Generation Y gets its web-slinger, and as cash-grab reboots go, it’s not bad. This time, high-school dweeb Peter Parker isn’t such a nice guy at the outset: he’s a New Yorker, after all, and on top of that, he’s an orphan with a dad-shaped chip on his shoulder. And he’s not such a hero by the end: though he eventually accepts this film’s version of his Uncle Ben’s dictum (“With great power comes great responsibility”), he’s still gotta keep a little something for himself, you know? The story works hard to integrate various elements from Spidey’s history, and the score works even harder to let you know what you should be feeling at any given moment. Star Andrew Garfield is all grins and grimaces, Emma Stone is reliably adorable as love interest Gwen Stacy, and Denis Leary is reliably testy as her police captain dad. (2012) — Matthew Lickona
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