A Great Addition To The Spiderman Movie Franchise

Rating: 9/10 (15 October 2012)

Your friendly neighborhood web-slinger is back, only this time his sunny outlook has become partially overcast in the third chapter of director Sam Raimi's Spiderman saga in this movie entitled,Spiderman 3. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco return to reprise their roles from the previous two installments, with Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard making their first appearances in the series as Flint Marko,Eddie Brock and Gwen Stacy respectively.James Cromwell,Rosemary Harris and J. K. Simmons co-star to play supporting roles.
Peter Parker has finally leaned to walk the middle ground between being the superhero that his city needs and the man that Mary Jane loves. All is well in New York City until one night, as Peter and M.J. sit gazing at the stars, a falling comet streams across the sky and crashes into the ground close by. But this isn't any ordinary shooting star, and upon impact the mysterious space rock is split open to reveal a shape- shifting symbiotic with the power to overtake anything that it comes into contact with. Later, as Harry Osborn acquires his late father's flying board, engineers a powerful new Goblin outfit, and takes to the sky to avenge dad's death, the mysterious space sludge infects both Peter's Spider-Man suit and ambitious street photographer Eddie Brock. Peter's strange new suit gives him a new found sense of power as it gradually overpowers his personality, and he discovers that escaped convict Flint Marko was in fact the man responsible for the death of Uncle Ben.Unfortunately for Peter, Marko has recently acquired the power to morph at will and quickly completes his transformation into the dreaded Sandman. As the Sandman gives in to his darkest criminal instincts and the slithering space symbiotic transforms Eddie Brock into the nightmarish fanged villain known as Venom, the citizens of New York City must once again call on Spider-Man to fend off destructive forces that are far too powerful for the likes of mortal man.
How does Spider-Man 3 follow on the heels of its predecessor, which was widely considered the best superhero movie ever? For starters, you pick up the loose threads from that movie, then add some key elements of the Spidey comic-book myths, the black costume, and the characters of Gwen Stacy and her police-captain father. In the beginning, things have never looked better for Peter Parker: He's doing well in school; his alter ego, Spiderman, is loved and respected around New York City. And his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson, has just taken a starring role in a Broadway musical. But nothing good can last for Spidey. Mary Jane's career quickly goes downhill; she's bothered by Peter's attractive new classmate, Gwen Stacy; and the new Daily Bugle photographer, Eddie Brock, is trying to steal his thunder. Enter a new villain, the Sandman, who can transform his body into various forms and shapes of sand and who may be connected to Peter's past in an unexpected way. There's also the son of an old villain, Harry Osborne,who unmasked Spidey in the previous movie and still has revenge on his mind. And a new black costume seems to boost Spidey's powers, but transforms mild-mannered Peter into a mean and obnoxious boor.
If that sounds like a lot to pack into one 140-minute movie, it is.This is seriously overextended, with four distinct subplots and way too much hand-wringing over things like the heroine's singing career. While director Sam Raimi keeps things flowing, assisted on the screenplay by his brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent, there's a little too much going on, and it's inevitable that one of the four villains gets significantly short-changed. Still, the cast is excellent.Also,the effects are fantastic. And the action is fast and furious. Even if Spiderman 3 isn't the match from its predecessors as isn't quite as refined as the first two, it's a worthy addition to the mega-million dollar Spiderman franchise.