The franchise is still hitting on all cylinders.

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2007)

"Spider-Man 3" is THE "Michael legacy" film. He had this film on his must-see list for a couple of years, especially since he heard his favorite villain, Venom, would be involved. "Spider-Man 3" did not disappoint. The film is actually very similar in theme to "Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", as Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) begins to turn to and embrace his darkest thoughts. This is a darker film than the previous two and there are times when Peter Parker/Spider-Man are considerably unpleasant. As the movie begins, Peter's friend, Harry (James Franco) is still angry over his father's (Willem Dafoe) death and is bent on getting revenge as he assumes the mantle of the Green Goblin. At the same time, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) escapes from prison and Peter learns he may have had some connection to his Uncle Ben's murder. As if that is not enough, a new hotshot photographer, Eddie Brock, is trying to muscle into his gig at the Daily Bugle. As Peter tries to deal with all of this, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), is feeling more and more detached from him, putting a strain on their relationship. Peter is joined by an alien goo which forms his costume and Black-Suit Spidey is born. As touched on earlier, Black Suit Spidey is kind of an angry dude and does things Spidey would never do. Peter enjoys the feeling of strength and power he gets from this new suit, so he wears it under his clothes constantly. Therefore, Peter starts to become a very unlikeable person himself. Flint Marko becomes Sandman, a very formidable foe, and Spider-Man has his hands full. Peter eventually realizes the costume is doing things to his head and he discards it, leading to Eddie Brock's discovery of it and the birth of Venom. This all leads to a fantastic third-act finale with a battle royal involving Spider-Man, Venom, Sandman and the Green Goblin with Mary Jane once again in the middle as the damsel in distress. This final battle is a grand display of special effects and action. Of the three films, the special effects in this one are clearly the best. The Sandman effects are amazingly realistic. There are only minor critiques here. One is the middle third of the film when Peter Parker is wearing the black suit under his clothes. At times, the "New Peter" is used for comic relief and some of these sequences are a little over-the-top. Although this is not a criticism, the "bad Peter" scenes are downright uncomfortable at times. Another minor criticism is the lead-up to the finale. Mary Jane is being held hostage as Sandman and Venom wait for Spider-Man to arrive. The crowd in the streets look as if they are attending a big WWE title match. A little odd for a life and death situation with some very scary bad guys! We loved the movie overall and Michael would have been absolutely thrilled. We are so sorry you weren't physically there with us, best friend. We hope you were watching through our eyes.