3 villains, no waiting

Rating: 9/10 (16 July 2007)

We knew going in that there were too many heavies in this movie.
So it would likely flounder with set-up after set-up and reduce the screen time of the hero, as was the case in the nineties Batman movies.
But instead I think this film weaves those stories and keeps them trim, perhaps even surpassing the way the X-man movies have balanced many diverse characters.
The complaints I've seen about amnesia being a plot point for Harry being soap-opera level. . .may be true but it is in this context more suspenseful and more playful. Many great epic movies on this scale get away with cute or cliché elements which would fall flat in a simple talking heads bedroom and boardroom filler program. Here what is at stake has huge implications and the struggles of Peter Parker are very amusing and unique to this premise.
In a perfect world, yes, I would remove Sandman mainly because his character is ambiguous and his resolution offers no clean closure. The Venom story has a more satisfying resolution. But what Sandman offers is thematic texture. Is it a cop-out that Sandy wasn't really responsible? Is the real theme, "Don't kill out of revenge because you might have the wrong man?" Or is there a built in comic book code that forbids a pro-revenge theme?
Ultimately, no matter how I try to shuffle the tiles playing the "Monday Morning Quarterback" as many fans do, I see how Alvin Sargeant and the Raimi team had their hands full trying to incorporate Venom according to the wishes of Sony. That said, I never felt gee they are spending too much time on this or that the way I did watching Batman and Robin. They kept the scenes quick, and frankly I think this third film is every bit as good as the previous two.