Really Not As Bad As People Say.

Rating: 8/10 (27 October 2014)

People were all excited to see Venom in Spiderman 3 since Venom is Spiderman's coolest and most popular villain. And since Spiderman 2 was so well-received, it would only make sense that the follow-up movie would possibly be better. I will be the first to admit that this was not as good as Spiderman 2, but I would say this is the second best Spiderman movie made. A little bit better than the first and much better than these new ones. I can see why some people would nit- pick at this, but they go too far by saying this was trash and that it was the worst superhero movie they'd seen. Ever see Superman IV? That's about was bad as 1959's Santa Claus.
The movie starts off with Peter planning on proposing to Mary Jane, but her frustrations with her Broadway career and jealousy of Gwen Stacy liking Peter gets the better of her. That is a flaw. We waited for two full movies for Peter to get the girl and he still can't? However, Maguire and Dunst are great actors so there is really nothing to worry about. Plus this adds tension because everybody wants Peter to get Mary Jane and he still has troubles. But you know he is just one step closer. There is also Harry Osborn who has become New Goblin and wants to destroy Spiderman. He gets amnesia in the process, but soon comes out of it and adds problems to Peter and May Jane's relationship. I don't think that Franco was all that good as Harry and New Goblin, but because of the build-up and characterization, the feud is awesome. And Harry screwing up the relationship makes the love story original and not very dull. Plus, there is Flint Marko who turns out to be uncle Ben's killer. He becomes Sandman and wants Spiderman gone. Flint is a bit weak, his story and place was weak, but when he turns into Sandman, look out! He is soooo awesome. The last villain is Venom: Edward Brock Jr. Eddie Brock is an up-and-coming photographer that envies Peter Parker as Parker outdoes Brock and his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, takes a liking to him. Played by skinny Topher Grace, I found this to be the biggest flaw. A bizarre piece of goo crash-lands on earth and turns Spiderman black. It also alters his personality. Peter becomes mean emo-Peter who struts around and dances randomly. Some parts of this were dumb, but Maguire was very convincing. Realizing the toll it takes on him, Peter takes it off and it lands on Eddie Brock, turning him into Venom. Another thing I liked about the toll it takes on Peter was his transition from nice, timid, Peter to vain, weird, emo- Peter. He was convincing as both, and his links to the emo and back were very well-done. A transitional character down the right way, like here, always impress me. Eddie Brock has always been displayed as a big guy, so Grace was a wrong call. Plus Venom is barely in it, when he is, they mostly show Brock's face. So I can se why most people would feel cheated by that. But when Venom is actually Venom, it is awesome. Everybody has to admit that Venom looked really cool. The end sequence when Spiderman fights both Venom and Sandman is monumental. The stakes were high and you really thought Spiderman was going to die. Then Harry finally saving Spiderman and both fighting Venom and Sandman was even cooler. The actions sequences and special effects were dazzling, so I don't get why those weren't praised like int he others. The character development and chemistry is an all-time high in the series, but some of it was too much, so the viewers felt cheated. The use of villains made the viewers feel cheated too, but it really want that bad because the positives erased most negatives. But because this was poorly received, producers tried too hard to come up with a great story for Spiderman 4. With too many disagreements, the plug was pulled and Sony rebooted the series. I hate what they've done. Spiderman 3 had the stuff for a sequel we were waiting for. Dr. Connors still had a piece of the goo that Peter gave him, Eddie Brock's death wasn't shown very well, so there would have been more Venom and maybe even Carnage. Instead, we now have arrogant, undeserving Peter Parker with villains used worse than this.
Tobey's Spiderman is a true hero. He was played as a total loser that got powers that gave him the confidence he needed to be a better person. He always triumphs over odds as the going gets tough.
3/4