Crackling with breakneck energy and rousing humor, this entry strives to up the entertainment ante.

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2010)

Spider-Man 3 stands as the most successful film in the series worldwide and Marvel's most successful film. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is comfortable, even self-satisfied, about Spider-Man's fame and success, but then his character comes under scrutiny when an alien organism morphs itself into a black suit that envelops him.
It is a decent addition to the franchise, with some nice moments: self-effacing Parker developing a swagger as he enjoys new-found celebrity, and a terrific new villain, the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who can turn at will into a fearsome monster made out of grains of sand. A couple of other villains might have been excised from the script, but the special effects are often dazzling, and while overlong, the film could be said to represent super-sized value.