warning: spoilers included - i want my money back

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 2004)

I would like Ebert's head on a stick with a refund in his mouth after having seen this lousy excuse for a movie. Ebert claims it's the "best superhero movie he's ever seen"
Now, I know I can't blame him for the insanely loud volume at which the movie was played, but he sent me in there with the expectation that this movie would be hands-down the best the industry had to offer this year - and boy was I disappointed.
Also, as much as I love Millar and Gough writing comic book movies, they've become overly formulaic and seriously threaten the downfall of this franchise. If Marvel has some intelligence they'll either change the writers or impose more sanctions that the movies follow the comic books more closely - I'm sorry, but Mary Jane does not ditch her wedding day to be w/ Petey; plus Peter has way more brains in the books then to take off his mask every five minutes while he's still wearing the costume.
The movie plays too much like a comic book, with an endless amount of scenes that Raimi tries to disguise with visual fades and aural transitions; plus, the writing is just way too sappy, and at times becomes a series of monologues; the movie is loaded w/ recalls to other comic books, comic book movies, movies in general and previous scenes in the franchise, but this movie is sadly just a spectacle of how to kill a great franchise.
The only saving grace, and this comes w/ a caveat, is the scene setting up Spiderman 3, which SHOULD be a showdown between Pete and his best friend in quite possibly one of the book's greatest rivalries; however, the one caveat I submit is that if MJ is not killed off in this next flick, then the big-wigs have seriously overlooked the value of their franchise.