Spider-Man not so friendly.

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2007)

Many years ago, I never thought Spider-Man would work in the movies. But they pulled it off. Then, upon the news, I never thought Doctor Octopus would be an easy pull. But it worked and Spider-Man 2 was amazing. Then the news of Venom and the Sandman teaming up on Peter, all on the heels of Harry finding out his true identity, sounded a little too much. And Spider-Man 3, despite an excellent beginning and a good, but implausible, climax, was way too much. Imagine an Oreo cookie, if you will, where the ends were perfect but the filling was maple-flavored rather than vanilla or chocolate.
Life for Peter Parker couldn't be better. Fans adore him, MJ has stood by him and he's succeeding in school. But his best friend is out to kill him, and a new twist on how his Uncle Ben died has come up. All this, tied to a couple other lapses in judgment, have Peter trying to find quick answers to solutions. One solution literally clings itself to him and makes things only worse.
It was hard to taste, watching Peter look emo as the face of aggression, scaring his landlord and MJ, while creeping out passer-bys and Jonah himself. A particular scene, where Peter takes Gwen to a jazz club where MJ works, just didn't work. I feel Avi Arad made a mistake in convincing Raimi to put Venom in the film because by the time it took to establish the character and it's reasons for being, that time already wasted two-thirds of the film and Brock just doesn't last too long after. That's not to discount the eventual confrontations between Harry and Peter though. Their relationship became more complex throughout the movie, made even a little more bizarre by one agreeing to help the other in the wake of all what happens. It's also something I believe that Alvin Sargeant was right on: they should have made two films of Spider-Man 3, with the first ending very much like The Empire Strikes Back. Spider-Man 3 was a very good movie, a potential to make it better is gone now, but the end product is nothing to complain about. Fans of the first two will not be disappointed and seeing the battle royale at the end is worth the price in itself.