As Good As The Original, Not as Good As 2

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2007)

I was worried about Spider-Man 3. It looked as though the series might have taken a wrong turn and start heading down the path as the old Batman Series did after Batman Returns. It looked as though to much might have been crammed into this film, with to little amount of time. There is the Goblin story, plus the Sandman, and the story everyone has been waiting for, Venom.
I can honestly say I was mistaken, and seeing as my expectations were so low, Spider-man 3 actually pleasantly surprised me. If this truly is the last film, which rumors are flying that it might be, but we know how that works, then Spider-man 3 has a nice wrap up story. In Star Wars terms, Spider-man 3 is the series Return Of The Jedi, while Spider-Man 2 is the Empire Strikes Back.
taking place a few years after Spider-man 2, Peter parker (Tobey Mcguire) and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) are madly in love. M.J. is now in a Broadway musical, and it seems that the people of New York are ignoring The Daily Bugle and coming to love and appreciate Spider-Man for the hero that he is.
Enter Flint Marko, and escapade convict, who come to find out is the real person who killed Peter's uncle Ben. While Flint (Thomas Hayden Church) is on the run he enters a molecular testing site and becomes "living" sand due to an accident. Turns out Marko is a crook with a "heart" and only commits his crimes to get money to cure his daughters disease, which is never explained.
Then comes Harry Osbourne (James Franco, son of Norman the original Green Goblin, who wants Peter dead for Spider-man killing his father, a death that was a mishap on Norman's part, that Harry does not know about. Harry tries to get at Peter through messing with his head. The Harry Osbourne story in my opinion was the weakest sub-plot in Spider-Man 3.
Then along comes the character every Spider-Man fan has been waiting for Venom. While making out with Mary Jane in a giant web, he misses a comet fall to earth (I'd still like to know how that happens) and from the comet comes the black ooze that bonds to peter and makes him more darker and evil (almost like the awful Superman III). The new "black" costume, made up of this ooze gives Peter enhanced strength, however he finds himself inching closer to "the dark side" like Luke in Jedi.
Spider-Man 3 makes up something that has been rarely seen in Hollywood since the original Star Wars trilogy, a good trilogy. Now a lot of comic book die hards will complain about the continuity issue with the Sandman being uncle Ben's real killer, but I was able to over look that. My big complaints about the film was an over the top song and dance number and I wish Venom spoke like he speaks in the comic, calling himself "we" and "us".
Regardless Spiser-man 3 was fun. That's something I'm glad Hollywood has got back into making. Movies that are fun, you just check your brain at the door, and get lost in the film. That's what was great about the other 2 Spider-Man films. Spidr-man 3 is a good ending, there is no need for Spider-man 4, but then again this is Hollywood.