The Amazing Spider-Man (*** out of ****)

Only five years after the last Spider-Man film and only ten years after the original Sam Raimi version we have a reboot of the series. There are complaints of this film coming out too soon after the death of the last franchise. Well they're right but that's more a problem to bring up with Sony Pictures. For the most part The Amazing Spider-Man contains some great work in the comic book movie genre. The idea of the reboot isn't so strange. We've had three different Batman stories (with four different caped crusaders) in a span of sixteen years. I'll take a rather good Spider-Man reboot after fiver years rather than a fifteen year wait and have Joel Schumacher helmed version. It's best to look at this Spider-Man film for its strengths and ignoring its weaknesses that are there mostly because comparisons with the 2002 version.

Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker this time around in a very charming performance. We're told Spider-Man's origins once again but with a bit more feeling. Peter is an outsider in high school but has many interesting characteristics. He's intelligent, quick with his words and has a strong sense of morals. It can be argued that Peter Parker is the best personality outside of a flashy suit in the comic books. The Amazing Spider-Man acts much like a coming of age story filled with awkward moments of girls, questioning care giver's instructions and a deep parental issues. The origin story spends more time building up Peter as character and has him accepting his powers in a fresh way. Of course how many times does one need to see the fate of Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen)?

Emma Stone plays Peter's first girlfriend Gwen Stacy who might just be the best love interest in recent super hero history. Stone and Garfield have wonderful chemistry together and really give meaning to Peter's quest to get the girl. It's not the perfect romance, sometimes it feels slightly like something that just has to happen rather than something Peter fights for. Either way Emma Stone is a delight and makes the film much better for it.

Peter is looking for clues on why his parents left him in the care of his aunt and uncle. The mystery leads him to his father's former college Dr. Curt Conners (Rhys Ifans) who's working on cross species genetics. Conners' goal is to regenerate his missing arm like a reptile would. However his reckless experimenting leads to his mutation known as the villain, The Lizard. While The Lizard appears sometimes too animated his presence is phenomenal. He's physically intimidating, scary, has a well crafted back story, intelligent and while appearing stronger than Spider-Man it's not impossible to imagine our hero winning in a straight up but brutal fight. The action scenes in this are the smoothest they've ever been. Their easy to follow, exciting and involve the risk of the people closest to Peter getting hurt. The Lizard might only be behind Nolan's and Burton's Batman villains and Spider-Man 2's Doc Oct (Green Goblin is really close if not tied for The Lizard's position).

The Amazing Spider-Man is quite good, it's probably the second best Spider-Man film (behind Spider-Man 2, a near perfect traditional super here movie). The action is great, the romance is better than the 2002 version, the origin story is told with more detail and  Peter's inner struggles are more compelling this time. Both this and Spider-Man have their strengths (the 2002 version deals better with Uncle Ben and Green Goblin does have the edge on where the heinous villain begins and the man under the masks ends), but overall The Amazing Spider-Man might be the better. Sure we got no J. Jonah Jameson this time around but Gwen Stacy's father (Dennis Leary) might just deliver the best line of the whole series, it's a fair trade. The comparisons and ideas on the need for a reboot will always be there. However just enjoy The Amazing Spider-Man for what it it, more web slinging fun.

*** out of ****