The movie I was looking forward to most this year comes as a bit of a disappointment, but still entertaining.

Rating: 9/10 (4 May 2007)

Spider-Man 3 was the movie I was looking forward to most out of 2007. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed by Raimi's third venture into the world of Spider-Man.
The movie starts out just as thrilling as the previous, with all the action, drama, and even laughs that the first two had. But then about halfway into the movie I found myself repeatedly thinking "Come on, this is ridiculous." But it's not the fact that Spider-Man is being attacked by a man made of sand or because a black goo is following him around and has attached itself to him. I actually found those charmingly interesting, though unrealistic they certainly didn't take away from the fun and thrills of the movie. What caused the movie to seem so silly to me was the dialog. There were just too many instances to name in which the dialog ruined a perfectly good scene for me, and too many times where the theater began to laugh at a cheesy line in the middle of an emotional scene. And the infamous "emo Pete" segment in which Peter had darker hair that was combed over his eyes as he danced down the street was far too silly.
That being said, the rest of the movie was excellent, as long as you can handle a few corny lines sprinkled throughout. The action sequences are all I expected from them and more. The New Goblin was a great character and was much more a formidable opponent than one would expect. And as you may have heard time and time again Sandman and Venom look excellent. My favorite scene in the movie was the legendary bell tower scene which was truly epic. Bruce Campbell's role as the Maitre D' of the French restaurant managed to be hilarious, without being over the top.
I've been anticipating Spider-Man 3 for a long time and having tickets to the midnight showing to it was like a dream to me. That being said, the movie didn't live up to the expectations I had for it, which may be because I over-hyped it. Spider-Man 3 has everything the first two have but far too many attempts at comic relief which will make the true Spider-Man fan cringe at some points. Either way, you should enjoy this movie, even if the dialog is corny.