The Amazing Spider-Man

Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios reboot the Spider-Man franchise, hoping to compensate for the loss of director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire. Retelling the whole story from square one was a mistake; the clunky script by James Vanderbilt, Steve Kloves and Alvin Sargent only reminds us of how clear and economical David Koepp’s script was back in 2002. It still might have worked if they’d been able to replace the irreplaceable Maguire, but Andrew Garfield can’t come close; he turns Peter Parker into an unlikeable, twitchy, sullen mumbler—the kind of character you avoid making eye contact with on public transportation. Director Marc Webb does what he can, but the movie needs a star at the center of Spider-Man’s web, not the black hole Garfield plays. As the love interest, Emma Stone is wasted.