Maybe the most debated, but probably the most fun of the three Spidey movies.

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2007)

Hmm, I wonder what everybody expected. I can't remember many times when there were so many expectations about what a movie should contain, with the movie judged on that. I try to think about objective ways to judge Spidey 3.
In general, should a comic book movie be fun? Should it have action and effects? Should it have interesting characters? Should it be Shakespeare? My conclusion is that this movie was fun, had great action, and had interesting characters. Did it have flaws? Sure.
It could have been tightened up a little, with some judicious editing.
Uh...I can't think of much else that was a real problem, and is not just personal expectation.
A villain not getting enough screen time. A problem to some. To me, it worked fine, with a reasonable potential for his return in a future film.
Too many villains. A problem to some. To me, I thought it added to the fun. Who would Spider-man have to fight next? I liked the team ups.
Silly situations. Well, this is about a comic book hero. To me, it blended humor with drama. It actually had more adult drama, with career disappointments, jealousy, and egotism included. Freud would have loved it.
A few too many plot elements. Maybe. I could accept them, even if I really didn't need all of them. A few of them were a stretch, but then real life can be even stranger.
Too little character development. To me, this was a non-issue. I didn't need to know all the nuances of each villain. I already know Harry, plus I thought Peter and Mary Jane actually had more depth in their development than in either of the first two movies.
Acting. Well I thought Toby thankfully had more to do than just act like a nerdy, shy kid. Kirsten looked strained, but that worked with a person encountering career, self-esteem, and jealousy issues. I think most of the characters worked well with their parts. Were they developed well? I did not need them all developed in-depth. I thought, for instance, that Gwen and Miss Brant were just fine in their parts, with the potential to provide more competition for Mary Jane in the future.
Here again, I have heard comments that the movie was stupid. That's astounding considering the number of truly stupid movies I have encountered. I am usually the worst critic. I went in reading reviews and thinking this would be a disappointment. I liked the movie because it doesn't take itself too seriously. It was able take chances and blend humor, drama, and action. I can accept the few minor flaws. I will say that I hope the next Spider-man goes a few different directions with the characters and situations.
What else can I say? It blended wonderful, enjoyable silliness, adult issues, and rousing action and effects. It probably lacked the freshness of the original and the technical qualities of the second. For me, it will be remembered as what a good comic book movie should be: Great fun, with surprising depth.