"Spider-Man 3" - You wanna talk about a "tangled web"?

Rating: 10/10 (4 May 2007)

Director Sam Raimi returns for a third time to direct another "Spider-Man" movie, "Spider-Man 3," which promises to not only be an excellent summer movie, but a spectacular closer to a marvelous superhero saga. Darker than its predecessors, it asks the question that has plagued us for three years now: How will "Spider-Man 3" condense so many Marvel Comics' story lines and sub-plots into a 140-minute feature-length running time?
I had my own reservations about such notions when it was first announced that Spider-Man would be facing not one, not two, but THREE super-villains, each with long, drawn-out back-stories (and many comic book issues) of their own. As a lifelong fan of Spidey, the creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for Marvel Comics, I was glad to hear that my favorite character (aside from Spider-Man himself) would be making a big-screen appearance now. After viewing the movie, another character becomes a favorite (more on this later).
The "Spider-Man" title is well-known in the comics industry for being one of the best examples of a superhero whose problems outside of saving the world were given times and places in print to be properly fleshed out. Peter Parker (played superbly in the movies by Tobey Maguire, who's unsure if he'll return for part IV, if one ever manifests itself) was a geek, a loner, in grade and financial trouble, and had romantic woes; a bite from a genetically altered spider only compounded his problems. So this is why so many average Joes, like me, could relate to Spider-Man so easily. Although DC Comics had Batman and Superman, who both had great story lines, adventures and romantic entanglements of their own, it was Spidey's persistent personal problems that won over readers. The first two movies have addressed these perfectly.
In "Spider-Man 3," things seem to be looking up for our hero, both as Peter Parker and as Spider-Man, though they won't be that way for long. It seems he's finally gotten his life together and everything is going his way: Spider-Man has saved New York City from certain danger so many times he's finally getting the respect he so richly deserves (including the Key to the City). At school, he's at the top of his class, and he's about to pop the question to girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst).
However, he is still haunted by his inability to patch up his friendship with best pal Harry Osborn (James Franco), who blames Spider-Man and Peter for his father Norman Osborn's/Green Goblin's (played in the first film by Willem Dafoe, who also shows up here posthumously) death, although much is still unknown to the son, who eventually transforms himself into the notorious Green Goblin II, the first villain. And even though Mary Jane is a great Broadway actress and Peter tries to reassure her of that fact, she earns terrible reviews for her performance and is painfully distressed by the news. But because Peter is letting his newfound fame go to his head, it's difficult for her to express her real feelings to him.
The meat of the story gets underway when a mysterious black ooze bonds with Peter, and the alien symbiote brings about a darker side of his personality that threatens to destroy him. Once in the new "black suit," he comes to add revenge to his list of to-do items when he discovers that escaped convict Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) was involved in the death of his beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson, in flashback). Marko, on the other hand, while fleeing the cops, falls into an experimental vat and has his molecules zapped away, later reconstituting himself with the sand to become the Sandman. The Sandman becomes villain #2.
Meanwhile, a rival photographer at the Daily Bugle, Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), wants Peter's job of peddling photographs of Spider-Man to editor J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). Brock is also dating Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), who may or may not be flirting with Peter. Needless to say, when the two share a kiss and Mary Jane sees it, she doesn't take it lightly. The Black Suit continues an assault on Peter, who becomes increasingly hostile and once realizing what it's done to him, separates from it, the symbiote later bonding with a vengeful Eddie Brock to become Venom, villain #3. Can Peter Parker/Spider-Man overcome Green Goblin II, The Sandman and Venom (favorite), his inner demons, and get back Mary Jane and save the world within the allotted 140 minutes?
Co-screenwriter Raimi returns to his love-labor project triumphant. While some things could have been better fleshed out, the 140-minute running time was really pushing it in terms of story. Still, he and brother Ivan's screenplay manages to play itself out reasonably, although I still believe much was left on the cutting room floor. It's also obvious Raimi's taken cues from the "Superman" movies on how to craft an epic story. It is true that "Spider-Man 3" seems to do a lot, but you have to give Raimi credit for doing what he was able to do, combing the pages of Marvel Comics and combining basically 40 years worth of storyline into 2 1/2 hours.
While I doubt Tobey Maguire will probably return for another sequel, this is undoubtedly the actor's finest performance. It's amazing how well he was able to balance the tangled emotions of his tormented character. Although he has to be the least expressive good actor out there, I really liked him here, especially in his "darker" scenes. The other actors were good, including the great Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and especially Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko/The Sandman, who, like Dr. Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina) from "Spider-Man 2" (2004), earns our hearts as a sympathetic villain.
For this fan, "Spider-Man 3" is a bit of a mixed triumph, but it's a valiant effort from actors and filmmakers that know the heart of their material well.
10/10