A good film that bit off a little more than it can chew.

Rating: 7/10 (4 September 2011)

Spier-man 3. Where do I even begin? Of all the Spiderman movies that have had there share of goofy and disappointing moments, this is the film that created the most fuss among the fans. While still a financial success and a fun, action-packed movie, tons of fans like myself are wondering what went wrong with Sam Raimi. Let's swing in to find out.
I'll try to simplify the plot: Everything is starting to go well for Spidey. He gets the girl of his dreams (Mary Jane Watson) and everyone now loves Spidey. Well, almost everyone. A new triple threat has risen to truly test Peter Parker: Harry Osborne, having found out Peter's ID, has exposed himself to the Oz formula to become the New Goblin; Flint Marko, in a desperate quest to get the money to help his sick daughter, accidentally becomes the Sandman thanks to a molecular experiment; and finally there's the alien symbiote whose attachment to Peter Parker will lead to the rise of Venom. Spidey must confront the darkness within him in order the defeat these villains and save the ones he loves.
As you can see, there's a lot going on in this film, perhaps too much. Let's talk about the villains. Now we all knew Harry would go after Spiderman thanks to Spider-man 2 and overall it was a well done part of the plot because not only is it Peter's journey into darkness and forgiveness but it's also Harry's. It's awesome seeing Harry forgive Peter and help him in the final battle (sucks that he dies though). While I still find the inclusion of Sandman questionable (nothing really personal with Spidey in the comics), he's still pretty cool. What I like is how they combined both the villainous and heroic aspects of Sandman into one (he has played hero in the comics) so what we got was a guy who's a criminal who's sympathetic and only wanted to help his poor kid. And then there's Venom. While Sam Raimi didn't want him in the film, when I heard Venom was in this, I thought that was a great idea. Let Peter face his darkness. But when Topher Grace came in, he ruined Venom. Venom was too skinny, too evil, and too selfish. In the comics, while he wanted to kill Spidey, Venom was a good guy who cares for people and to this day still plays hero. Not the case here. While he still looks cool (big teeth, long tongue, etc.), Venom was portrayed badly.
Even with an overly complicated story, like bringing in Gwen Stacy, and some plot holes like how Venom knew about Sandman's daughter when they just met in the end, Spider-man 3 is still good with great action and some character development. If you want a thrill, go ahead and watch.