The Amazing Spiderman

Peter Parker is an outcast in high school, a science geek who is constantly bullied at school and is always getting into some kind of legal trouble. We first meet Peter as a young kid who seems to have a happy childhood until one night when his parents cart him off to his Uncle Ben and Aunt May's house and leave him in their care. The mystery surrounding his parents' disappearance haunts Peter all throughout his childhood and into his teenage years. Fast forward to Peter's high school years: One night while helping Uncle Ben fix a leak that caused the basement to be flooded Peter comes across a briefcase that belonged to his father. Peter searches through it for answers that might lead to the cause of his parents' disappearance; the clues lead him to Oscorp where his father worked and to a former co-worker named Dr. Curt Conners. It is during his visit to Oscorp that a genetically altered spider bites Peter, turning him into your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

Originally when I first heard that the Spiderman series was being rebooted I was a little mad because I greatly enjoyed Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi's take on the famous web-slinger and 10 years seems a little too soon for a reboot. After seeing it though with my dad I was impressed with how well it was done. It felt like there was better character development within the story, and the story itself was a lot better written. I do think this series is in good hands if this is the direction they are planning on going in with sequels. My only problems were: Andrew Garfield, who played Peter Parker/Spiderman, was a great Spiderman but not that great of a Peter Parker. He had the sarcasm and the recklessness that I felt was key to the character of Spiderman, but as Peter Parker Andrew Garfield didn't seem to be nerdy enough for me. If they had combined somehow Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker with Andrew Garfield's Spiderman then that would have been perfect. Also, I really don't know why they felt it was necessary to go through the whole beginnings story again since everyone knows how Spiderman received his powers. Otherwise The Amazing Spiderman was well done.