A great way to continue an excellent film series

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2007)

In 2002 Sam Raimi, with the help of modern day technology, showed an exceptional and successful comic book adaptation in "Spider-Man." Then in 2004 Sam Raimi outdid himself by directing a sequel that took everything that made the original great and improved upon it. Fast-forward to May 4, 2007 and Sam Raimi is at it again with "Spider-Man 3." With arguably two great, this review believes that they belong in the league of the best of their genre, comic book adaptations under his belt; can Sam Raimi bring a successful third film to the saga?
Peter Parker's life is finally starting to look up. His relationship with Mary Jane Watson is picking up, he is still taking responsibility as Spider-man, and he is a celebrity in NY. Now he faces new challenges. Parker's old friend, Harry Osborn, is out for revenge against Peter; Parker also discovers that his Uncle's real killer, Flint Marko, who is mistakenly transformed into the Sandman, is still out there. Hope seems lost until Peter discovers a black alien organism, aka a symbiote, which turns his suit black but improves his powers significantly. Unfortunately, the side effects of the symbiote show a darker side to Parker's personality. When Peter discovers his wrongdoings, he attempts to get rid of the symbiote suit. Parker successfully gets rid of the symbiote, but it found a new host, Eddie Brock, causing the birth of Venom, Spider-Man's most dangerous foe. Will this be the end of Spider-Man?
The biggest flaw of the movie, which you should realize after reading the synopsis, is that there is too much going on. There are too many plots, too many characters, and too little development. The audience has to watch Spider-man face off with three villains and his inner-demon. In addition Gwen Stacy is added as part of a love triangle. Applause should go to Sam Raimi for attempting to bring it all together but the entire plot and subplots would be better suited for an extra movie. This was a big worry upon this reviewer but Sam does it better then originally thought. It was a lot better then the poor excuse for a director, Brett Ratner, of "X-Men: The Last Stand."
Despite there being too much in the movie, the movie was very entertaining. As far as film-making goes it is not the quality of one or two, but as far as the fun superhero, comic book type of movie, it was everything that it should have been. The visual effects were amazing. The action scenes were the best of the series. The humor was upped a lot as well, though some may complaint about there being too much. The acting was as good as it should be. As far as a "Spider-Man" movie goes this is what you should expect.
Visually this movie was outstanding. The special effects were out of this world but since it is the most expensive movie ever made that is expected. It would be shocking if this movie is not nomiated for special effects. The visual effects that really stood out were the creation of the Sandman and the symbiote. The action scenes were great as usual. This reviewer thought that they were more thrilling then that train scene from "Spider-Man 2."
Besides the visuals, the humor was great. It was just as campy and silly as the first two series but turned up a notch. Bruce Campbell made another cameo, as he has in the last two, as the hilarious Maître d'. There is even homage to both "Saturday Night Fever" and "The Mask." Some may complain that some of these more campy scenes ruin the movie, but this reviewer thinks otherwise. The reviewer loved those scenes; he believes they improved the movie.
The acting was as good as you should hope for in a movie like this. The returning cast was just as good as the other two. The newcomers are also a great addition to the "Spider-Man" cast. Thomas Hayden Church was good as the Sandman/ Flint Marko. Topher Grace, Eric from "That 70's Show," was a huge surprise as Eddie Brock/ Venom. It will be exciting to see what Topher's career choices will be after "That 70's Show." Bryce Dallas Howard was also great as Gwen Stacy. It was very obvious why Peter Parker would like her and why Mary Jane could possibly be jealous of her.
Overall if you liked or loved the first two "Spider-Man" you may like it. The reviewers are very mixed but that is probably because the viewers each had expectations that were too high. The only real defect to the movie was that there was too much happening. Luckily everything else that this reviewer loved made it forgivable. Any other complaints are just very minor nitpicks. Congratulations to "Spider-Man 3" for collecting $151.1 million at the domestic box office it's opening week. "Spider-Man 3" is recommended!