THE UNTOLD STORY BEGINS.

Instead of making a fourth chapter in their Spider-Man franchise, Columbia opted for a reboot and did everything to convince us that it wasn’t a pointless remake of Sam Raimi’s 2002 film.

Much of the film covers very familiar territory. Still, as a stand-alone comic book movie it has excellent qualities, including Andrew Garfield’s strong, grounded performance, James Horner’s score and impressive visual effects in 3D.

Marc Webb skilfully makes us care about these characters, takes great advantage of NYC locations and finds new ways of exploring organic aspects of Peter Parker’s powers.

2012-U.S. 136 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Marc Webb. Screenplay: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves. Music: James Horner. Cast: Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy), Rhys Ifans (Curt Connors/The Lizard), Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Campbell Scott… C. Thomas Howell. Cameo: Stan Lee. 

Trivia: Kathryn Bigelow and David Fincher were considered for directing duties; Jamie Bell for the part of Peter Parker and Michael Fassbender as Connors. Followed by The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).