Fails to live up to expectations but still very entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (4 May 2007)

Spider-Man 3(2007)
Starring: Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson James Franco as Harry Osborn/The New Goblin Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko/The Sandman
Plot: In a complete reversal of the beginning of Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker's life is looking up! He finally has Mary Jane, Spider-Man is loved by the city of New York, and he's not doing too bad with his money problems. All that is ready to change, however, when a mysterious symbiote from space attaches itself to him. This gives him a new black suit, and a new outlook on life. Suddenly it enhances his darker qualities and he has to find a way to get rid of it. It doesn't help matters when there are three guys hunting for him: His best friend Harry, The Sandman, and later on, Venom.
It's been three long years since I've last been on an adventure with Spider-Man. Needless to say, the wait has been long and the excitement was at a fever pitch as I sat down to a midnight showing ready to finally see Spider-Man again. Not just that, but Venom! Everyone loves Venom and to see him on the screen hopefully would be a worthwhile experience. Was it?
I'll start on this with the flaws first, to get them out of the way. Raimi seems to have lost a step since Spider-Man 2. Not that I blame him, because after releasing a film that good, I can see how it would be hard to please the audience that well again. He tried to do this by over-filling the movie with a multitude of plots and villains and in the end it seems kind of crowded. The new villains aren't nearly as fleshed out as previously because there simply wasn't time, so caring about them is a little harder than last time.
This movie also has the disadvantage of some silliness. There are some lines, and some moments in the movie where I'm not quite sure what they were trying to accomplish. Why does Mary Jane sing? Why is Peter, under the influence of the suit or not, dancing around like a fool? It just seemed unnecessary and I didn't see the point of it at all. The comedy in the first two was intentional but kept to a minimum(Jameson, etc) but here it felt like they were trying too hard to keep the comedy in what should have been a darker movie.
When this movie does grasp it's dark roots, it works. Peter Parker, the jerk, is completely what he needed to be and Tobey pulls off a great job in making him that way. The subtle things like smashing Brock's camera or even the bigger things like attacking Harry do a much better job than some odd dance number thrown in. It's obvious they chose this story for the "Battle Within" subplot and they pull it off here, especially because Tobey is a credible actor and does what is needed and more.
The rest of the cast are clearly comfortable in their roles and so they have no more effort to play them, but they still do a good job. JK Simmons returns again and he's always welcome(it's all about that scene with marketing the Bugle), and Bruce Campbell(making his third cameo in a completely unrelated role) is hilarious too. Thomas Haden Church was limited as The Sandman, but because of his abilities he is able to create sympathy(almost out of spite, it seemed) and Topher Grace plays Eddie Brock, and his alter-ego Venom very well(in spite of limited screen-time).
While I am mad that Venom isn't on nearly as much as I would like, he still looks great and Topher made him work. I think we'll see him again, in Spider-Man 4(And if you paid attention, you'd understand why). I love the fact they kept in certain aspects to the character, like his weakness, and the fact that he doesn't trigger Peter's Spider-Sense, as well as his origin.
The special effects and action sequences were good here again, including a battle royale at a construction site that just takes the cake. You know where the budget went? That final battle. There are so many hard shots and effects there that I can't imagine how much work went into it. Any problems that I had with the movie melted away as that last scene made it worth sitting through silly dancing and singing.
Overall, Spider-Man 3 may be the weakest of the series, but that does not mean it was a bad movie. It was still worthwhile, the action was great and I very much enjoyed myself. BRING ON SPIDER-MAN 4!
Rating: ***1/2 of *****