Every Sony Marvel movie ranked from worst to best

6. The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man was the first reboot and second live-action interpretation of Spider-Man, meaning it had to set itself apart from the original. One way it tries to do that is by having Peter look into how his parents died. That investigation leads him to Oscorp, where he gets his powers and meets Doctor Conners, an old friend and lab partner of his father. Connors begins working with Peter, who helps him with the serum he was working on for years, meant to regrow human limbs using lizard DNA.

After intentionally testing the serum on himself, Connors turns himself into the Lizard. Corrupted by the transformation and believing that the serum could be the next step in human evolution, Connors devises a plan to spread the serum across the city and turn the citizens into lizards. With help from his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and her dad, Peter beats Lizard and cures those infected, including Conners, before sending him to prison.

Like most films that came out during that time, it was inspired by Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, taking a grittier and more grounded approach to the character of Spider-Man. It also leans into the freakish nature of Peter Parker’s abilities, presenting his discovery of his new powers with similar horror beats.

Andrew Garfield is excellent at capturing Peter’s quippy and comedic personality, which we didn’t get as much previously. Every scene of Gwen and Peter together feels natural, and their dynamic is one of the highlights of this story. The chemistry between him and Emma Stone is a large part of why the movie works. It also has the best web-swinging of any of the films, only matched in that area by its sequel. While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it did provide a fresh and enjoyable take.