Please, no more

Rating: 5/10 (20 July 2007)

The third installment of the Spiderman franchise has left me praying that someone holds out to thwart the production of a 4th. It's becoming as ridiculous as the chicken fights on Family Guy. The effects are spectacular as usual, revolutionary, six years ago. But there is less of the sweeping shots of Spidey swinging nimbly from building to building and more prolonged, mid-air, action sequences that remind me more of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon than a comic book film.
Painstakingly dragged out to two and a half hours, the film consists of alternating scenes of Peter Parker trying to make things right in his relationship with Mary Jane in overly emotional discussions filled with trailer-worthy one-liners. The other half of the film, where they skip the plot and fall back on lots of flying through the air, is constant action. From the battle at the beginning with Green Goblin, through the introduction of Sandman and Venom, there are enough villains to create a new combination of fighters for each lengthy sequence. In the films defense the effects for Sandman and Venom are awe-inspiring. (See clip below of the Sandman's first appearance, it's great, but it's two minutes long.)
The main issue? The Peter Parker/Mary Jane relationship is unconvincing and forced. I never believed their interaction once during the film. Their separation and Parker's intentions of marrying Mary Jane never feel real. Which is saying something in a film where mutant black goo takes over two men's' bodies, a man trips into a nuclear experiment and has his cells fused with sand and where Topher Grace isn't a stoner. Despite all of these things, the relationship between Kristen Dunst and Tobey Maguire was the least believable thing here.
The final battle between the Green Goblin/Spiderman team and Sandman and Venom is pretty amazing, but the film has just gotten out of hand by that point. The scene is more laborious than the ending of Return of the King. And with four superheroes battling it out I'm left to wonder what we have done to deserve Raimi's consideration of a fourth Spiderman film.