'Spider-Man 3': Starting the Summer Movie Season Off With a Bang

This time around your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) is finally getting the recognition he deserves as the city cheers for him non-stop.  Just as everything appears to be going well his world starts to crumble.  Not only does he have to find a way to save his struggling relationship with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), but he also must deal with an even greater battle within himself when his suit mysteriously turns black and brings out his dark side.  Factor in two new foes are rampaging through the city with killing him on their to do list and it's easy to see being Spider-Man is once again not so easy.

Girlfriend troubles, inner demons bothering you day and night, plus new enemies watching your every movie; sounds like a lot right?  Well it is, and that seems to be the biggest issue most critics seem to have with this film.  It's overstuffed they say.  Well, there is a lot of plot present, but I think the real problem they have is that they feel a comic book film should not have much to tell story wise.  It's preferred that it be simple, well acted, have nice special effects, & contain just the right number of explosions that occur at just the right time.  The fact this film offers a thick, tangled story-line is a plus in my opinion, and not something that lowers its quality.

In reality the problems that are in the film aren't all that huge of a problem.  Thomas Haden Church doesn't really end up coming across as the big softy he's supposed to be seen as.  This is mainly because of his crazed-looking tooth-baring lines.  Another problem is with the other featured villain, Venom.  As I predicted he didn't play as big a part as everyone hoped.  This was a huge disappointment and I'm still shaking my head at it in disbelief.  I guess it's true that you can't have it all.  Which is an issue Peter Parker is often confronted with, so I suppose it's fitting.  Enough about the few bad things, let me get into what made the film great.

First of all the graphics here were for the most part fantastic.  The symbiote, played by a fierce black alien goo, looked great; especially in the final fight with Spider-Man.  In addition, the formations of Sandman (Marko Flint) were just as excellent. .  Definitely a big thumbs up to Sony Pictures Imageworks for a job well done.  Acting wise I think the best played character was Topher Grace as Eddie Brock a.k.a. Venom.  For a guy that has only played good guys up until this point his was dead on with his take on the menacing rival of Peter Parker.  One of the biggest highlights (for me at least) was Bruce Campbell playing the comical Maitre d'.  So far he has appeared in each of the Spider-Man films, each time in a small role. Lastly, the action sequences displayed truly blew me away.  I didn't expect them to be anywhere near the level they reached.  It never felt like they were planned as they seemed very spontaneous.

As the credits began to roll I felt extremely satisfied with what I had just seen.  As far as I'm concerned, the first two Spider-Man films weren't all that and a bag of chips.  Yeah, they were good; but they just didn't do it for me even despite '2' being considered the best comic sequel ever made.  So now I find myself a little shocked that this one did in fact do it for me.  It was highly entertaining and is the first in the series to become one of my favorite films.  I can now only hope that the cast will all return for the next one that is already being planned.  It just won't be the same without them.

 
OVERALL RATING: 

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, & James Franco Directed by: Sam Raimi Written by: Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi, & Alvin Sargent Produced by: Kevin Feige, Stan Lee, & Joseph M. Carracciolo Jr. Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.

(click the play button to watch the trailer)