Spider-man is Tempted by the Dark Side

The original Spider-man is one of my favorite superhero films (limited as my exposure to them is). It expertly combines characters and plot to form an emotionally satisfying movie. I was one of the few who felt that Spider-man 2 was actually worse than the original. Still, I was hoping for a return to form for the third in the series. For the most part, I liked it.

Everything is going well for a change for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). He's finally dating the woman of his dreams, new Broadway star Mary Jane Watson (Kristen Dunst). He's doing very well at school. And his alter ego, Spider-man, is the toast of New York City, much to the dismay of newspaperman J. Jonah Jamison (J. K. Simmons).

The only downside to his life is former best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco). Harry has recently learned that it was Peter who killed Mr. Osborn and has vowed revenge.

Soon, that will be the least of Peter's worries. The man truly responsible for killing his uncle Ben has just escaped from jail. Flint Marco (Thomas Haden Church) is on the run when he stumbles into a science experiment and gets molecularly turned into Sandman. Meanwhile, Peter's plan to propose to Mary Jane falls apart and the two begin to drift. And a mysterious substance has attached itself to Peter, tapping into his darker side and making him more powerful at the same time. Will his new power and attitude destroy him? Can he get revenge on a man who has no shape?

The movie is a strange mix of contradictions. When you stop and think about all that happened, it really is a busy, complex film with several different plots going on at once. Yet this is the most character driven film in the franchise to date, and at times was slower then the others to focus on what is happening with the characters.

I don't know the comic book versions of events, so I don't know how character stories compare. What is present here is fine with me, with one noticeable exception. I get why they made Flint the real killer of Uncle Ben. Yet that changes too much of why Spider-man is who he is. Now, suddenly, he couldn't have changed the outcome. That was his whole motivation for going into the superhero business to begin with. Even for a non-fan, this didn't sit well with me.

That aside, the character driven stuff works. Especially satisfying is Harry's emotional arc. I have always been most interested in his storyline, and loved what they did with this character here.

Through the parasite, Peter gets a glimpse of what he could be like if he surrendered to his guilt, hate, and aggression. It's at once funny (with some of the funniest scenes in the film) and sobering. I actually gasped at one point when Peter hit his lowest point. This storyline is emotionally satisfying as well. I just hate what it made them do to the ending. I get why it had to be done, but it didn't satisfy the justice side of me.

To pull all this emotional story telling off, the cast needed to really shine. And they do. Tobey Maguire has always done a good job with this role, and he does a great job here letting us see the struggle his character is going through. Kristen Dunst gets a chance to show off her singing ability. She also allows us to see what her character is thinking. Thomas Haden Church provides an emotionally conflicted villain with the little screen time he had. The real standout, however, is James Franco as Harry Osborn. The movie calls for him to be series and comic, and he hits every note perfectly. I would have loved to see more of him.

Now don't fear, this movie is still a superhero action flick. There are several great fight sequences that had me on the edge of my seat. The special effects are outstanding, especially for the Sandman. I believed every minute of film I saw.

Ironically, my biggest problem with the film involved the revised story about Uncle Ben's death, an event from the first movie. It keeps the movie from rising to the level of the first, but it is an entertaining start to the summer block buster season.

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