The Most Enjoyable Film of the Decade

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2007)

The good news is that this blockbuster is exceptional. It's easily the best of the trilogy and, for my money, the most enjoyable film of the decade.
The comic-book-inspired franchise has always been about the search for balance; ironically, balance is was exactly what the first two movies lacked, with the seriously good cast continually upstaged by the special effects.
This time round, thanks to an inventive script, all the elements are in sync. The plot gives New York photographer Peter Parker aka Spider-Man three foes to contend with - four, if you count his battle with himself, which is brought on by an alien landing and subsequently turns his suit jet-black.
His love life is also a mess. He keeps trying, and failing, to propose to Mary Jane, who is suffering a career setback and does not appreciate the arrival of sweet blonde, Gwen Stacy.
The villains are well-rounded, with Flint Marko a joy to behold. Actor Thomas Haden Church has a great, Depression era face and his transformation into The Sandman is spectacularly beautiful - the creature is like a Henry Moore sculpture.
Meanwhile, Peter, Mary Jane and their rich friend Harry Osborn convince as fragile, ambitious twenty-somethings trying to make it in the big city. All the encounters are emotionally intense. They're also full of humor. "Where do they get these guys?" says Spidey, tipping out sand from his boots.
Spider-Man 3 is worth taking seriously, because it's so hell-bent on having fun and it won't be beat in the movie of the year race.
-C. O'Sullivan