How Mean Can A Spider Really Get?

Rating: 5/10 (6 May 2007)

It's difficult to sustain a franchise for the third time. Seriously, can you name an example where the third movie improves on the first two? A lot of this is to do with the difficulty of trying to move something on yet retain the familiarity that cinema goers expect. Spiderman 3 doesn't really try to move on or even generate a new story arc. The movie doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Of course the special effects are nothing short of astounding. Most of the best bits we've seen in the constant trailers but the story and twisting of themes as Spidey moves over to the dark side are a seriously missed opportunity. One expects that an oddball like Parker would be come seriously deranged and anyone who has seen a real spider edge across it's web to a fly know's that the opportunity for ruthlessness could have been much more entertaining.
What we are left with is a reworked storyline touching on all too familiar themes with a bloated budget. Though this makes absolute economic sense, it falls far short of entertainment expectations. Kirsten Dunst suggested they should make Spiderman 4 as a low budget horror going back to Director Raimi's roots, now that would be moving the ideas on.