Adopting the name "Spider-Man", Peter first uses his newfound powers to make money, but after his uncle is murdered at the hands of a criminal Peter failed to stop, he swears to use his powers to fight the evil that killed his uncle. And it helps differentiate The Amazing Spider-Man from previous movies that Gwen Stacy ( Emma Stone), not Mary Jane Watson, is Peter/Spidey's love interest here.A rather odd thing has just just occurred in the life of nerdy high school student Peter Parker after being bitten by a radioactive spider, his body chemistry is mutagenically altered in that he can scale walls and ceilings, and he develops a "spider-sense" that warns him of approaching danger. He's antsy and curious and very charming. Garfield brings a different but equally fantastic energy to the role his Peter has a skater-on-the-fringes angst that's not emo and not super-boyish (like Maguire) but still perfect for a teenage superhero. So is there any reason to love this new outing, which treads over much of the same backstory as previous films did? Well, yes. Sure, the third film of the last set, which featured the wonderful Tobey Maguire in the titular role, was a bit disappointing, but overall the series was a crowd-pleaser in many ways. Let's be honest, though: The Spider-Man franchise didn't really need a reboot. This Spidey wants to show off, as a teen encountering new powers would, and he deserved a proper fight. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. One gripe worth airing is about Spider-Man's nemesis: The Lizard seems scary enough, but not so scary as to be a worthy opponent. Peter Parker is an outcast high schooler abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He lingers on the teen romance, which is delightful, and serves up thrilling action sequences without the show-off-y quality that too many superhero movies rely on. Director Marc Webb brings a realism to the proceedings that's hard not to like in this superhero reboot.