Spider Man 3 - Still Making Money

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2007)

Spidey's back! YAY! Spiderman 3 is the Hollywood blockbuster with the biggest ever budget, $258 million on production alone (That's cast, filming, editing and special effects, but no advertisement or distribution) which made the previous record holder, King Kong ($207million) look like a cheap tramp.
The money is well spent; the special effects and CGI are amazing, sometimes indistinguishable from the actors or background. The fight sequences are the best in the series so far and with not one, not two, but three bad guys there are a few of them.
Spider-man's new costume is the source of his (totally lame) internal battle sub-plot. It was fused to him and is made of a symbiote which later becomes venom. Venom is Eddie Brock Junior who That 70s Show fans will recognise as Eric 'Dumbass' Foreman. Played by Topher Grace, Brock puts on a good performance in this film and is, for a change, a scrawny Venom host, as opposed to the muscle-bound Eddie Brock from the comics.
The second (of three) in the Green Goblin dynasty appear, small hint its Harry Osborn (or New Goblin) played by James Franco. Franco tries to replicate the madness of the original Green Goblin and fails, this is because Willem Defoe is a great actor and James Franco isn't.
The Sandman also makes and appearance and is revealed to have more to do with Parker's past than first thought. This character's story is one of justification and redemption and his appearance is a throwback to ancient Marvel Comic history (1963 was his first appearance). Other references to Spider-man's past are Gwen Stacey who was Parker's girlfriend long before Mary-Jane; she was killed on an infamous bridge scene by Norman Osborn. There is also a cameo by Stan Lee.
With more humour and greater love conflict than the previous films, Spider-man 3 also manages to be gut wrenchingly patriotic. I think the point the movie is trying to make that valour and modesty triumph over dominance. This eventually leads Spidey back to his original costume (and personality) but in my opinion the new costume and take-no-prisoners attitude were just what the young Peter Parker needed. Well worth watching, even just for the battle scenes, however it does stand up on its own and some prick in the audience did stand up and clap at the end of the movie. I give Spider-man 3 7 blobs of tar out of 10.