Despite my unbridled enthusiasm for the genre, the film Spider-Man 3 turned out to be a complex subject for this reviewer. On the one hand I loved it.  The two previous Spidey flicks are top notch.  Both arguably lead the pack of superhero movies by setting an example for quality and tone that few other franchises live up too, and the third installment is no exception.  On the other hand though, I found myself a bit disappointed in the handling of a few of the films key aspects. Aspects that, if handled a bit differently, could have turned this good movie into a truly great movie.  Don’t get me wrong, I still highly recommend seeing Spider-Man 3, especially if you are a fan of the web-slinger.  Just be prepared for a few moments of disappointment if you are one of us, true believer. 

First of all, we all know the symbiotic villain Venom appears this time in the form of an alien personified by the discarded black costume of our hero.  However, don’t expect the big burly Eddie Brock you know from the comics.  Instead he’s played by That 70’s Show alum Topher Grace (aka Eric Foreman).  To his credit Grace is able to do a great job with what was written for him. But

while he does manage to put some ‘crazy’ into the role it was still hard to buy him as a villain.  He looks too baby faced and innocent and not the least bit intimidating.  It certainly would have brought Venom to the next level of bad-ass to have Eddie Brock played by someone who has more of a dangerous demeanor and is a bit less clean cut. 

Once the black-suit sybiote is discarded by Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and bonds with Grace’s Brock, the effects that create him are plenty cool.  But again we find ourselves lacking something in his performance by entirely missing that feral, animal madness. Where was the protruding jaw, the trademark slobbering tongue? In the comic Venom has always dwarfed Spider-Man, where the movie version probably only stood  about six inches over our hero.  It

certainly would have added to his presence if he had been that huge beast on screen.  Am I being picky?  Yes. But with the bar being set so high from the previous films’ villains it’s difficult not to be.

Spider-Man 3’s second villain, the Sandman, does thankfully reach that bar.  Thomas Hayden Church (Sideways) brings him to life and manages to express the sadness of the character.  He also ends up conveying one of the films moral messages. Spider-Man is a hero simply because his environment and situation gave him no choice.  The Sandman, in his own criminal way, comes to be a villain for the same reasons, not because he is inherently a bad person.  Hero and villain are both forced to do things out of circumstance, and one of the films final and more poignant scenes shows them mutually acknowledge this fact.  To add to the emotional weight the filmmakers chose to tie our hero and Church’s character together through the death of Parker’s Uncle Ben (which it turns out, is the Sandman’s fault).  Although a different take on the murder then the comics, it ends up being a descent element for the story. And emotional junk aside, the real reason we want to see these two together on screen

is the fights, which are entirely awesome.  Special effects are put to fantastic use for Sandman’s granular, ever changing shape and both he and Spidey take a pounding from each other that is oh-so enjoyable to watch. 

In fact true to Sam Raimi’s directorial style every single one of the fight scenes is handled masterfully.  Another fine example is when Spider-Man tangles with the New Goblin, former best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), who is out for blood again.  Their first encounter is a great chase scene and fist fight that leaves you thirsty for more action.  The two friends also have a brutal brawl in Osborn’s apartment which will probably go down as the most vicious fight in the trilogy that ends up leaving Harry permanently disfigured.  The brawls continue with the various encounters between the web-slinger and the villains until the until the epic final battle, which involves Spidey, Venom, Sandman, and the  New

Goblin.  I can assure you, there haven’t been too many superhero movies that can out-do how cool this rumble is.  Even if the entire film had sucked, the half dozen or so fight scenes would have made it worth watching.

Luckily it doesn’t all suck, but I do have one final issue that encompasses a few weak points.  Frankly, the writing seems… well, sloppy.  Director Sam Raimi and his brother Ivan are primarily responsible for the screenplay, and while their trademark sense of humor is intact some of it just doesn’t work.  Or more to point: is just lame.  For example, the symbiote is said to enhance the innate characteristics of the person it is bonded to.  We see this, once it’s bonded to Peter Parker, as a cheesy scene in which our hero walks down the street winking and doing the exaggerated finger point/mouth click at a bunch of random women.  This is also the only superhero movie this reviewer can think of that includes a dance number (as apparently Peter Parker is innately a jazz man).  I mean... come on Raimi brothers!  You’re not making a movie for Disney here. 

Even some of the dialogue sounds so perfectly contrived to force plot points that you may find yourself occasionally gritting your teeth so as not to hurl insults at the screen. Forcing plot points would seem to be an unfortunate symptom of needing about thirty

more minutes of screen time to properly flesh this one out.  As it is the film comes in at almost two and a half hours, but that missing extra thirty minutes would have given them time to show us a bit more of the multiple storylines being weaved and also maybe tone back some of the cheese.  Maybe.  Perhaps we’ll get this in the form of a Director’s Cut edition when the movie comes to DVD. 

In the meantime, do not let these critiques dissuade you from seeing Spider-Man 3.  You can still count on seeing a great movie when you lay down your eight bucks for admission, of that there is no doubt.  Bruce Campbell (Ash from Army of Darkness, the ring announcer from the first Spider-Man, and the theater doorman from the   second  film) even cameos again as a snotty maitre d’ of the

same actor, even all the homes and rooms of Harry Osborne and Peter Parker are the exact same sets.

All these familiar faces and places help us to feel at home in Spidey’s New York City.  It’s as if the Raimi brothers are inviting us back to their version of the Spider-Man tale, and though I really enjoy coming back, it is disappointing to find the formerly flawless incarnation has a few cracks.  Cracks or not, our hats are still off to Spider-Man 3 even if it only qualifies as a ‘good’ movie.  Let’s hope they pull off a ‘great’ one when they inevitably do number four. 

-Max out.