In the 2002 Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire was in his element as the shy, introverted Peter Parker. He looked like a kid who got bullied a lot and you could see in his eyes that he wished he could be more. As Spider-Man I never really got the same quality of performance from him. Maybe it was acting with a mask on or Maguire just is better at being a geek but his Spidey never reached the level of his Peter Parker.
Andrew Garfield on the other hand was perfect in both persona. His Peter Parker was just as convincing as the unpopular school outcast and the fact that the 2012 movie played up Peter’s intellect and love of science was a welcome addition from the comics. Garfield also pulled off Spider-man perfectly; playing him as the wisecracking motor mouth that he is in the comics a lot better than was ever conveyed in the original series of films.