The Amazing Spider-Man

It’s been only a decade since the combination of filmmaker Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire unleashed the first of three big-budget, effects-driven Spider-Man movies.

The most recent installment in that trilogy was released in 2007, so perhaps it’s a bit early to re-launch the comic-book staple again, right? If there’s money to be made, it’s never too early.

So along comes The Amazing Spider-Man, which puts us narratively back in the same place as 10 years ago, telling a familiar superhero origin story with a new cast and a presentation that is competently constructed if conceptually lazy.

The new version changes a few of the details in the family life of its title character’s alter-ego, that of socially awkward teenager Peter Parker, and showcases a menacing new villain. But overall it isn’t an improvement.

In the film, Peter (Andrew Garfield) is a teenage nerd trying to find the secret to his father’s disappearance, leading him to the laboratory of his father’s former colleague, geneticist Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans).

Peter is bitten by a mutant spider while snooping around, which gives him his special powers that lead to donning the famed red suit and a desire to become a vigilante for justice. He also becomes closer with his high school crush, Gwen (Emma Stone), whose father (Denis Leary) also happens to be the police chief.

Meanwhile, Connors’ experiments with human regeneration go awry, and he accidentally turns himself into a giant lizard bent on world domination.

Garfield (The Social Network) portrays his character with enough depth to be both nerdy and heroic. He’s intellectually curious but a social outcast whose powers evolve along with his discovery of how to use them.

This Spider-Man places its emphasis on the character level, trying to make its hero more identifiable (even though he spins webs and swings from the tops of skyscrapers), rather than just turning into a non-stop series of confrontations and stunts. That’s probably why the special effects are scaled back in terms of quantity in the first hour.

Director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) and his team employ some solid visual effects and choreograph some taut spider-versus-lizard fight sequences in the latter half of the film, although their use of 3D is surprisingly marginal.

The narrative is simple and straightforward, with a script that lacks depth but is funny and exciting enough to work as breezy summer entertainment.

Rated PG-13, 136 minutes.