An Entertaining Mess

Rating: 6/10 (5 May 2007)

Very disappointed. After 2 stellar movie classics, Raimi and Co. fumbled this one. Maybe something happened in the editing room, maybe the cast and director are burnt out on Spider-Man, who knows.
This is a tough one to write, because "Spider-Man 3" is definitely not blatant crap ("Batman & Robin") or ill-conceived creativity ("Hulk"). It is actually, often, a very rousing and entertaining movie. You can see where the filmmakers decided to give Peter a new lesson to learn, and had the conflicts with the THREE (!!!) super villains reflect that lesson. Very smart, and a lot better than you get with other films in this genre.
HOWEVER . . . there is so much going on here, so many plot lines elbowing for space, that it is just a convoluted jumble. I couldn't tell you the main, most important plot line if I tried; they are all that equally measured. I can tell you, however, that the plot line involving Peter and Mary Jane's relationship, and the one involving Peter's own inner struggle with his dark side, are given enough exposition that the other plot lines involving the Sandman, Venom and the junior Goblin - you know, the villains, the antagonists, the guys who traditionally give a story like this its dramatic tension - sadly get shortchanged.
Finally, they commit a cardinal sin in movies: A character (or characters) standing and explaining something to another. I will not give spoilers, but at least twice in this movie, a character explains either their motivation or a crucial bit of information, which then helps get us to the next scene. In movies explanation is a sin because movies are a visual medium. Discovering a character's motivation, or a crucial bit of information, is typically done non-verbally. Their behavior / actions tell us the story, which is kind of the point of motion pictures. I am shocked and, again, disappointed that a master like Sam Raimi let this happen more than once in his movie.
Hey, go see the movie, it won't bore you. You'll probably even like it. But sadly this third chapter does not join its predecessors on the DVD shelf of classic genre cinema. What a shame.