Spidey's webs don't stick.

Rating: 4/10 (6 May 2007)

3 is a tricky number. So many franchises (The Godfather series, the X-Men Series) have fizzled in their third act. It takes a talented cast and crew and a boatload of great material to create a "part III" that rises above the first tow, or at least matches it. It's not impossible (see the Star Wars series and the Mission Impossible series), but it's incredibly difficult. However, I had faith in my friendly neighborhood Spider-Man cast and crew. After all, how often does a sequel surpass the original film by leaps and bounds? Since the Spider-Man series practically invented the new concept of the popcorn-film-with-heart, I had no reason to believe that director Sam Raimi and his talented ensemble would fail me. After all, with Stan Lee's brilliant comic books, there was no way that this film could run out of material. Ironically enough, that's exactly what brings down 'Spider-Man 3". This film suffers from the horrible "more is better" philosophy that I hoped and prayed was above Raimi and Co. Three villains! A new love interest! More action! More pointless web-swinging set to that ubiquitous Danny Elfman theme. More, more, more! But more is not better, as the audience quickly discovers. Sure, the cast is reliable, as usual (Bruce Campbell deserves special mention in a hysterical cameo). But what 'Spider-Man 3' lacks is the witty, wondrous script that carried the first two films. Raimi, a brilliant director, decides to try his hand at screen writing this time around, and boy, does he blow it. Villains are given huge, lengthy set-up scenes, and then pushed aside until they are needed for the balls-to-the wall finale. The love scenes feel bland and bloated. And the heart of the story-Peter's battle with his own dark desires-plays out more like Jim Carrey's 'The Mask' than a serious drama. Even the action scenes suffer under Raimi's pen-the finale, with Spidey trying to save MJ, who dangles precariously off the edge of a building in a taxicab, is blatantly ripped of from part 1's climactic battle. But the worst atrocity of this film is the dialogue. Sample line? "I like being bad. It makes me happy." 'Nuff said. If this summer of threequels continues in the vein of 'Spider Man 3', then it will be a very disappointing summer, indeed.