Spider-Man 3

May 4, 2007

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 140 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Your friendly neighborhood Spiderman is back for another round in Spider-Man 3. He gets a new suit, a couple of new foes and the return of an old one. And he’s also trying to juggle school and a high maintenance girlfriend all at the same time. The man’s got a lot going on! And we were a bit worried about how returning director Sam Raimi would squeeze it all into one movie.

Spider-Man 3 When we rejoin the story, we actually find Spidey, still played by Tobey Maquire, doing quite well. The city loves him because crime is down. He’s getting straight A’s at school and has a smoking hot lab partner. Kirsten Dunst is back as Mary Jane, his girlfriend. She has a leading role on Broadway and good old Peter even makes time to sit in the front row and cheer her on.

Now as any guy knows, when things are going that well, all it takes is a girlfriend who wont tell you what’s really wrong to screw it all up. Although it doesn’t happen in the dialogue there are points in the scenes with MJ and Peter where I know every guy is hearing in the back of his head “what’s wrong dear?” followed by “Oh, nothing.”. Next thing you know, web is the only thing Spidey is getting to sling and he’s in a really bad mood with a new dark suit.

Fortunately, he has lots of foes to take out the frustration on. Green Goblin is back, or I guess actually we should call him Gobby Jr, looking to avenge his fathers’ death. Thomas Haden Church joins the fight as Sandman. Sandman, who incidently does not slam beers and smoke cigarettes, is a man of few words, but this character introduces some really impressive visual effects on screen as he morphs between sand shapes and that of a human. Peter also has a rival, his name is Eddie Brock, though he should’ve been called Eddie Haskel. Topher Grace does a great job of playing a truly annoying new photographer competing for Peter’s job at the Daily Bugle. And last but not least, we have the mysterious Venom, who is kind of the anti-Spider-Man with exaggerated versions of the same powers but with a really nasty disposition.

Whew! Told you he had a lot going on! So how did Raimi do in crafting it all together? The answer is pretty darned good! The story felt neither too long nor rushed, which was a bit surprising. The performances of the live actors were good, these guys know the characters now and seem comfortable. But the real outstanding performance is in the effects department. We again get to see Spiderman do things on screen that we’ve previously only seen in our imaginations based on inspiration from panels within a comic book.

The action and visuals alone make this a must-see. So what’s not to like? That’s easy, from our point of view there’s too much mush. Makes for a good business decision because adding a little story about the relationship between Peter and MJ makes the Spider-Man franchise very chick friendly, and that’s one of the things that helps it do such huge box office numbers. It’s a movie that everyone wants to see, guys, gals, kids and parents as it has something for everyone. The action makes us tolerate the mush, so we still give it a good strong 4 stars.

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Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, DVD, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, PG-13, SciFi, Tobey Maguire, thomas haden church, topher grace