There’s a new Peter Parker, a new Uncle Ben, a new Aunt May, a new girlfriend and new villains to face as Spider-man gets a reboot in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Following the failure of “Spider-Man 3,” Sony Pictures decided to reboot the franchise. Andrew Garfield takes over the Peter Parker role. Sony introduces Gwen Stacy as his love interest for this series. And a character who was only briefly mentioned in passing in the first Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” film is the villain of this film.

Lizard is an interesting choice for the first villain of the Andrew Garfield era of “Spider-Man.” Lizard is a great villain with a better alter ego in Dr. Curt Connors, but he’s not someone I would’ve thought to kick off the franchise. While I understand not wanting to go back to the Tobey Maguire villains in this first film of the reboot, I can think of far more compelling villains that draw casual fans’ attention a little better: Mysterio quickly comes to mind. Still, Rhys Ifans is an immensely talented actor who brings a lot of gravitas to the role. I still think Lizard would’ve made more sense in a sequel, preferably one with only one villain, two at most.

I mentioned this in other reviews, but Andrew Garfield is quite the opposite of Tobey Maguire when it comes to his Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Where Maguire looked too old to be a teenaged or college-aged Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield fills that void very well. In contrast, Maguire’s Spider-Man was very witty with his quips. Garfield’s Spider-Man isn’t so much witty as he is cruel. He has quips, but they are mean-spirited. Where Maguire was a good Spider-Man and a bad Peter Parker, Garfield was a good Peter Parker and a bad Spider-Man. Thankfully, they found someone who nails both identities in Tom Holland.

This reboot is hard to judge. It was the reboot nobody asked to see, but the film was still pretty good. It was rebooted too close to the original “Spider-Man” trilogy but was rebooted again very quickly when Sony worked out a deal with Marvel. I really enjoy this film, but unlike the Maguire and Holland “Spider-Man” films, I don’t feel a need to revisit it often. It’s good, it’s just unnecessary, and that might be the biggest mark against it.

Rating: 3 stars

What did you think of “The Amazing Spider-Man?”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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