More of the same would have been better.

Rating: 4/10 (6 May 2007)

Here's an easy analogy: Spider-Man 3 is the Spider-Man 1 and 2 as Batman Forever is to Batman and Batman Returns. The third film in both series takes an entirely different approach towards entertainment than the first two did. Rather than sticking to the proved formula that made both Spider-Man 1 and 2 such well-critiqued superhero movies, Sam Raimi has turned Spider-Man 3 into a movie that has no idea what it wants to be.
It tries too hard to be melodramatic, with some of the most clichéd, expected, and cringingly bad dialogue I've ever heard in a movie. The first two Spidey films had a few moments like this, but the third in the series is almost full non-stop with these scenes that make you want to change the channel and find something better on.
When the movie isn't being too melodramatic, however, it's trying to be freakishly campy. The first two films managed to include quite a bit of camp without completely suspending reality, but Spidey 3 takes the small amount of camp from the first two films and extends it to what felt like at least 30 minutes of material that I'll refer to as "puke". If any of you remember the "raindrops keep fallin' on my head" semi-music-video scene from Spider-Man 2, be prepared to see no less than two scenes that are even worse.
There is, literally, a dance number during the movie, which is a great example of how the filmmakers seem to have completely forgotten what kind of movie they were trying to make. Because despite having a horribly unfitting and annoying dance, the scene suddenly ends with another of those disgusting melodramatic dialogue sequences.
What Raimi did with this film is he tried to do too many things with it. The storyline itself wasn't the problem, however, and despite having so many side story lines and such, the film actually does a surprisingly good job of connecting and resolving them all. However, Raimi seems to have felt the need to add numerous unnecessary scenes and bits of dialogue throughout the film that really drag it down.
To be honest, unlike the case for most action-type movies, I was constantly waiting for the action sequences. I just wanted the melodrama and the dance scenes to end so that the movie could get to the decisive moments and close. I've never left a theatre during a movie, but this was the first case in which I considered it.
The movie has one saving grace: Bruce Campbell's much-expected cameo. It was one of the few moments during the movie that was truly entertaining, and I can only hope that once this movie starts playing on network TV, I'll remember to make sure and see that brief scene again before finding something better to watch.
Ultimately, I feel that Raimi's biggest mistake with this movie is that he tried to make it into something different. As a sequel to two surprisingly good movies, one would hope to see a movie that is similar to those two in terms of action, comedy, and drama. But Raimi tried to do something very different with this one, and unfortunately, it's completely ruined the series for me.