The Amazing Spider-Man (4/5 Stars)

Studio: Columbia/Sony
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 136 minutes

One of the only strikes against "The Amazing Spider-Man" is the fact it's a reboot of a very popular and successful film series. That's an issue only because in a summer where two of the biggest comic book based franchises ( "The Avengers", "The Dark Knight Rises")  compete to break and set box office records, few were excited about a do-over of the film series that takes the audience back to the beginning of an already well known story. 
Unfortunately, the very capable Sam Raimi, director of the first three Spider-Man films and Columbia/Sony couldn't agree on several aspects of the future of the franchise so instead of moving ahead with a fourth instalment the studio immediately began production on this "re-imaging".

The gamble paid off as "The Amazing Spider-Man" creatively puts a new spin on a story so well known that it is practically a modern-day American fairy tale.
From the opening scene, the score reveals that the tone of the film is going to be much darker than the Toby McGuire/Kirsten Dunst vehicle.

Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man

Since the majority of the characters have been well established on screen over the past 10 years (nevermind the past 50 years of comic book history) in order for the latest film to succeed it was imperative for the new cast to totally own their roles
beginning with Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) as the new Peter Parker.
He does an excellent job not only establishing himself as the iconic alter-ego of Spider-Man but he also successfully reinvents the personality of Peter Parker. At the core of the character is his witty one-liners which Garfield delivers with the comic timing of comedy veterans like Billy Crystal. His Peter is still a super smart teen and sort of a square peg but Garfield manages to infuse an aura of cool never before been seen in the character.

Denis Leary and Rhys Ifans seemlessly take over roles previously played by James Cromwell and Dylan Baker as police Captain Stacy and Dr. Curt Conner - relatively minor characters on the previous films. However in this movie both are major protagonists. In Ifans case, he also introduces Conner's alter-ego -The Lizard; a bad guy out of Spidey's rouge gallery whose orgins are directly tied to Spider-Man's.
The extremely talented Emma Stone (The Help) takes over the role of Gwen Stacy played previously by Bryce Dallas Howard. However, this film (staying true to the comic) introduces Gwen as Peter's first love interest. Stone and Garfield demonstrate chemistry that in the midst of all the action tells a sweet teenage love story.

Director Marc Webb consulted with 3D guru James Cameron during the planning process which led to the movie bring filmed in digital 3D rather than converted post-production. This brings clarity and crispness to the scenes and the special effects that doesn't detract from nor overwhelm a surprisingly well written script.
(Audiences should be aware that beginning with this movie Sony is charging theaters for the 3D glasses which will undoubtedly result in higher prices at the ticket office. Is the additional price justified? Here's a great article to help you decide.)

While the writers took some artistic license and modernized some elements of Spider-Man's beginnings, the story essentially doesn't stray far from the heart of the classic orgin.
Many have said they aren't as excited about this movie as they were/are about the other summer  blockbusters. Had anyone known how good of a movie this would turn out to be I'm sure the Web Crawler's ticket pre-sale would have rivaled all the other heroes of the big screen.