The Soap Opera Continues

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2007)

Spider Man is back for a 3rd go around and this time it is sappier than before. Petey and Mary sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g... bleh. I understand the writers establishing the relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, but we got enough of that in part 2. Now they are an item and they are having regular relationship problems, such as miscommunication, misunderstanding, misinterpretation, etc. The issues between Peter Parker and Mary Jane were so cliché that I thought I was watching a romantic comedy. It got so bad that someone in the audience yelled, "Just break up with her!!"
Besides the unnecessary soap opera with Pete and MJ, there was the addition of a villain who was just haphazardly thrown into the mix. Flint Marko aka the Sand Man was suddenly created and thrust into the plot, and they tried fruitlessly to tie him to Spidey via Peter Parker's murdered uncle. Why not let bygones be bygones? To introduce another version of Uncle Ben's death was pointless, especially when everyone had already moved on from that.
It wasn't all a bust though. We got to see venom, and Spider Man's struggle with the black alien substance that attached to him. We also got to see a decent battle between Spider Man and "Goblin Junior" aka Harry Oswald. Personally I wanted more of Venom. The trailers made it seem as though Venom was the key figure in this movie and that is why I saw this on opening day. But Venom's appearance and reign was very short lived.
Spider Man is loved because of his web slinging, spider senses, super strength, and ability to beat up the bad guy. More of that is good while more of the other stuff is bad. It's almost like Spider Man is growing up, and who wants Spider Man to grow up?