Clearly the Best...and Hopefully the End

Rating: 9/10 (8 May 2007)

When it comes to Spider-man, Raimi clearly knows his business! I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the black suit. I already knew that the Green Goblin 2 would be involved, there was the back story and sub-plotted love triangle romance between Parker, MJ, and Osborne, Sandman was cast, and the black Spidey-suit clearly indicated the Venom storyline (a fact highly debated here on the IMDb boards, but I KNEW ;) ) Subsequently, I was afraid Sam was going to try to do too much with this film.
My worry was for naught. This movie skillfully meshes the complete, intricately woven web of intrigue, suspense, action, drama, and romance into one beautiful gossamer masterpiece, with the exception of the dysfunctional relationship element. I know much of the lure to Spiderman is that he is a regular guy who makes mistakes in the relationship department, can't hold a job, has an awkward relationship with his only living relative, and makes other mistakes too many to mention, but the dysfunctional aspects were too heightened here to garner appreciation and sympathy towards the lead character. In fact, they were a put off to this work.
There IS one other aspect I can't say I loved: The CGI treatment was discernible. I think when CGI is prolifically used, it should be used well, and not be blatantly obvious to the untrained eye. In several places in this film, it was just that...not used well, and blatantly obvious to anyone looking...but again, it was only in places. It wasn't enough to bring down the whole movie. It DID serve to distract, however.
I won't detail the plot as so many have done. Suffice it to say that this was the perfect ending to this franchise. End it now, before it can suffer franchise sickness and bad installments. This was pure perfection. Let's leave it to graze majestically.
There has been some buzz around Hollywood concerning Spider-man 4. Frankly, this movie closes all the necessary gaps and winds things up in a satisfactory conclusion. I see no reason to continue this franchise. End it on a high note, and let it go in glory. Please. But, Raimi seems to have moved on to other projects. He has recently sold a M4TV movie idea to Terry Goodkind, concerning his widely popular series, "The Sword of Truth Novels," namely "Wizard's First Rule." And, if the rumors are true, Raimi has been approached by New Line's Bob Shaye concerning direction of the impending Peter Jacksonless Hobbit endeavor. Let's hope Raimi has the sense to pass on that one! Half the world would hate him! At least, Jackson fans would, and that equates many, many movie-goers to boycott that work.
It rates a 9.4/10 from...
the Fiend :.