No, Garfield was a great Spider-Man but his films were hampered by two crucial issues:
- His Peter Parker was too cool.
A huge part of the Spider-Man appeal is that Peter Parker is a nerdy, awkward kid. This is supposed to act as a contrast with the powerful, cool, quick witted Spider-Man, who can be everything Peter isn't. Tobey McGuire was great at this, you really believed that he was a nerd who really revelled in his new powers (he first uses them to beat up bullies, get money for a car and impress a girl!). This guy however:
Doesn't really strike the right note.
2. The second film was a confusing mess
Not Garfields fault, but the second film was a complete mess, it was clear that Sony were more interested in launching an ill advised ‘spiderman cinematic universe’ they were about telling a coherent story. The plot jumps from:
- Gwen Stacey is leaving town!
- Peter finds out his parents were assassinated!
- Peter’s father left clues to his research!
- Electro is attacking the city!
- Harry is the Green Goblin!
- The Rhino is attacking the city!
- Harry killed Gwen!
- Peter defeated Electro!
- Peter defeated Harry!
- Peter quit being Spider-Man!
- Peter starts being Spider-Man again!
- Peter defeated The Rhino!
- Harry forms the Sinister Six!
Despite all this, Garfield was still great in the parts where he actually had the costume on, he has the right comedic tone and physical characteristics for the role. I think with better scripts and direction, his films could have been much better.