Movie Review:  "The Amazing Spider-Man"/Rated PG-13 (for sequences of action and violence)/Dir. by Marc Webb/136 min.

Let us, for a moment, imagine a parallel universe.  One in which Sam Raimi passed on directing "Spider-Man" and Tobey Maguire never donned the red and blue tights.  In this universe, the web-slinger movie stayed in the same development wasteland currently occupied by the long-in-development Wonder Woman and Flash movies.  However, in 2010, a Spidey movie finally got green-lit and the reins of the potential franchise were handed to a young independent director named Marc Webb.  Previously best known for the anti-romantic comedy "(500) Days of Summer", Webb seems an unusual, but canny choice (not only will the movie focus on the relationships, but his last name is Webb for heaven's sake!).  In this parallel universe, the film called "The Amazing Spider-Man" that is currently in theaters would be universally recognized as a well paced, naturally acted, inventively directed, humanistic, and entertaining summer popcorn movie, and rightfully take its place among the best of the comic-book movies.

However, we don't live in that universe.  Raimi's "Spider-Man" not only existed, but it thrived.  Even it's weakest entry, the overstuffed "Spider-Man 3" received mostly positive reviews and made over $890 million dollars worldwide.  Therefore, the question on most people's minds isn't "Is it good?", it's "Is it necessary?", and unfortunately, the answer is no.   I'll get more to the question of quality later, but for a moment, let me address the question of necessity.  Unlike the recent successful reboots of "Batman", "Star Trek", and "James Bond", this movie isn't saving the franchise from artistic stagnancy or disappointing box-office returns.  It's here to save skittish movie executives from the only enemy they could not destroy themselves:  copyright law.

Allow me to explain.  Sony pictures was a little gun-shy about bringing Raimi back for a "Spider-Man 4" after his mishandling of the Venom story line in the 3rd Spidey movie (one of the biggest flaws in an imperfect, but still entertaining movie.)  However, they still asked Raimi to come up with a treatment for a 4th movie involving Dr. Curt Connors (played in the original trilogy by outstanding character actor Dylan Baker) and his transformation to the villainous "Lizard".  Apparently, the studio wasn't thrilled with his ideas and Raimi left the franchise and Tobey Maguire decided to leave with him.  However, Sony needed to get a new Spider-Man in theaters by 2012 or, according to their original agreement with Marvel Studios, they would lose the movie rights to the character, something that Marvel has been chomping at the bit to happen, because that means the teenage web-slinger could then slip into the Marvel Movie Universe.  (I have to admit that a Spidey-centric "Avengers" movie makes my inner geek get a little drooly)

However, rather than just recast and continue with the franchise, Sony pictures got reboot fever thanks to the enormous success of "The Dark Knight".  Unfortunately, rebooting the Spider-Man franchise feels a little like using a defibrillator to resuscitate a perfectly healthy person.

For the first hour of "The Amazing Spider-Man", the sense of deja vu hovering over the film is inescapable.  (WARNING:  from here on out, there are minor spoilers)  High school misfit - check.  Cute, seemingly unattainable girl - check.  Radioactive spider bite - check.  Fun discovery of new powers - check.  Empowering conflict with school bully - check.  Death of Uncle Ben that inspires Peter to use his powers to help people - check.  It's all done in an interesting and emotionally resonant way, but the plot points during this section feel more like a connect the dots version of the original, in spite of the noblest efforts of all involved (among which include an attempt to cloud the disappearance and death of Peter's parents in mystery and intrigue).

Thankfully, once we get passed all of that exposition, the movie begins to transform into a more unique and surprising entertainment.  Webb's previous experience with relationship-focused indie films serves him well as the relationship between Peter (a very likable Andrew Garfield) and the genius in knee-high socks, Gwen Stacy (the terrific Emma Stone) feels much more natural than the central relationship in the original.  Plus, it doesn't hurt that Garfield and Stone have more chemistry than did Maguire and Kirstin Dunst.  

The movie mentions the comic-book's biggest baddie, Norman Osborn, but the central antagonist here is the aforementioned Dr. Curt Connors, now played with great empathy by Rhys Ifans.  Connors is a biochemist studying the possibilities of cross-species mutation to cure human maladies, including his missing right arm.  When Peter finds a key algorithm among his fathers papers and shares it with Dr. Connors, the good doctor begins to combine human and lizard DNA in an effort to replicate the regenerative abilities of the cold-blooded.  As is prone to happen when movie scientists start tinkering with genetics, things go awry.

Add to this conflict the fact that Peter's new girlfriend's father is the chief of police (Denis Leary) who is desperately trying to find and apprehend the vigilante currently attacking criminals in a red and blue unitard and restraining them with an odd, web-like netting.  This makes the traditional boyfriend/girl's dad tension even more palpable and any resolution of that tension offered more gratifying.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" does one thing the original Spider-Man never did.  It allows almost every main character an opportunity to be heroic, even the villains.  Some of the most moving sacrifices and daring deeds are done by regular, ordinary, non-tights-wearing people.  It reminded me a bit of the ferry scene in "The Dark Knight."  It's nice to see a film buck Hollywood's current pessimism about human nature and give even more selfish and adversarial characters the chance to show their true colors.

Lest you think this movie is all romance and commentaries on the nature of man, "The Amazing Spider-Man" has some pretty eye-popping action sequences.  The action is fact-paced and, at times, surprising (especially in 3D), but also coherent and character-motivated, which means they're not merely fun to watch, but they propel the plot and the relationships contained therein.

So, the final word is that "The Amazing Spider-Man" is an entertaining and thoughtful popcorn movie, but it's still just another Spidey origin movie.  While I enjoyed it, I'm more looking forward to where Webb takes the series now that all the messy and unnecessary rebooting it done.

Grade: B

Addendum:  In regards to the events leading to the demise of a "Spider-Man 4", I have recently read information that slightly conflicts with what I had previously read.  I have read that Columbia pictures was actually keen to move on with Raimi, however, he wasn't pleased with the script and that led to the split.  However, "The Amazing Spider-Man" was, by all accounts, rushed into production in order to beat the copyright deadline.