Sloppy sequel...

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2007)

It took about a week for all of this to sink in, but here goes...
Warning! Spoilers ahead!! I really wanted this movie to be good- not just do well (that was inevitable), but actually be good. But as I sat there watching it, my hopes slipped away.
The movie is overlong. The tone set by 1 & 2 has been lost in a stew of too many subplots, too many Aunt May speeches, and way too much sobbing and fighting between Dunst & Maguire.
Folks, I'm all for character development. I think it's great that Raimi has taken us into Peter Parker's personal life. I really like the fact that he has taken villains to a more human level instead of just making them "baddies" a'la Joel Schumacher. However, this thing is a complete jumble. After awhile, I kind of wished Mary Jane would just go away, Harry would die, and we could just get to a good old fashioned Marvel battle between Spidey and Sandman.
It's not all bad here. Praise goes to Thomas Hayden Church. He is probably the best villain in any of the Spidey flicks with Molina pulling a close second. Both of them played the villains as real people not just prancing lunatics in funny costumes. His only problem is he's drastically underused. What a shame! Great effects and an awesome look are cut short for one too many scenes of whiny junior high soap operatics between Peter Parker & MJ.
I honestly don't know what to think of Venom. I like the character but I don't feel he fits in this picture. He's almost like an afterthought, much more suited to be in another Spidey movie as the lone villain.
I was really hoping they would do something worthwhile with Harry Osborn in this one and they blew it. We get a great fight sequence in the beginning, a goofy, "aw-shucks" bubble-head for the middle act and finally a complete turn-around for the finale because his butler set everything straight for him?! All mental illness and vengeance cleanly wiped away in one lousy scene. Dumb.
I had to laugh at the "Evil Peter Parker" sequence. Not because it was truly funny, but because it reminded me so much of Superman III. Ladies and gentleman, that's just not a good thing to be reminded of.
This picture suffers from too many villains and too much love story crap. I'm hoping that Raimi eases off if there is indeed a Spider-Man 4. We've been teased with Curt Connors for three pictures- lets see what can be done with him and if MJ is out of the picture for awhile, fine.
Right before this came out Kirsten Dunst made a comment along the lines of, "there would be no Spider-Man movies without Tobey and me." All she did here was cry, scream, and whine. Tobey Maguire spent more time out of costume than in. Lady, you two can easily be replaced.