'Spidey' spins darker web

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2007)

Spider-Man 3/2007/***
Main Stars: Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Tobey Maguire Mary Jane Watson: Kirsten Dunst New Goblin/Harry Osborn: James Franco Sandman/Flint Marko: Thomas Haden Church Venom/Eddie Brock: Topher Grace
Tobey Maguire returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, a breathtaking action thriller. Although not as good as its predecessor, Spider-Man 2, Sam Raimi still gives us another entertaining blockbuster everyone will be talking about for a while. When I walked into the AMC 24 Theater at Veterans in Tampa, Florida, I saw, to my surprise that the theater was not as crowded as I thought it would be. Sure enough, however, when I walked out of the theater after seeing the exhausting film, the entire hallway was packed. The next showing was at 10:00 P.M. The ropes were up and people were waiting in line. I was glad I saw it earlier. Oh, where do I begin? The movie has about a thousand sub-plots (at least), and I actually thought the extra sub-plots made the movie more fun and showed creativity on the screenwriters' part: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi (his older brother) and Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent. Sam Raimi, who's also the director, gives us a visually impressive film. Some parts would leave you hanging but would resolve some time later. Plus, there were moments that would not be further elaborated. But that's the reason why they are making yet another "Spider-Man". Spider-Man 4 is due to come out circa 2009. Well, Spidey is in for yet another movie filled with misadventure. He gets beat up constantly thrown into walls, getting slammed in the head, falling from high levels Literally, I'm surprised he's still alive. But hey, comic book films are creative and far-fetched and they always will be. There is the major plot with Spidey and his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Are they going to continue their relationship together? Then there's the major plot with Harry Osborn/New Goblin (James Franco) (son of Old Goblin, played by Willem Dafoe) who wants to kill Spidey for murdering his father. But is revenge the best thing? Then there are the sub-plots with Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who is an alleged killer and escaped criminal, who perhaps has killed someone close to Peter. And then there's Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace), an arrogant photographer competitor to Peter. Brock has a girlfriend named Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) who shows up for brief moments in the film. Although her part is small, she actually is an imperative part in the film. She somewhat wavers the relationship between Parker and Watson. The film takes off where Spider-Man 2 landed and goes from there. The action starts almost immediately. He fights New Goblin and that's all I'm saying. Parker is still the photographer for The Daily Bugle and J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) is still the top guy/big cheese/head honcho of the newspaper, funny as ever. Parker, however, will have a tough time with a competitor now. Just watch. The venom that attacks Parker and makes him a darker person appears out of nowhere and is not further detailed. But hey, that's what sequels and sequels and sequels are for- to elaborate on things its predecessors neglected to. That's the beauty of a sequel; however, sequels aren't always entertaining. Spider-Man 2 was a departure for mediocre sequels because it was excellent. It was the best "Spider-Man" movie ever and one of the best superhero films besides Batman Begins and Superman. I thought when Parker became darker was a great part of the film! It was dramatic and funny simultaneously. Can you imagine nerdy Tobey Maguire trying to act cool? Not gonna happen, right? Well, hate to break it to ya, but it did. He bee-bopped down a New York City street and every time he would see a chick he would wink and point and act stupid. But it was comic relief to a previous dark scene and then another dark scene pops out but then the bee-bopping continues, each one less appealing than the previous. So, what's the Sandman's problem? Actually, the way he turned into Sandman was quite well done but that's not the point. According to him, it was family matters. Perhaps that will also be further elaborated in the fourth installment. It might go more in depth into his family history. You never know. But what about Brock? Brock's nickname is Venom! He had to be exposed to the venom somehow right? How he turned into Venom was also quite well done. But, again, that's not the point! He turns into a monstrous creature that looks oddly like Spider-Man and the entire town is shocked and dismayed that someone like Spidey would do this! But it wasn't Spidey! Or perhaps Spidey contributed. Actually he did! Why not see the movie to find out how yourself? Great idea! So, overall, a sticky mess but yet still had some breathtaking action sequences, good acting, directing, clever writing here and there Spider-Man 3 is a good, dark, messy family film and that you can take to the web. Movie directed by Sam Raimi.