How do you compare the classic red and blue with black?

Rating: 6/10 (22 October 2010)

My original intention was to write up three separate reviews, one for each movie, but I thought that this would be easier. So before I give my opinions on the latest installment of the Spider-Man series, titled Spider-Man 3, I will give a brief recap on what we have seen so far.
First we had "Spider-Man 1", the great introduction to possibly the greatest superhero film series ever. Sam Raimi proceeds with excellent direction, Tobey McGuire plays the noble Peter Parker, his innocence and good heart highlighting the inner sentimentality of the film which is well supported by the just as sentimental characters of Uncle Ben and Aunt May. With a lot of web swinging fun and spectacular visual effects, as well as a great line of talented actors, including Kirsten Dunst as the beautifully helpless damsel in distress Mary Jane Watson, and William Dafoe as the crooked, evil-faced villain The Green Goblin, the Spider-Man franchise kicks off with one hell of start.
Next came Spider-Man 2, the sequel, and a very good one at that. Here, we pick up from Peter Parker's last words of commitment "With great power, comes great responsibility", however his thoughts on the prospect of his deceased Uncle Ben are starting to lose meaning when his beloved Mary Jane is engaged to be married and the rest of his world as a superhero starts to crash down on him. With greater depth into the Spider-Man character, even better visual effects, and awesome one-on-one action sequences between the hero and the villain (the villain being Doc Oct, portrayed by Alfred Molina), the Spider-Man series continues to receive considerable acclaim both critically and publicly.
Then we have Spider-Man 3, supposedly the second to last installment of the series. With more villains, more action, and whole lot more visual effects, you'd think that this would be the best of them all, well think again, because this is not the Spider-Man that you know and love.
I don't know what the creators were thinking when they created this picture. Maybe they were just looking for an excuse to put in two of the greatest spider-man villains (Venon and Sandman), or perhaps they wanted to give the Spider-Man character a bit of a new, more compelling look. If that was the intention, then what a mistake it was.
Don't get me wrong, there is some good stuff about this movie, take for example the visual effects. You can't deny that they are some of the most amazing you've seen come out of the Spider-Man franchise. I specifically enjoyed the birth of Sandman, where he slowly rises up from the sand that we was mixed with, that was one of the coolest things ever, but sadly it doesn't way out all the other flaws in this movie.
I guess one of my main complaints about Spider-Man 3 is the script, it's way too complex. The good thing about the previous films was that they were simple and focused. You have the inner struggle, the villain, and the relationship with Mary Jane. It was perfect and easy to digest. Then we were given the third installment, where they completely overstocked on character as well as conflict-ions between character profile. It was exhausting and overwhelming, very hard to sit through. I mean seriously: 3 villains, Sandman's background, trouble with MJ, Harry's changing attitudes, 2 different Spider-mans, competition at the Bugle, Gwen Stacy. IT'S JUST TOO MUCH!
I'm not going to drag this review out any further and pick on the little annoying things, so I'm just going to comment on my second biggest problem with this movie. The fact is that Tobey McGuire can not pull of the bad guy look. We see him only as the sweet, strong hearted young man who does more than everything to protect the one's that he loves. That's who he is, that's what he's best at, and when you make him out to be the cocky and ignorant alter ego a huge meltdown is unavoidable, no matter how much eye-strapping visual effects you try to stuff into it.
Spider-Man 3 is not absolutely intolerable. It has it's moments of drama and entertaining action. But in my opinion, this doesn't stand the least bit of a fighting chance against the earlier installments. If there is going to be a fourth film, and I sincerely hope that there will be, and that Tobey McGuire is going to return to be Spider-Man again (because frankly I can't imagine anyone else playing the role), the one thing that the director has to keep in mind is that tarnishing the recognizing image is not going to do you any good what so ever.