People clapped. A good film

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2007)

I'm astonished by all the negative feedback in people's reviews here. I just came back from seeing Spiderman 3 in a big cinema and everyone laughed, there was some cheering, and even clapping at the end.
It is true that the film has a slightly messy feel about it, for example with characters like the butler or Sandman seemingly saying things 'just when needed' to move the plot along in a slightly unconvincing way. But many things that other people here cite as weakenesses of the movie seem to me to be actual strengths, for example how you lose sympathy for Peter Parker in the first half of the film because he lacks empathy for Mary Jane - something that I thought was a bold move by the writers that effectively raised the emotional stakes of the last half of the movie.
I really get a strong feeling that people writing bad reviews are being affected by their own expectations too much. Taken on its own merits, this was an intense, funny, happy and satisfyingly oddball movie.
And yes, Bruce Cambell's "I am a French man" (delivered in entirely unconvincing accent) and short goofy performance was a gem. Bruce once tried to get the role of The Flash (but was pipped to the post), and appeared in Darkman too, so it's high time he got his own superhero role! Hail to the Kingpin, baby!