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Spiderman 3

Your favorite web-slinger swings back into action for a threequel that's kind of like kissing your sister . . . it's fun at first, but ultimately it leaves you less than satisfied.
Starring: Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace
Rating: 7/10
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Runtime: 140 minutes

I'll be honest, I was more pumped about Spiderman 3 than I had any right to be. I've always liked Spidey more than most other super heroes, but I was never a huge comic book geek. The first two movies were fun, but nothing you'd want to watch more than once. But this movie had something the other ones didn't have . . . Venom! And that gave me all the reason I needed to be excited. Venom had the potential to bring some life, some danger, and some fun to the franchise that hadn't been there yet.

Unfortunately, that's all it was. Potential. Wasted potential.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie. It was fun, it was everything a summer blockbuster should be. I just hoped for more. I wanted something iconic. Something you'd want to come back to time and time again.

Maybe it isn't fair to judge a film based on what you wanted it to be. Maybe it isn't fair to judge it based on what it should have been. And maybe if a frog had wings it wouldn't bump it's ass when it hopped. This movie should have been better. This movie could have been better.

There were some good things about the movie. Venom was well done, and that's a pretty good trick. Pulling off a villain like Venom is a great achievement, and the CGI wizards should be commended. Bruce Campbell makes yet another cameo, and this is by far has best. And Toby Maguire deserves to win the Oscar for "Best performance of a geek channeling Tony Manero". James Franco gives us yet another study in ultimate brooding. And personally, if I was Spidey, I might have dumped Mary Jane and chased after my landlord's daughter Ursela (played by the lovely Mageina Tovah).


But at the end of the movie, it's clear that there were simply too many plots going on, and that meant that none of them were really played out in a way that was at all satisfying. Lots of setup, little payoff. Venom rocked, but why wait until 110 minutes into a 140 minute movie to have him show up? The Sandman storyline could have been, should have been, left out and saved for another movie . . . I get the feeling he was put in solely to give Spidey more than he could handle, setting up ... I'm not telling you, because it's a major spoiler, but if you've seen it you know what I mean.

Sam Raimi, I still love you, but it seems like you forgot the lesson you learned with the Evil Dead films . . . "less is more".
So, should you see Spiderman 3. Hell yes! After all, it was just a comic book, and this is just a summer movie. Enjoy it for what it is.