A different Spider-Man ...

Rating: 7/10 (13 October 2007)

Whatever the differences are between the Spider-man movies and the comic-books, it's futile to talk about it because I have never read a single comic-book. I have heard that not all changes are good ones, but I didn't notice any of those because in my case: ignorance is a bless. Unfortunately: all of this is a moot point given the fact that one doesn't need to read the comic-books in order to grasp the flaws this film holds.
Nothing is really bad though, but some stuff just doesn't work out nicely. The big battle near the end is a little too hectic for its own good. Also near the end: we get two emotional scenes but neither one of those really do the job since they lack the intensity. The moral speeches by May Parker, who serves more as a mother than an aunt for Peter, become repetitive and we see too little of actor J.K. Simmons who is ever-excellent in playing the chief of the New York City newspaper The Daily Bugle.
But there is some good stuff too. The only way for this film to be even more spectacular than the previous one was to add an extra enemy which is why Spider-Man now faces more than one enemy at the same time. And the new villains are indeed quite fascinating. There is Sandman who is exactly what the name tells you: he's a man of sand! And there is also Venom which is some sort of a sticky black substance that is actually alive. And when it comes into contact with a human being, it brings out the worst in them! Also: a new version of the Goblin comes into play, but this character is tied between the love for his friends Peter and Mary Jane and getting the proper revenge for his father's murder.
The special effects are spectacular and this is of course a must! The birth of the Sandman is arguably the single most breathtaking scene of all three Spider-man movies. It reminded me a little of the 1999-adventure movie "The mummy" where the evil creature Imhotep also does a very nice trick with sand. The shapeless creature Venom is undoubtedly the strangest but also the most vicious of all superhero villains ever depicted in a Spider-man movie (or any other comic-book adaptation; for that matter). It produces a few laughs when we get to lay our eyes on the new Peter Parker but brings out just as many semi-thrills when - near the end - the real Venom makes an appearance. The many battles are also entertaining to watch albeit some of those are a bit overdone perhaps. In the first two films J.K. Simmons provided the most laughs and while he is still amusing, I thought that the funniest moment this time came from Bruce Campbell playing a French waiter.
In short: "Spider-Man 3" is not as good as its predecessors due to a few flaws that could have been prevented, but still entertains and that's the main thing! It's a typical good popcorn movie that focuses more on SFX and action than on any of its characters and their storyline.