Hollywood Tries to Get Serious with Spiderman ... and Fails

Rating: 4/10 (16 May 2007)

Spiderman 3 did not fail as a movie because of the multiple story lines/villains, as many people have suggested. Spiderman 3 failed because it was too easy and emotional. As a result of this, the comic story lines were ruined and the true nature of Spiderman got lost.
I was excited to hear that Raimi (& crew) were going the traditional Spiderman route of multiple villains. At any given point in the comics, Spiderman was battling two or three villains - slinging around, shooting insults, and kicking some butt. Film (like many things) has developed beyond the point of a singular storyline. Hollywood is just getting a hold of this, which seems to be working both for and against them.
The idea of having multiple stories in one script is to have different people with a personal story combine to reveal a larger story. Spiderman 3 worked with three different villains, yes, but their stories were lost in Parker's overemotional and unrealistic attitude. Parker complained his way through most of the film. When he finally showed up for battle, everything solved itself.
Typically, good comic book films find a balance between the original storyline and a story that modern moviegoers will appreciate. This film has neither, because it failed in both respects: the emotional attachment was overdone and the original stories were basically ignored.