As a young boy, Peter Parker is separated without explanation from his parents; they disappear one night and leave him with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Flash forward a few years, and Peter has become your typical high school, complete with an unattainable girl crush, Gwen Stacy, and a jock who bullies him at school, Flash Thompson. One night, he discovers while going through his father's old possessions that he used to work at OsCorp with a man named Curt Connors. Looking for Connors, Peter sneaks into the OsCorp building, and he inadvertently finds himself in an experimentation room, in which he is bitten by a radioactive spider. The next morning, he realizes he has been blessed with spider-like powers. He returns to OsCorp and finds that Connors has been experimenting with medicines that would stimulate limb regeneration. While playing with his new powers and blowing off school work, he fights with his Uncle Ben, who later that night is shot and killed by a thief Peter could have stopped. Peter learns that with great power comes great responsibility, and he becomes a vigilante in New York City; Gwen's father, the chief of police, strongly disapproves of this "spider man." When Connors tries his new formula on himself, however, and becomes a lizard-like creature with added strength, invulnerability, and the power to regrow lost limbs, only Peter possesses the strength, intelligence, and power to save Gwen and bring Connors to justice.
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Best part of story, including ending:
It focuses on Peter's origin, and it tries to ground Peter's story in reality in a way that the previous trilogy never really attempted, for better or for worse.
Best scene in story:
The finale boasts some extremely impressive special effects, as the top of a skyscraper comes down while Peter still is atop it, allowing for some terrific suspense.
Opinion about the main character:
Andrew Garfield is a likable actor, but he seems far cooler and more attractive than Peter is described as being, making him an appealing lead but not yet convincingly the right man to play the role of Peter Parker.
