Emo Spidey and the Three Villains

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2007)

The first real misstep in Sam Raimi's heretofore superb Spiderman franchise. SM3 suffers from an affliction that plagues many action sequelsthe misguided necessity to make each successive movie bigger and louder. Apparently using this logic, Raimi shoehorns three bad guys into a messy plot filled with lame contrivances and thinly sketched characterizations. Sandman and Venom don't get the screen-time needed to make them affective or interesting enemies. The two baddies join forces near the end of the film in a scene so superfluous I had to laugh. James Franco is the only one who stands out among the black hatters. He's excellent as the tormented new Goblin. I would have loved to see the entire film built solely around his and Peter's crumbling relationship.
There's plenty of speechifying and sappiness in SM3. Poor Peter and even Goblin, Jr. get their ear bent a few times. There's a lot of crying as well, but all this emotion and drama falls very flat, unlike the first two films which largely managed to avoid the maudlin and obvious. Peter's transformation after he's infected by the evil outer space gunk is also handled curiously. How can you tell Peter's "bad?" Well, he leers at women on the street, wears his bangs over his eyes, and makes the landlord's cute daughter bake him cookies. Ooh, how dark and edgy! Oh yeah, and evil Spidey dances, too. Gave me chills, man.