saved Uncle Ben if he would’ve stopped thinking about himself. This adds to the main character's trauma and “heroic awakening” which leads them to start doing things to prevent crimes like that from happening. Peter chases after the man and almost kills him. For the rest of the movie, he goes on to fight Green Goblin and try to get with MJ which doesn’t work most of the time. Near the end of the movie MJ is taken along with a bus of civilians and Spiderman is forced to choose between the two. He ends up saving both in the end and goes to fight Green Goblin one on one. This is when Green Goblin dies, impaled by his glider. The plot of Tobey’s spiderman was interesting, I think that Andrew Garfield’s plot was slightly more interesting, especially with bringing in the aspects of his parents and how they died.

Along with their plots being different, so are their love interests. In Andrew’s Spiderman, the love interest is changed to Gwen Stacy. This was an interesting decision because it differentiated it from most of the other spiderman media/comics where the love interest was usually MJ. Although in Tobey’s spiderman he has MJ, Gwen Stacy was still introduced as a side character. Tobey Maguire's love interest was introduced early on into the movie as Mary Jane or MJ. Peter likes her from the very beginning of the movie. As the movie goes on MJ doesn't reciprocate these feelings for Peter, only liking Spiderman, and often being rude to peter parker. Only deciding she likes him at the very end of the movie, and confessing at Harry's dad’s funeral. Between the two love interests, Gwen Stacy is the better of the two. She is kind to Peter and doesn’t just suddenly have feelings for him as MJ did with Toby's peter. 

In Andrew's spiderman, they had Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, Andrew playing spiderman, and Emma playing Gwen. Andrew looked young throughout the movie and the same goes for Emma. He played a nerdy Peter Parker and played the part well. He didn't make Peter seem too cool or too nerdy but a balance between the two without making it hard to watch. Emma Stone also looked very young and played Gwen well, and was also able to capture her personality and character. In Tobey Maguire's Spiderman, the main actors are Tobey Maguire who played spiderman, Kirsten Dunst who played MJ. Tobey Maguire played the part of Peter Parker well but made him too awkward at some points. Along with the acting, Tobey looked a little older than a high school student, making his Peter Parker, not the most accurate. Along with Kirsten Dunst, she also looked a bit too old to play the part. They both acted well and played their parts well but just didn’t look the part. Compared to Andrew’s Spiderman, where Andrew and Emma both looked young enough. When it comes to the actors and how well they fit the role they were playing, Andrew's Spiderman had more fitting actors.

In both Spider-man's there are a few character deaths. In Andrew's Spiderman, the first people to die are Peter Parker's parents. It is revealed that they had died in a plane crash shortly after leaving Peter with aunt may and uncle ben. Not much is known about Peter's parents so this death didn’t feel as major watching it from home. Uncle Ben is the next to die, this death sadder than the last. Uncle Ben was more present in Peter's life so this death was definitely sadder, the same goes for Tobey’s Spider-man when uncle ben dies. Both deaths affect the viewers and make them feel for Peter, especially when you realize he could have stopped the death of his uncle. The last death that happens in Andrew's Spider-man was Chief Stacy, who is Gwen Stacy’s father. He was killed by The Lizard near the end of the movie. This death wasn’t very impactful. Chief Stacy did not like Peter being with Gwen, right before he died he told Peter to stay away from Gwen for her own good. Andrew’s Spider-mans deaths were not very impactful. Uncle Ben being the only death that truly almost everyone could sympathize with.

Overall between the two spiderman movies, both have their similarities and differences, and both bring something to the table. In Tobey's spider-man, it was one of the first spiderman movies automatically making it special to many people. The characters and actors played their part very well in both, but considering acting style and how fitting they played the part there were some cons. Such as being a bit out of character and not looking the part. Both movies did not drag on for too long. Andrew’s Spiderman had a more interesting plot compared to tobey maguire’s, making it more enjoyable to watch. Tobey Maguire's spiderman, although a bit off at times, is a classic and is fun to watch. Both movies have their pros and cons, but overall Andrew’s Spider-Man was the more enjoyable movie to watch.