a tangled web

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2007)

Sam Raimi set the bar sky-high with his exceptional pair of Spider-Man films - the hype, fan-boy in-fighting and expectations of box-office records meant a lot of scrutiny would be inevitable when the 3rd installment finally hit the screens. Whilst Spider-Man 3 delivers the requisite thrills and goosebumps, Raimi has also given detractors plenty of ammunition - For every inspired moment there's a disappointing scene.
The ridiculously-hyped appearance of Venom was always going to disappoint the rabid fan-boys, and in that respect it didn't disappoint - the origin of the alien symbiote was weakly contrived.
Having never seen him in anything previously, I thought Topher Grace, did a reasonable job despite being lumped with a couple of dud lines and one really bad piece of expositional dialogue. The Venom character itself was amazing and probably the most satisfyingly rendered bad-guy in the trilogy; complaints have arisen due to the alleged lack of Venom's screen time, but some folks are just greedy; Venom/Eddie Brock's arc was handled pretty neatly and streamlined in that pleasing, popcorn-munching way that the Spider-Man films does so well .. but alas, that flimsy backstory !!
Bryce Howard was perfectly charming but completely wasted in her thin role as Gwen Stacey - the inclusion of a character named Gwen Stacey was a rare mis-step for Raimi when it comes to re-inventing Spider-Man's history; where Raimi's decree that Spidey's web-fluid was to be an organic substance was a clever change from the comic, there was really no need to bring the Gwen Stacey character into the movie cannon - the original Gwen Stacey storyline in the comic books was great (Peter Parker's girlfriend Gwen dies at the hands of the Green Goblin, further re-inforcing Parker's commitment to his responsibilities in tragic circumstances) and the weak character development in the movie actually surprised me when I half-expected something more substantial from such a potentially rich character source ..
Thomas Haden Church took up where Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus left off; he was great as Flint Marko/Sandman. However the CGI Sandman himself was underwhelming.
The character arcs of Kirsten Dunst's MJ and James Franco's Harry Osborn became unnecessarily convoluted and not altogether satisfyingly resolved; the scene where Harry learns of the true fate of his father was awkwardly resolved and has already copped plenty of criticism; rightly so. Nonetheless I particularly enjoyed Franco's performance in all three films.
OK, enough of the mixed reviewin', onto the really juicy stuff, the stuff I loved.
* J.K. Simmons is still a blast as blow-hard Daily Bugle Editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson
* 'the New Goblin' has been somewhat overlooked in the wake of the Venom/Sandman combination - however I thought the first fight scene between the Goblin and Spider-Man was the best action sequence in the film - that glider thingy was really cool !
* Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and Cliff Robertson in the smaller role of Uncle Ben were both serviceable once again; their characters always have the potential to become cloying, yet both actors invest great dignity into their roles as Peter Parker's guardians.
* Bruce Campbell. That's all I need to say, the guy is a legend.
* Elya Baskin and Mageina Tovah, playing the parts of Peter Parker's landlord and his daughter, were great again and had some fun scenes.
* the balls of Raimi to include two extended sequences of high quirkiness : Peter Parker, under the influence of the evil alien symbiote (disguised as a slick black Spider-Man outfit), begins to behave decidedly un-hero like - a scene involving Tobey Maguire strutting down the streets of New York bustin' some decidedly un-funky moves in order to impress the ladies is both hilarious and a clever way to portray Peter Parker's altered psyche. Later, a stylish dance sequence further illustrates Peter's ugly transformation. These scenes play out kinda like an inverted take on the equally unexpected 'Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head' scene from Spider-Man 2 - it's moments like that which made the Spider-Man trilogy special imo. A flawed but very entertaining film.