Disappointed. Too many chefs spoil the soup.

Rating: 6/10 (5 May 2007)

First the disclaimer. I have been a loyal Spiderman fan through the 80s and 90s when I was growing up, and have been fervently awaiting the third installment for over two years. Some of my favorite movies are the Evil Dead trilogy and Darkman, so I also have nothing but respect for Raimi. So what I say in this review comes with a heavy heart.
There are two types of people who will see this movie, people who know the story (me), and people who don't (my wife). Both will be disappointed. Now, the movie is not really that bad, but in comparison to Raimi's the first two outings with the Spiderman franchise, this movie reeks of other franchises past failures at a third installment (for those that don't know, see Superman 3 and TMNT 3 for perfect examples.)
At first glance, it's tough to see why this movie doesn't work. The special effects were incredible, the direction was top-notch, even the acting was pretty darn good, for a comic book film. But the story suffered from too many characters. The main focus in on Peter's internal struggle with a creature from space which essentially turns him evil. Great idea for a story, it's easily the biggest of Spiderman's comic book arc, besides the Green Goblin/Gwen Stacy story, and it's chock full of emotion. But the characters who play into it have no characterization, the audience gets no feeling from them.
First, the goo. I know all the stories of it, both comics and cartoons, however, there is nothing in the movie to explain it, so non-comic book fans have no idea what or where this stuff comes from, or what it does to Peter. James Franco's character, Harry, does enough 180s to make even a figure skater nauseous (or maybe that was his acting), while Thomas Hayden Church, who plays Sandman, arguably the best actor in the film, has almost zero characterization and plot, despite having the most special effects. Due to this, all the extremely pivotal plot line events and scenes in the film feel weak, unemotional for the audience, and down-right cheesy (even if you leave out the 15 minute long homage to Saturday Night Fever). The other character, Eddie Brock/Venom, played by Topher Grace, feels like such a farce. His motivation for hating Peter Parker is a stretch of the imagination so big that it's glaringly obvious, even in a movie with unexplained black alien goo.
This movie left so much of the story unexplained it is highly confusing, unless you know the story going into it. So, sadly to say, this movie was created with solely fans in mind, and even they, due to how poorly characters are handled, walk away feeling disillusioned and disappointed. This movie has everything, except feelings.