Your Un- Friendly Neighborhood Entity

Rating: 8/10 (13 May 2007)

The many strengths of this film are the story telling & pacing. The opening credits go back to the old fashioned listing the cast but listing them in an action scenario sequencing that make the list seem like an action film in itself. This film knows very well how to develop characters and story line. It slows down when it needs to and speeds up nicely for the action sequences. When it employs flash back sequences, they are short & effective in fitting in with the current story.
Thomas Hayden Church is by far the nicest surprise in the film. His acting in a dramatic role is by far the best performance. He has come a long way since WINGS. He proves he can do dramatic roles as well as comedy.
This film is well over 2 hours but with it's pacing and great special effects it seems shorter. The ending leaves the next film open for a lot of stuff as Sandman is not destroyed & Spiderman & his girlfriend (Dunst) are still not engaged to be married yet. If the films continue to have such strong story telling, this could become a long successful series. This film is much more than special effects.
The weakest point of this film is why & how the dark entity sought out Peter Parker first. Nothing is explained besides us seeing the meteor hit & then the thing come after him right away when he is leaving the scene with Dunst on his scooter. It does hop on his license plate when he is leaving but the scene is so dark it is hard to see that.