A solid movie, but not groundbreaking

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2007)

Spiderman 3 was worth the $7.50 that I paid for a matinée showing. I was not disappointed by the latest sequel, but I was not surprised by anything either. The special effects were just that, special. Amazing graphics were on display when any of the characters went into action. However, with the possible exception of the formation of the Sandman, unfortunately the movie did not create anything new with the graphics. The same intense web-slinging as the first two movies was here as well, but no sequence that was truly memorable.
The acting was much improved from Spiderman 1 and 2. Especially from Dunst. She almost ruined the first Spideys for me, but actually did a decent job in this flick. Franco also greatly improved his performance the third time around (enter catchy "third time's a charm for Franco" line here). Bryce Dallas Howard is a remarkable actress casted in an unremarkable role. Howard has stunning beauty, but she just is not the "hot chick" Gwen Stacy is supposed to be. For that role, they could have picked up any of the dozens of incredibly random amazingly hot chicks throughout the movie. Try to count them all if you can. The casting of Topher Grace for Venom just was not right.
The plot had glimpses of greatness (just the mention of Venom makes it a possibly great movie), but ultimately fell short. Too many villains, not enough time. Harry Osborn was the best villain, which is very sad when you consider the fact Venom was part of this movie. My biggest disappointment with this movie was the flow of the plot. While the plot was not obviously jaded, it did not completely come together as one story either. This is most likely the result of too many villains. Another letdown were the inconsistencies in the movie. There were too many unrealistic events that made me sit there and say to myself, "That would not happen" (and that is taking into account and accepting the comic book storyline).
There was way too much crying in this movie, and sometimes at very inappropriate times. Humor took more of a front seat in 3 than it did in 1 and 2, and was well placed throughout the movie. Overall, it was a movie worth going to, and probably one I will see again with a different set of friends, but I did not appreciate it as much as the first two.