What happens when you try too hard

Rating: 6/10 (5 May 2007)

One of the toughest things to do in the world of today is to entertain and satisfy multiple types of crowds. Among the hardest to please includes the comic book studs. The comic book fans have different expectations from that of the rest of the mainstream. It is a difficult job to do, but the Spider-Man series at this point had done a fantastic job gratifying everybody. Combining excellent special effects, great acting, a wonderful script, and good direction; the Spider-Man films rank as among the best films based off comic books. Spider-Man 2 stands as the best of them all, even above Batman Begins and Superman. But, with the third installment looming and multiple plots being revealed, it was looking like a movie with a lot of content for something that's just 140 minutes.
This is pretty much what makes and breaks Spider-Man 3; the sheer amount of things going on. Packing in way too much when it easily could convert into two films, Spider-Man 3 disappoints mildly because of lack of consistent pacing, lack of development, and lack of direction. The special effects and the musical score also takes a step backwards. Spider-Man 3 is a lot of fun and at times hilarious and jaw-dropping, but at other moments just misses the mark. The potential was there, it had the opportunity to be the best superhero film in existence, but with everyone having to share screen time, nobody besides Spider-Man actually got much time to present their capabilities (in terms of character and the acting). The list of underused characters is astounding; from Harry to Sandman, to J. Jameson, to most unfortunately, Venom.
Spider-Man 3 takes place right after part 2, in which Peter Parker and Spider-Man are enjoying a new life of acceptance, success, and happiness. In the meantime, the new girlfriend MJ isn't getting the breaks in terms of her career. Things take a turn for the worse when ex-friend Harry tries to kill Peter in honor of his father, when an escaped convict accidentally gets superpowers, when a meteorite lands on Earth with a mysterious substance, and there is a new photography rival in Parker's newspaper. Despite the plot taking a few twists and turns, this movie is mostly drama. We still don't have the smart-aleck one-liners and laid-back attitude of Peter from the comic books, even though it seems like all the humor in the franchise has and will only come from Bruce Campbell (in another great cameo) and J. Simmons (underused, but scene-stealing). The writing is decent, but still has its moments of bad dialogue and somewhat unnecessary moments.
The acting isn't that bad, especially when compared to other superhero flicks, it gets the job done. Topher Grace is the big surprise as he pulls off a surprisingly decent performance as Venom, while the rising star Thomas Haden Church does a superb job as a broken escape convict-turned supervillian Sandman. James Franco is the best among the main characters however playing the confused, angry, and sometimes charming (when happy) Harry. The special effects, as stated before, wasn't as good the third time around because it was rather overused in multiple instances. It does not help that the Oscar-winning special effects team behind the second installment did not make a return. The pacing however is really what hurts the movie the most. With so much to tell in so little time, the pacing goes rather fast for a Spider-Man movie, and then it leads to nobody but Spider-Man going through changes in front of the audience. The villains, while potentially horrifically menacing, pale in comparison to the enemies in the first two simply because they weren't in the movie much at all. Venom, the most-hyped portion of Spider-Man 3, gets very little screen time when he could easily have been a deadly force to reckon with.
By the time the final act rolls around, the setbacks of the movie become very clear. Spider-Man 3 tried to add so much, tried to pack such a heavy punch, that we get a rather anti-climactic final battle, and an anti-climatic ending. The final sequence, despite being rather truthful to the comic books, still somewhat feels rushed and does not deliver as much as the previous battles throughout the movie. Instead of being a wild ride final chapter, we get a heavy dosage of melodrama. Yes, the Spider-Man films are about character and the emotions they go through more so than the action, but this time it was taken a bit too far. The chemistry between Parker and MJ wasn't as strong this time, as it was spent mostly bickering. So what happened? They tried pleasing everybody, from the comic book buffs to the action buffs to the fans of the previous installments. The end result is a rather mixed bag with its fun scenes and battles, but boy could it have been something else.
Bottom Line: The third installment is not as good as the previous two, but still has plenty of good moments and some incredible action. However, trying to build so much, trying to tell so many stories and introduce so many characters, the plot feels rather tangled. They failed to build upon the villains, and we don't get to see them develop into the monsters they become like before. Worst of all, Venom, a character that could have really stolen the show and added horror and suspense to the picture, becomes nothing more than almost a mere cameo. The Spider-Man franchise isn't ready to give up, but perhaps its time to pass the directing and writing baton to others who might be able to give the trilogy a little face lift. They seem to have lost the way with this franchise, and perhaps with a new cast they can steer it in the right direction. Don't come into this movie expecting brilliance, but rather a decent popcorn flick with its flawsin other words, the typical popcorn flick.