Enjoyable but flawed

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2007)

The long awaited third Spider-Man film is finally here and reactions to it will be mixed. As a life long Spider-Man fan, I loved the first two movies and enjoyed this too but multiple flaws almost detracted from the movie as a whole. Sam Raimi chose to make a movie which was in excess of two hours long. I have no issue with this but feel as though twenty minutes was wasted on ridiculous scenes and pointless sub-plots, this time would be better served to the character development of Venom (marvellously portrayed by the talented and versatile Topher Grace). The twenty minutes I am referring to are in various pieces - the ridiculous and painful jazz bar dance, the agonizing introduction of Gwen Stacey (portrayed in this movie as annoying and pointless when in fact a major character in the comic books who was not so annoying - correct me if I am wrong but Peter Parker was in LOVE with Gwen Stacey before the Green Goblin killed her - bad time error and therefore, pointless character in the movie) and the overly obnoxious parade scene. Instead, this time would have been better served developing Venom - the only one of the Spider-Man villains chosen for the trilogy who has no humanity. When Venom finally 'becomes' I thought 'great, now this movie is really gonna get good' and it did - but it was already almost over. There are, however, many sublime moments that outweigh the bad. Breathtaking action scenes top the list, my personal favorite being the joining together of Harry and Peter in the final showdown. Additionally, the emotion of Sandman and Harry Osborn's stories are heartfelt. Many believe the Sandman was a wasted story - I disagree, it was satisfying to close the loop on the death of Ben Parker and heart wrenching to see this man of true heart and petty crime fall so far from good albeit temporary. Humorous in parts and downright cheesy in others, Spider-Man certainly has something for everyone but even the hardcore fans will find themselves rolling their eyes in places (the landing in front of the animated US flag anyone?). James Franco flipped between poor and great acting but failed to be believable in parts. Tobey Maguire was given more corny moves and lines than ever to deal with (though, in-keeping with Spider-Man, there were several great one liners) and Kirsten Dunst does what Kirsten Dunst does but the real entertainment goes to Topher Grace who didn't get nearly enough screen time as the slimy and irritating Eddie Brock and even less as Venom and the always wonderful J.K Simmons who has continued to provide excellent humor throughout. All in all, a flawed yet terrific movie but beware - comic book fans may find the lack of character development a big let down.