the black suit is Spider-Man's costume, not Venom's

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2007)

WARNING: This review contains plot disclosures likely to SPOIL the experience of the film for those who have not yet seen it. Feel free to skip this review if you've not yet seen the film. ********************************
I'm a Spider-Man fan, and I love this movie. It was a guilty pleasure to finally see him in his black suit, not holding back, and letting loose on the enemy. What a wonderful and hilarious surprise to see black suit Peter strutting his stuff through the streets of N.Y.! The final forgiveness of a villain was refreshing. No one but Tobey Maguire could have accomplished all this so well; he is head and shoulders above your average superhero movie actor, after all.
Many complaints seem to center on the lack of screen time for Venom, and not having him available for a fourth installment. I see this as a strength rather than a weakness. I know Venom was an important comic book character, but in these films, Spider-Man is the feature. The black suit is, first and foremost, *Spider-Man's* costume. Venom just inherits it for a little while. The story is and should be about Spider-Man and supporting cast, not the reverse. Venom's role here is perfect: he reflects what Spider-Man could have become had he not rejected his darker side. Ultimately, the black suit should highlight Parker's inner struggle, not focus on a villain only tangential to Peter's development. While perhaps not as exciting as the comics version of the story, this is a more mature theme.
I hope there is no fourth film. This was a perfect ending. We don't need endless sequels that pile more and more villains and big 'splosions from the comics. While a Venom movie as a fourth might have been fun, that is not what Spider-Man is about. Leave that sort of thing to the X-Men, Superman, Batman, and Fantastic Four films of the world. Spider-Man is about character arcs and moral choices, and with the advent and final rejection of the black suit, Spider-Man's film story is thematically complete.