Spider-Man 3

Year: 2007
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard, Topher Grace, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons

Summer is here! Well, for the westerners anyway. The movie blockbuster onslaught begins with Spider-Man 3, the long awaited third instalment of the successful franchise featuring the heroic wallcrawler. Tobey Maguire returns once again to play the troubled Peter Parker, as he balances his life with Mary Jane and his life as the arachnid hero.

In the previous films, he faced an uphill task doing just that, but this time it seems he has it all under control. Mary Jane loves him, the city loves Spider-Man, so everything is perfect. But comicbook heroes don't have happy endings half the time, so trouble comes to him, in spades. Harry Osborn, Peter's former best friend who blames him for his father's death, assumes his late father's guise as the new Green Goblin and tries to kill him. A rival photographer, Eddie Brock, competes with Peter for a permanent job at the Daily Bugle. Then Peter learns of a man named Flint Marko who apparently is the actual killer of his beloved Uncle Ben. Marko, in an attempt to run from the police, falls into a radioactive plant that results in him gaining the ability to turn his every molecule into sand. And there's a black alien symbiote that attaches itself to Peter's costume, and turns him into an arrogant, selfish jerk. And on top of all this, a new girl enters his life: Gwen Stacy, which affects his relationship with MJ.

Was that too much for you to handle? No? Good, because I'm not done. Peter soon realises (after some really ridiculous sequences courtesy of Sam Raimi) that the black alien thingo is bad, and promptly removes the symbiote from himself, only for it to latch on to another person, someone who doesn't mind being evil....

First of all, let me tell you what I liked about it. The action of course, is top notch. You'll see Spidey battle all sorts of villains, from the flying kind to the morphing kind in tremendous fashion. Great special effects no doubt, every move, punch, kick and blow can be felt. I particularly liked the Sandman's CGI effects. Speaking of the Sandman, Church stands out as Flint Marko, who manages to inject enough drama into his character. Kudos to him and Raimi for humanising Sandman instead of making him a one-dimensional villain. I also liked the cameos by Bruce Campbell and Spidey creator Stan Lee. J.K. Simmons' portrayal of J Jonah Jameson is relegated to merely a comedic role, but it is effective.

OK, so what's wrong with it now? A lot, as in over the top. Raimi tried really hard to top his previous work on the Spidey franchise with this one, and it shows. But he could have really done away with a few things. At the top of my list is the silly dance sequence Peter does after merging with the symbiote. Imagine Maguire walking down the street, no, strutting and having the ladies look at him as if he's lost it. I think most of the audience had that look too. Oh, that's not all. Try imagining Maguire in a dance sequence with Howard at a nightclub. Argh. And I don't know about you, but I am so sick and tired of seeing Maguire having to do tearful emotional scenes in all the films. Enough is enough. I understand the need for drama, but please, let's not overdo it. It's bad enough to have Dunst do all this too. I do like Howard's performance as Gwen Stacy, but she doesn't get enough screen time. Pity, she is quite a charmer. Grace plays a mean villain as Brock and subsequently Venom, but the latter's arrival in the film is a little too late, which diminishes the impact eventually made. And there's also the unnatural singing voice the filmmakers chose to use for Dunst's stage performance in the film. They probably chose a 38 year old woman to sing it! Sigh.

It's a great movie, and for the wow factor it brings, I'm kind enough to give it a 4 star rating. But in all honesty, when all 3 Spidey films are available on DVD someday, you wouldn't pick this one to bring home. (4/5)