Could've been great, but doesn't quite make it.

Rating: 7/10 (4 May 2007)

Spider-Man 3 seems to follow the same basic blueprint of Spider-Man 2. Peter and MJ start to have relationship troubles, he begins to consider what Spider-Man means to him and how it's changed his life, all while a new villain is created and hatches a plot to get spidey.
But where it was done so wonderfully in Spider-Man 2, it suffers in this film. This is due mainly to two things. Firstly, we've already seen it before so it doesn't feel fresh as it did in #2. Secondly, Spider-Man 2 had only one villain so the story focused completely on Doc Ock and as a result he became a very multidimensional and compelling character. In this installment, the villain duties are shared between Venom and Sandman, and neither character is developed anywhere near the level Doc Ock was. Venom in particular is presented almost as an afterthought, though Topher Grace does do a good job as Eddie Brock.
There's a sequence in the film where Peter, possessed by the symbiote (the thing that gives him his black suit) starts doing some crazy things behaviour-wise. Although it's meant to be serious, they seem to go way over the top with it and it comes off seeming like little more than comedy relief. This particular sequence doesn't really seem to fit in the film very well.
The Harry Osborn story gets mixed up here too as he takes not one, not two, but THREE character turns in the course of the movie and the subplot involving him seems underdeveloped and rushed.
On the plus side, the special and visual effects are spectacular, save for one particularly cheesy scene where Spidey just happens to jump right in front of an American flag. The main actors do a passable job, Kirsten Dunst likely gives the strongest performance as MJ, also Rosemary Harris delivers another sweet yet strong performance as Aunt Mae.
The other bright spots acting wise were J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson and the incomparable Bruce Campbell as an extremely funny french maitre'd in one particularly memorable scene.
In conclusion, the film is a bit of a letdown, but the disappointment is compounded by the fact that all the pieces were here for a great story, but it just didn't pull together like it could've. Definitely worth the price of admission though, even an average Spiderman movie is a pretty darned good superhero flick.