Very good, worth the wait...

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2007)

I have just come back from a preview of this film and can inform everyone that it is rather good. OK I'm going to mention the plot as little as possible for fear of any spoilers but I will presume that people have seen the trailer.
This is a bold third instalment by Raimi in so much that it really does not rely on any key action scenes or set pieces to maintain interest. Indeed like the first two the film is very much character driven, but importantly a much darker and essentially more fun side of Spidey is seen here, which reminded me of aspects of Superman 3.
All three of the bad guys are excellent particularly Thomas Hayden Church as the Sandman. Compared to the previous films the baddies occupy much less screen time particularly Venom, which I imagine people will miss, indeed Peter Parkers psyche is much more under scrutiny than before.
Stan Lee has a nice little cameo, and Bruce Campbell has a scene stealing turn as an hilarious Maitre D, which unfortunately ends too soon. The CGI barring a couple of odd moments is generally excellent and like every Hollywood film these days at least 15 minutes could be cut off this. Slight catty comment here, but Kirsten Dunst really was not looking particularly good in the second half of this film, presumably this was deliberate maybe to subvert the expectations of the babe girlfriend, which in itself was a nice change.
It would be nice for the series to go out on a high, but I see Spiderman 4 has already been announced, but to be honest I'm not really sure where else the series can go and keep its high standard.