Spider-Man 3

I saw this film in Montreal, that explains the weird title I chose for this review. Well, then, the long-awaited third Spider-Man film has finally been released and we finally get to see Spider-man's arguably best villain...VENOM! By the time the black devil of a character finally appeared on screen my friend beside me quietly lamented: "Wow, they totally ruined Venom."

*sigh* Third films in a movie series can do one of two things, generally. Go beyond what's already been see and blow people away, alike Lord of the Rings, or they completely show that the series has entered B-movie territory and is sinking down into that category of suckiness, alike Batman:Forever, Jurassic Park III, and others (too many to list!). Spider-Man III was enjoyable, and I know I'll probably buy it as soon as it comes out on dvd, no doubt. The special fx were awesome, the plot was a step down from the previous two films, but still enjoyable as it was character-driven (one of the great strenghts of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series) and the acting was fairly well done, as usual.

I gotta say Spider-Man is my favourite superhero after Batman. The things that appeal, and always have, most to me is that beneath the mask and incredible powers Spider-Man is a very human character. In high school I was a bit of a geek with lots of trouble with the girls and got picked on quite a bit, perhaps that is also what I like about Spider-Man. It is a true underdog story. The first two films were simply incredible, and though some complain of the over-emphasis on the character drama and the love stories of the films, I feel that those critics completely miss the point. The failure of so many modern-day Superhero films such as Daredevil, Ghostrider, etc. etc. is that the characters simply have no depth, no sympathizing motivation, or whatnot. The common complaint about this film is the emphasis on the love-story, and while I believe the love story was interesting and neccessary, I do believe they could have toned it down a tad, as it did begin to overwhelm the film a bit too much.

Well, Peter Parker (Toby Maguire, the prefect actor to play Spider-Man imo) has things more or less made. He is finally with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), the girl of his dreams and as Spider-Man he is finally being more appreciated by the citizens of New York. Things are going great and have nowhere to go but down (like Mary Jane's career!)

Harry Osborne (James Franco) returns in his father's role as a New Green Goblin, alike in the comic, who still believes Spider-Man/Parker killed his Father. His character doesn't get enough time, in my opinion and is more or less sandwiched between Venom and Sandman, the other major villain. Franco, I must say, is a great actor and does a great job potraying diverse roles of Harry, whether is vengeful rage, joyous friendliness, or a sympathetic view. He would have made a perfect Anakin Skywalker in the newer Star Wars trilogy had Lucas casted better...but then who isn't better than Hayden Christensen? This Goblin, though, is very inconsistent and I felt they didn't do too well with this potrayl overall. If you see the film, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Sandman (Thomas Hayden Churhc) is simply awesome! I think his character well excelled Venom as the main villain in the film. He was perfect for the role as a sympathetically motivated 'villain'. They did a good job of tranforming a one-liner comic villain into a complex character. His motivation is to save his little girl, who lives in poverty with his ex-wife and is terribly sick. Every bad thing Sandman ever does in the film is to help raise money so he can get her treatment at the hospital. If the US had a proper universal healthcare system, all this extra evil caused by Sandman would never need occur to begin with. This could've been a job for Tommy Douglas, but is instead one for Spider-Man! I suppose the best feature of Sandman is the humaneness of his character, revealing a complex world, rather than a one-dimensional one that so many other comic book films fall into.

Venom (Topher Grace) was grossly miscasts. This villain is created, for those don't know, when the alien symbiote which initially crashed to Earth in a meteorite, coincidentally landing near Peter Parker and fusing with him, creating a powerful Spiderman and a more cocky, ruthless Peter Parker. Eventually, our hero rids himself of the symbiote and it joins with Eddie Brock (Grace) who is supposed to be this big jock guy, but is portrayed as a panzee-Grace, completely ruining the villain. Venom is now a soft-spoken panzee, not the grotesque monstrosity he is meant to be. Venom looked cool, don't get me wrong, and I wanted to see more of him, but Grace seemed to really ruin the character for me, or at least how I always envisioned him.

I really dont want to spoil too much here in this review, as I do recommend you see this one in the cinema. It is a great view despite all these complaints I am making about it. I guess my major critiques really come down to my dissappointment over Venom, the slightly overdone love scenes and the lack of plot. The film really tries to overreach itself with the three villains. I really think Venom would've needed his own film, for one to really do justice to the character...

Peter Parker, once ensnared by the symbionte, becomes cocky, yet pathetic looking. Tobey Maguire, though, for the most part, does a great job as Parker/Spider-Man. Rosemary Harris once more exceeds at portraying the loving and supportive Aunt May. The fx, music and sound were all wonderful as always as well as the comical scenes, including the always wonderful Simmons as Jay Jonah Jameson, probably the most accurately portrayed character in the Spider-Man series.

Finally, I wish to comment on the plot and final scenes. If you haven't seen the film yet I suggest you quickly scroll down a bit, click on Very Helpful for my review and read the rest later, if you can. Ok, then for the rest of you...the plot was bland compared to the first two. As stated earlier the villains had a disproportionate amount fo screen-time, but the motivation is not as great as the other films. The villains' only purpose is to kill Spider-Man, nothing more, not harm New York or human kind, but just to kill Spider-Man, so if Spidey never existed, there wouldn't be a problem. How do they get at Spidey at the end? Capture Mary Jane...again. That poor girl must need so much therapy after this. As usual, the damsel in distress serves as this film's climax. We, the audience, get tired of this...is each movie gonna end with MJ getting kidnapped? It's like with Super-Man, how every f***ing time the villain simply manages to have some kryptonite on him...which is the main reason I dont care for Superman...the end fight is fairly awesome, though, dont get me wrong. The venom fights are creepy and hence well-done. Sadman himself turns into this gigantic Sand Monster, more on par with King Kong than with Spider-Man. Although this Sand-Man/Monster looked awesome, it felt really, really out of place for this film.

So, overall, I enjoyed the film, which is why I give it four stars, although a low four stars, think of it as a 4-. I love Spider-Man and loved much of the action, the character depth and acting, was thorougly entertained. yet must ring a tone for caution. The fourth Spider-Man film (and I truly hope there is one) may slide further into a pit of suckiness if the legacy continues on this track...