So many subplots, so little time

Rating: 5/10 (19 July 2012)

Never in any superhero film I have seen has a heroine or a love interest gotten in as much trouble as Mary Jane Watson, still played by Kirsten Dunst. If she's not in trouble, she's a whiny, impenetrably jealous woman with mood-swings on the dime. She becomes bent out of shape from one petty kiss Spider-Man shares with Gwen Stacy, who is in Peter Parker's chemistry class, after he is awarded the key to the city early on in the film. And if she's not whiny and jealous, she's dangling helplessly, "x" amount of feet from land in a vehicle secured by webs strung in all different directions. Oh, now where's that dirty, rotten, cheatin' Spider-Man when you need him? Spider-Man 3 is a rather depressing and unsatisfying conclusion to a franchise that hit the ground running with its divine human scope, wonderfully colorful and cinematic special effects, and worthy performances from its entire cast. The original Spider-Man film was impeccably rewarding and undeniably entertaining, but more importantly, should be known as more than popcorn entertainment, but intelligent entertainment, with an appreciation and fondness for the human behind the mask and bearing it. Its sequel was even more impressive, depicting the agonies and the weight of being a College kid, a freelance photographer, a moderately-devoted romantic, a best friend, and a serene crime-fighting superhero all in a day's work. The stress on Peter Parker's shoulders was unbearable and the film, brilliantly written and directed, conveyed the angst and pressure perfectly.
With the first film being more about familiarity with powers and the second film being more about the struggle of the job, I contemplated what the third film would focus on. I imagine the writers, Alvin Sargent and the brothers Raimi, Sam and Ivan, did as well. Apparently, none of them were easy to agree, because Spider-Man 3 feels like someone had a plethora of ideas and shot in the dark with most of them. The film tirelessly juggles five stern subplots, while seemingly trying to incorporate more, to the point of cinematic confusion.
We are greeted again with Peter Parker, again, played by the effortlessly charismatic Tobey Maguire, who plans to romantically propose to the long-suffering Mary Jane Watson, who has just made her musical debut on Broadway. During their date, we see a strange, extraterrestrial symbiote crash-land on Earth and attach itself to the back of Parker's moped. Meanwhile, criminal Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), who will later become "The Sandman," has just escaped from prison, and is ostracized by his wife and daughter.
Before we go too much into that, the arrogant Harry Osborn (James Franco) returns and is infuriated at Peter Parker, who he believes is responsible for the death of his father in the first film. He carries on his dead father's orders to "avenge" him, and after a brazen fight in the New York City sky, Harry hits the ground hard and experiences short-term memory loss, making him forget his grudge towards Peter. He will inevitably regain his memory and transform into the "New Goblin." Before we go too much into that, Peter is also facing some harsh competition at "The Daily Bugle" newspaper (which is still run by the strict J. Jonah Jameson, continued to be played fantastically by J.K. Simmons) when Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), another freelance photographer, is hired by Jameson to try and catch Spider-Man doing something that would turn the town against him. Grace, who I continue to dub an underrated talent in film, plays Brock with admirable conniving instincts, and when he later must force himself into the role of "Venom," he does a solid job for a villain so underwritten. Venom was a last minute addition to Spider-Man 3 and it greatly shows, since his story is given very minimal time to develop. The character of Brock, too, is only modestly fleshed-out, and his screen appearance is short when compared to the likes of Sandman and Osborn's "Goblin." Before we go too much into that, we can't forget Mary Jane is struggling to get work in the enormous state of New York. She continues to plod along in the vaguest of limelights, desperately trying to achieve her dream as a consistent Broadway performer, but reality gives her hard slaps to the face and the film is sure to try and illustrate those.
And let's really not forget that symbiote that attached to Peter's moped and will eventually alter his personality by clinging to his body, giving his red spidey suit an unwanted black makeover. This will too turn the geeky, socially-awkward Parker into an over-confident, boastful cad with dark eyeshadow and a Gothic-like persona.
There's Spider-Man 3 in the biggest nutshell I can find. I almost forgot to mention the redundancy in its sentimentality as well. This is without a doubt the sappiest Spider-Man extravaganza we've gotten and are likely to ever get from a film based on this character. Everybody offers some sort of advice to Peter, several characters shed tears, even the villains (which tremendously obscures how we're supposed to look at The Sandman in particular, with sympathy? Forgiveness? Or just nihilistic impulse because he's a villain?). Despite some extremely well-done effects work, easily making this the most visually impressive and eye-catching film in the series, the overwrought nature, the depressingly underdeveloped subplots, the shorthanded villain backstories, the repetitive sentimentality that creates an atmosphere more self-depreciating and mawkish than need be, and the needlessly emphasized issues that should've been left as subtle as possible, Spider-Man 3 is a big budget mess and a big budget disappointment.
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Rosemary Harris, and J. K. Simmons. Directed by: Sam Raimi.