It's official:
Spider-Man 3 is upon us, and this, the third and perhaps most hyped film of the series pits our beloved wall-crawler against no less than three super-villain adversaries. Released in a summer of sequels (
Fantastic Four 2, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, et al.), Spidey's third outing has the potential to be a super-blockbuster, especially considering it's fantastic budget (reputedly topping $250 million). But does it deliver the goods?
Peter Parker/ Spider-Man (Tobey MaGuire) seems to be finally catching a break. New Yorkers now love Spidey, and see him for the hero he truly is. His love life is improving, too, and he's ready to propose to his sweetheart Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Dear Old Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) thinks he's ready for the step, and passes her engagement ring to Peter so that he can offer it when popping the question. And during a battle with Spidey, the New Goblin, Harry Osborne (James Franco), loses his memory and may be cured of the malevolent legacy his father Harry Sr. (Willem DaFoe) bequeathed him.
But when things seem too good to be true, they usually are. And they begin to deteriorate rapidly for Peter. Caught up in his own popularity, Peter begins to pay less and less attention to Mary Jane. Spidey's success seems to blind him to what's going on in Mary Jane's life, and when she suffers a devastating career setback, he never even notices. Soon, problems rear their unwanted head again in and the pair's stormy relationship.
If that weren't bad enough, a new super-villain arrives on the scene: Flint Marko, the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). He's potentially one of the mightiest foes Spidey has ever faced, and to top it all of, he may just be the man who killed Peter's beloved Uncle Ben.
But wait. There's more. When a mysterious black ooze decides to bond to Peter, turning his costume black and giving him more power than he's ever had before, he begins a descent into darkness that he may never be able to climb out of. And when a second new villain appears, the mysterious Venom (Topher Grace), can the Amazing Spider-Man save himself, let alone the people of New York?
As you can see, there's a lot going on in
Spider-Man 3, and that may be the film's downfall. There's just too much story to follow in a 140 minute film, and the multiple story arcs and villains director Sam Raimi throws at us don't get as much attention as they deserve. Consequently, we sometimes wonder where the film is going and if it will eventually get there.
Peter Parker's relationship and personal life difficulties are what defines the character and makes him so endearing to us. Sure, he can climb walls, shoot webs, and swing through the skies at will. But he's also a nerd who has girl troubles and can't always pay his bills: making him easy for all of us to relate to.
That said, the Peter-Mary Jane stormy relationship issue has been explored in depth in the first two films and was seemingly resolved at the end of
Spider-Man 2. Here, it's so much beating of a dead horse. We've been there before, and seen that too.
The addition of Flint Marko, the Sandman, is an interesting development, and he's not your usual baddie: he's driven to crime in desperation. He's not out to conquer the world, just save his daughter, something any of us might do in his position. He's interesting, but his character is never developed in the way Dr. Octopus was in 2.
The same is true to an even greater degree of Venom. A far more sinister character than Sandman (and perhaps one of the most interesting Spidey villains of all), he's even less developed than Sandman. Venom never lives up to his comics inspired potential, and the film certainly suffers for it.
And the whole Spidey black costume comics epic, which was so nicely morphed into the Venom character, gets short shrift here and so little exploration that it's disappointingly delivered. Focusing on this story alone could have made "3" a true blockbuster at least equal to the first two, if not the greatest of them all. Oh, the potential that is thrown away here.
Still, even with these downsides,
Spider-Man 3 has more than enough positives to make it an enjoyable romp. There are plenty of moments of humor, especially when J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) is on screen. The "Darker Parker" has some funny moments, too.
The Parker/Osborne storyline that has run through all three films is wrapped up nicely here in an especially explosive ending. And of course the special effects are simply amazing, most notably when the Sandman is on screen.
The edge-of-your-seat, action-packed finale has you holding on for dear life up to the very end. And Raimi manages to pepper his drama nicely with super battles, though is still seems overlong at times.
Maguire is once again a convincing Peter Parker, and he and Dunst still have an on screen chemistry. For her part, Dunst only has a few scenes in which to shine, more often playing the damsel in distress to Maguire's knight in shining armor. Church seems a perfect choice for Marko, and though his deadpan performance is on character, it won't win him any Oscar nominations. Topher Grace makes an acceptable Eddie Brock/Venom, too.
James Franco delivers a first-rate performance as the confused, vengeance-seeking Harry Osborne. But once again, J.K. Simmons steals the scene whenever he's around as the curmudgeonly publisher of the Daily Bugle. And look for some delightful cameos from Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee.
All in all, this is an enjoyable film, and a great few hours of summer escapism. While seemingly the weakest of the three, it's still worth checking out, and sure to please Web-Heads everywhere. Three and a half stars, but for Epinions purposes it seems closer to three than four when compared to the first two outings.
Prerequisite Viewing:
Spider-Man Spider-Man 2 More Comic Book Movies:
300 Ghost Rider Superman Returns Superman the Movie X-Men X-Men 2 X-Men III: The Last Stand Fantastic Four Batman and Robin Batman Begins The Return of Swamp Thing Hulk Daredevil Hellboy Darkman Man Thing The Flash: The Complete Series V for Vendetta The Punisher (1989) The Punisher (2004) Howard the Duck 
