Spidey Is Back In Black, Third Installment Is For Fans Of The Films, Not The Comics.

Rating: 6/10 (4 May 2007)

In my review of X3, I faulted it for it's inconsistency with the comics. It would be unfair if I didn't do the same for Spiderman 3. Sam Raimi and co are back in this third installment of the mega box office franchise and have tweaked the comics a bit to create more of an emotional impact on the viewer. Unfortunately any emotional scene is ruined by the cheese factor that emits from the screen. When characters try to be heartfelt, bits of laughter came out of the theatre. Spidey is indeed back, this time in black. It will definitely please fans of the films, but comic lovers may end up disappointed when the credits begin to roll.
I had high hopes for this film, could the rumours of Venom being in it be true? Could my geek fanboy dreams be true? Then more and more people popped up and I thought, can they pull this off? Can they fit in Harry's revenge, The Sandman, Venom, Dark Spidey and Gwen Stacey all into one film that won't run over three hours? Raimi tried his best to give each segment enough screen time to resolve itself by the final scene, but it all proves too much for him to handle.
Let me get my fanboy nitpicks out of the way first. Venom is, in my honest opinion, ruined in this film. Raimi was hesitant in putting this villain into the film and it shows, he seems like a last ditch effort to get more people in the seats. Something they created in post-production to get more word of mouth circling. Was the Sandman not enough? Venom came and went quicker then Jon Lovitz career. Most of the time it's Eddie Brock's face rather then the creature Venom. This isn't what the fans wanted. Secondly, we all know that Flint Marko (Sandman) did not kill Ben Parker, here he did. Reason for this change? To make him seem more important then he actually is. They took a cool character, played well by Church, in the small screen time he does have, and made him boring, non threatening, and ultimately not as cool as previous villains, like Doc Ock. Any emotional impact that Raimi was aiming for is ruined by the shoddy acting and cheesy dialogue. Then Gwen Stacey, but let me stop there. Again, fanboy nitpicks.
Back to the film. There is way too much going on for anything to have significant screen time. The fight sequences with the Sandman never reach the level of excitement when Spidey was fighting Dock Ock and it's quick fighting scenes interwoven with the slow dialogue spoken by almost everyone makes for some awkward pacing. Spiderman and the Dark Costume is too much to be stuff into as a sub plot. They did a decent job of handling it, but it could have been so much more. None of the villains ever really seemed threatening. If Venom had more screen time he could have been more of a threat.
There is next to no chemistry with Dunst and Maguire this time around. This could have been done on purpose, but it really ruined the believability that these two are lovers. If it weren't for the first two films would we ever guess they were together? Franco's role here is an awkward one. Here is not menacing at all, and his scenes with him having no memory come off comedic and inappropriate. Also Maguire turns emo on the us when he's suppose to be 'bad' Seems like a lot of bad stuff went wrong in this film, but that's not really true. All in all I enjoyed this film. It was a good addition to the series. Better then the first film and only falling a hair short of the second. With more emphasis on the villains and what the substance from the meteorite was, this film could have easily been the best comic book film ever. So what was good about it your asking? Well, everything else.
Watch out for those cameos, Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell both make an appearance and both received applause from the audience. Campbell who's scene here is the funniest out of all three films is the comedic highlight. I always have a smile on my face when he graces the screen. Speaking of comedy, this film has a lot of it, some intentional some not. Parker pulls off a Saturday Night Fever moment half way through the film which is, I can only guess, a reminder of the "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" moment from the second.
Special Effects and action sequences are top notch. My favourite action scene is still the Doc Ock train fight, but it's obvious Raimi was trying to top himself here. Everything in this film is on a bigger scope. The action sequences stand out more then the fight sequences. Seeing Spiderman save Gwen from falling, through debris and what not, was a treat. Even if Spiderman decided to save her and not stop the machine (watch film and you'll understand). The fight scenes leading up to the final climatic battle are short, but good nonetheless. Plenty of aerial fights, with both characters falling to the ground while still battling it out. A surprise stand out fight sequence I have to give to Harry VS Spiderman. It was the most ambitious of them all.
Is Spiderman 3 a disappointment? Yes and No. I expected a lot more out of it and only got half of it. The half I got was was very pleased with. The film had so much in it, but not enough time for any of it. Raimi's eyes were bigger then his stomach. He wanted bigger and better, all he got was bigger. I can recommend the film as it was entertaining and did it's job on delivering action, but there is that little voice in the back of my head that wanted more.