Lacklustre addition to the series is one sequel too many

Rating: 5/10 (29 December 2016)

Sam Raimi's third entry in his now-flagging series is a big bloated mess of a film that still looks and feels good but tries too hard for its own good. I mean, did we really need no less than three bad guys in this flick, as well as an out-of-control crane? The resulting concoction focuses too hard on the story, and with unbelievable character arcs and an overwhelming amount of unnecessary supporting characters (I mean, did we really need the pointless Gwen played by Bryce Dallas Howard in this film?) the film feels really s-l-o-w. It's a shame, because the special effects are absolutely brilliant and there are some genuinely good moments, including the climax that packs an emotional punch. But essential this is an uneven roller-coaster ride of a movie, sometimes great, sometimes rubbish, worth watching once.
Tobey Maguire is surprisingly one of the worst things about this film, along with the always unwatchable Kirsten Dunst. Maguire's character is by now an irritating big head and, although he still makes us laugh, there's no sympathy for Spidey whatsoever. Far better are the film's villains, excluding Topher Grace who seems to think he's in a teen comedy. Thomas Haden Church brings menace and surprisingly charisma to the series as Sandman, and, in revealing his human side, he's by far the most interesting villain of the three films. James Franco is frankly scene-stealing in this film; his acting surpasses Maguire's every time and he's also much more of a real hero than the (by now) bland and unremarkable Spiderman.
As for everyone else – I'm talking a shoehorned James Cromwell, an unfortunately ubiquitous Rosemary Harris, a Dylan Baker who really doesn't need to be here – well, they ain't much cop. I did enjoy the comic shtick from Raimi's crew of old-timers; brother Ted gets a nice scene to himself, J. K. Simmons is funnier than ever, and Bruce Campbell has another hilarious cameo but the comedy is hit-and-miss elsewhere, such as Maguire's transformation into an 'evil' guy; the whole song and dance routine is good but seems too much in retrospect.
As for the action, sadly it's nothing we haven't seen before, all high-rise antics in webs, the falling person routine played out half a dozen times even though it was tired in the first flick. The Green Goblin's return is too cartoonish to be very good although I did like all the knocks and stunts, even if they were done with CGI. Best effects go to Venom in its sticky, slimy, Blob-like form, very creepy, and also the Sandman, who's a bit like the T-1000 from TERMINATOR 2 mixed with the Marshmallow Man from GHOSTBUSTERS come the film's climax. While I did gain some enjoyment from this movie, I sincerely hope another sequel doesn't follow and that the talented crew find new, fresher projects.