There was no way I was going to miss this film, but after reading a number of reviews by fans here I began to have some reservations. Most of that had to do with the retelling of the origin, and fundamentally I agree that this probably wasn't necessary after only ten years since the Tobey McGuire version. But now that I've seen it, I can say my second thoughts were unwarranted because this film provides an adrenaline rush with every spider web fired.

I always had this unsettled feeling with the McGuire Spider-Man, or more accurately, with the McGuire Peter Parker. I found him to be too much of a wuss, wimping out whenever confronted as the timid teenager. With Andrew Garfield, I didn't get the impression he was OK to let things go whenever a bully came on the scene. With only one picture under his belt as opposed to Tobey's three, I'm going with the new kid in town.

Whether intended or not, I also preferred the darker tone to this take on the Spidey character. Many of the action scenes occurred at night and better conveyed a sense that this costumed hero might be more of a menace than a friend. Peter Parker's dinner clash with Captain Stacy (Denis Leary) helped push that agenda and it worked pretty well.

As for the main villain, a mixed reaction. There were times The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) looked a bit corny and other times truly menacing. It seemed to me that the film had trouble establishing the villain's proportion in relation to Spider-Man and other humans. In some scenes he looked like a monster, at others merely somewhat larger than Spider-Man. However the concept of cross-species genetics on which The Lizard came to being was handled rather well and proved effective.

As always, my favorite moment in a Marvel hero movie did not leave me disappointed. Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance once again, this time as the oblivious librarian listening to a symphony while Spidey and The Lizard make a shambles of the bookcases in the background. I can't believe he'll be ninety at the end of this year.

I'm a bit ambivalent towards superhero films. Sure, they offer crowd-pleasing entertainment, but most of them turn into CGI monstrosities devoid of originality and wit long before the ending, and unfortunately the same thing happens with THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. And that's without mentioning that this is an entirely redundant remake of the Sam Raimi original, which only came out about a decade ago.

See, I liked the Raimi trilogy of Spiderman flicks. Raimi brought his own directorial quirks to the films, making them slightly campy and a whole lot of fun. Here, it's all about earnestness, which is dull, and it quickly becomes obvious that director Marc Webb (a made-up name, surely?) has little experience of handling this kind of expensive material.

Andrew Garfield has a knack for picking slightly irritating characters and that knack is evidence in his Peter Parker, who lacks the decency that Tobey Maguire brought to the role. The whole high school schtick is faintly embarrassing to sit through, but it gets worse about halfway through when the plot dissolves to be replaced by one CGI-laden action sequence after another. They're all silly and predictable, lacking the kind of choreography that a director like, say, Christopher Nolan, would bring to them.

There's little else to enjoy along the way, either. I didn't like Kristen Dunst in the Raimi trilogy, but Emma Stone is hardly better, a bland blonde bimbo and nothing more. Rhys Ifans is impossible to take seriously as the bad guy, while old-timers Martin Sheen and Sally Field have very little to work with. There's no great insight into the characters or anything like that; in fact, this is just a kid's film that anyone older than a teenager will struggle to enjoy.

I can't take credit for the summary--my oldest daughter said that when we left the theater after seeing "The Amazing Spider-Man". That's because with all the many, many super-hero movies out in recent years, this one loses a bit of something--especially since there are clearly better films of its genre (such as "Iron Man" and "The Avengers"). It's decent but there are better products out there.

First, let's talk about what I loved. The CGI was incredible and for the first time it really looks like Spider-Man is flying. It's very seamless and looks brilliant. Also, the Spider-Man costume and movements are all great.

What I thought was lacking in the film. It's ALL CGI and special effects--and nothing much more. The characters and dialog just didn't seem all that important. And because of this, it's spectacular to watch but nothing more....nothing. And, while I think about it, why, oh why didn't they include THE most important line in any Spider-Man film--Uncle Ben's line "With great power comes great responsibility"?! It is the perfect summation of who the character is and according to Stan Lee it is Spider-Man...so why is it missing?!