Too soapy, too long, but overall okay

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2007)

Being a big Spider-Man 1-2 and Sam Raimi fan, I was looking forward to seeing this movie. I couldn't imagine that Raimi would be able to surpass the brilliant Spider-Man 2, but was at least hoping for a decent closure. And I think that Spider-Man 3 is exactly that: a decent closure. The first half of the story is heavy on the soapy side. While Peter Parker is getting all the appreciation as Spider-Man, the career of MJ is really going down. She gets fired from her Broadway play and must go back waitering in a jazz café. This causes a lot of stress in their relationship. The movie really kicks off when Sandman arrives at the scene and when Harry starts making plans to get rid of Peter Parker once and for all. Later on there's Topher Grace as well. Him becoming Venom is a great thing. I just wished there was more screen time for Venom. The Harry - Peter Parker relationship (with MJ in the middle) was what really worked in the film. Showing Peter Parker's dark side was well done, but couldn't they stop him from dancing? You know what I mean when you see the film. Of course, the movie is action packed. But frankly, we've seen fight scenes like these before (in part 1 and 2). They don't surprise us anymore. The final fight between the good guy(s) and bad guys is really cool. You really get that superhero-comic book sense of a greatness. Spider-Man 3 is no masterpiece. It's a very well made movie that only disappoints when you compare it to the previous movies. As a stand alone, it's great entertainment! 8/10