A Nutshell Review: Spider-Man 3

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2007)

Spider-Man 3 ushers in this year's many sequels in what would be a crowded blockbuster summer, but the question on everyone's lips is, with so many villains he's up against, will our friendly neighborhood arachnid prevail the movie sequel curse - that with many villains and being the third superhero movie in the franchise, it will most certainly be a dud and a victim of its own success? Sam Raimi will have none of that, and found a special x-factor from within his own Spidey movie franchise to ensure sustainability. And it worked great.
Superior sequels are a tough act to follow, and only a handful managed to survive the fatigue. It's not about putting in better effects, or introducing new and more powerful villains, but rather about the characters whom we have followed through from the previous movies. Here, we continue our journey with Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and Harry Osborn (James Franco), their love hate relationship with one another, and the will they or won't they situations. Having the creative team return (sans Danny Elfman for the score) and the principal cast intact ensured no continuity issues, which have casted a shadow on and doomed many other superhero productions like DC's Superman-Chris Reeves franchise, or the Batman one started by Tim Burton.
Instead of relying on fluffy showmanship on the latest progression of how Spidey swings through Manhattan, and the temptation to shift all its grandeur action pieces to top gear, Spider-Man 3 actually had its characters spend much of their time out of costumes. Which is great, except for those impatient to get things going. It allowed for plenty of space for character development, a continuation of the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane, which on the previous movie's final scene, seemed to have an ominous feeling hung overhead.
And yes, things are not going well for our couple. One's a public figure behind a mask, getting plenty of adulation from the common man on the street, while the other, still a struggling artiste in a cold unforgiving city. For Peter Parker, he's thrilled to have people celebrate his prowess, and allowed for success to get to his nerdy head. A nerd getting all the attention, certainly puts him a bit out of whack. He hardly listens, and the keyword here is listen (take note, important to sustain relationship lesson abound), to his partner, and becomes emotionally unavailable, especially when she most needs him. And with miscommunication or the lack thereof, jealousy comes in the form of hot blonde bombshell Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), with whom Peter violates a special bond between him and Mary Jane at the heat of the moment (ok, all those who think it's being petty, might want to rethink that again).
As a reminder, this is not the comic's Spider-Man. If it is, then Peter won't have organic web-shooters. So don't go all rile about Gwen's introduction at this stage of the franchise. It's her on screen, so celebrate that instead. Although she's a bit role, I thought Bryce Dallas Howard allowed fan boys to salivate at the prospect of having Gwen Stacy feature heavily in possible future movies. If Kirsten Dunst wish to bury her Mary Jane Watson aside, the franchise can definitely move on with Bryce stepping in with her Gwen, even though this time the comic time line will totally go out of sync. But to be fair to Dunst, her Mary Jane almost always have nothing much to do when Spidey's in costume, unless she decides to challenge for scream queen honors. It's again the same old damsel in distress the character finds herself in for a fair bit, and there's certainly a number of times where you can be held hostage, before some smart alec will deduce the reason why.