Objective comments from a non hard core fan: f/x cannot handle an entire movie.

Rating: 8/10 (5 May 2007)

First of all, I must admit that I was skeptical with the cast of Thomas Haden Church and Topper Grace. I thought they were out of place in a movie like "Spider-Man 3". Haden Church is better known recently for his amazing performance in "Sideways" which is a light dramatic feature with comedic overtones. Grace is better known for the hit sitcom "That 70's Show". So why would cast them as Sandman and Venom? Venom is supposedly a huge, bulk villain. But Mr. Raimi demonstrated that his casts are always perfect and that he sees always something special on his actors. This was no exception. Besides Maguire and Franco, Haden Church and Grace were the better cast members. Dunst shouldn't be allowed to sing again! And her performance was pale just like her skin.
The f/x are truly great and the action is non-stop. Raimi knows how to create spectacular action sequences. There shouldn't be any complain on that aspect. Also, the direction is flawless. The Sandman effects were really impressive and something I haven't seen in many movies. I expected more from the Venom character; probably he's more popular than Spidey himself in the comics world! I'm not a huge Spider-man fan but I have to admit that this movie was impressive for the wrong reasons. I mean, the visuals and sound effects were simply spectacular but I felt that the plot lacked of deep emotions and substance. The sub-plots were easy to forget (unfortunately, specially the one with the super sexy Gwen) and didn't add anything special to the movie. So the movie focuses on Spider's new "evil" personality and his confrontations with his deepest fears. But does he solve them? No. And the villains deserved more on-screen time. No supporting characters (except for MJ and maybe Harry) were truly important for the movie. They didn't get much respect.
The ending was beyond reason but had "moving" moments. I truly didn't expect a resolution between Spider-Man and Sandman. Heck, the villain didn't even solve his main problem/situation.
SO I guess this is the last hurrah for Spidey.