We Always Have a Choice

Rating: 5/10 (12 July 2017)

Ah, the Spider-Man film that nearly ruined the franchise, Spider-Man 3. Like the previous two films, there's a tremendous amount of nostalgia attached to this film for me. This was the first trilogy of superhero films that I connected with, and at 13 years-old I was willing to forgive many of the mistakes this film made, most of which I cannot forgive a decade later.
Only a few films have tried balancing more than one villain, Spider- Man 3 being the classic example of how not to do it. Apparently, the studio forced Venom on Sam Raimi and hence making Harry & Sandman's arc far less effective when the final act is bogged down by a silly attempt at bringing Venom to the big screen. None of the three villains are all that great, but there's at least some emotional undercurrent with both Sandman and Harry. Venom is, more or less, just a third act reveal that is meant to please fans. Only, it did the exact opposite.
Another thing that definitely didn't win over fans was the fact that this film made Peter Parker an absolute jerk. It's one thing to have the symbiote change Peter, but it's another thing to have him physically abuse Mary Jane, and nearly kill his best friend Harry multiple times. This was far from the Peter Parker we came to love in the first two films.
Another headache was the direction they took Harry Osborn. Having him get "hit in the head" and lose his memory for half the film was one of the stupidest and laziest decisions I can remember from a comic-book film. I don't mind having Harry go the villainous route, but the memory loss was all a bit of a headache.
There is good, however. Raimi, as he proved in the first two, is great at shooting high-scale action. The CGI is definitely dated when looking back on it after 10 years, but the action is as visceral as anything in any Spider-Man film to date. Yes, that includes 'Homecoming'. If only the dialogue surrounding the action could match the brutality. I also think Thomas Haden-Church's performance as Sandman is nothing to scoff at, reminding me of the character depth that made Doc Ock so memorable. At the end of the day, Raimi was trying to give us a Spider-Man film that dealt with bigger and more important personal issues, whether that worked for you or not is entirely up to the viewer.
I think if Raimi had the tools that filmmakers have now (improved CGI) and perhaps a little less studio interference, then Spider-Man 3 could be a much better end to the trilogy than it ended up being. There's plenty I can't forgive about this film, especially the infamous 'dancing in the street' sequence, but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as people make it out to be.
+Action
+Deals with real issues
-But is sometimes careless in its execution
-3 villains proved to be way too much
-Memory loss for Harry
5.8/10