After peaking with Spiderman 2, it all comes crashing down...

Rating: 2/10 (19 April 2007)

*Although it says spoilers I don't refer to any specific plot points, mostly just inane out of context scenes...*
Saw this last night at a preview screening in London... I have to say that I thought it was terrible. I loved the first 2 movies but this one seems completely different in tone. As though Sam Raimi wanted nothing more to do with it and is trying to kill the franchise!
The story is very run of the mill, and overcrowded with characters. Gwen Stacy is introduced and completely underused. As Peter says "She's just a girl in my class". Pointless. Sandman is just a re-hash of Doc Ock, the villain with a heart. Venom is simply an evil version of Spidey; with claws, jaws and black webbing. ( Why does Eddie Brock have pointy teeth when you see him under the outfit - where did they come from..?) Green Goblin 2(?) is quite a good idea but never fully realised and only seems to be included so that the kids have an Xtreme hover board dude to cheer for. And the symbiote (the alien material that turns Spidey's suit black and eventually creates Venom) is never explained. Where did it come from? Why did it land on Earth? (I know it fell from the sky, but what the hell..? Is that it?)
There are so many plot holes and pointless scenes it boggles the mind! To show that Peter is a 'changed man' he wears his floppy fringe over his face and appears to be wearing eye liner... And instead of just asking for, he 'demands' cookies and milk from his neighbour - what a mean and moody character he's turning into, eh? Then we are treated to a 5 minute montage of him walking down the street winking and pointing his finger pistols at girls he meets, before getting a new suit and doing a Saturday Night Fever impression!
Later, Mary Jane and Harry Osbourne dance the twist while cooking an omlette..?! (What was the point of that scene exactly?!) But then this is all topped off with Peter actually having a dance routine in a jazz club - using his spider powers... after playing the piano, of course (It reminded me of the jazz flute scene in Anchor Man). There are so many more embarrassing scenes... And while being relatively amusing they sit really uneasily within the film as a whole and especially when compared to the tone and feel of the last 2 movies.
If they had trimmed all these irrelevant scenes and made it a sharp 90 minutes it would still be the worst entry in the trilogy but at least it would have some credibility. This is the 'Batman Forever' of the Spiderman franchise, but without Joel Schumacher... I can't believe Sam Raimi was actually involved in this.
I'm giving it 1 star for the special effects, as some of the scenes with sandman are spectacular, especially when he is initially 'transformed'. And another star for once again using 'the Chin', Bruce Campbell! But 5 minutes of great effects and 5 minutes of Bruce Campbell in a 2 and a half hour runtime do not make a good movie.
Most disappointing film I've seen in a long time...