Spider-Man 3 (2007): A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.
This latest installment of the Spider-Man saga was entertaining, but compared to the previous movie it was less satisfying.
This movie starts with Spider-Man at the top of his game. He is loved by NY and he is even receiving the keys of the city. MJ on the other hand is fired from her musical play and ends up waiting and singing in a jazz pub. This the start of the straining relationship between them. The main problem I have with this relationship is that Peter is presented as the selfish jerk, not putting MJ in front of his own life. But in reality they both are selfish. MJ is also selfish not caring for what Peter does everyday, which is saving lives and putting away criminals. However she chose this life, she knew what she was getting into at the end of SM2, but she still chose to stick by Peter. However I did think that Peter was a jerk for letting Gwen kiss him upside down. I liked the scene where MJ broke up with him, Peter’s reaction is exactly what I would say. But again, I did not like how MJ was forced to do it and she just did it without telling Peter the truth.
Their relationship takes a definite turn in the restaurant scene, where Peter was gonna propose to her but they almost break up. That scene is very emotional, but at the same time it was hilarious thanks to Bruce Campbell playing the Maître d’. That was his best appearance in these movies.
There are 3 villains in this movie, but I think the one I was most interested in was Harry. He’s been setup as the villain every since the first movie, so the fact that he attacks Peter at the beginning of the movie was foretold. And then he loses his memory… very conveniently. I really hate this type of plot device, I think it’s just lazy writing. So all of a sudden he loses his memory and becomes a good guy again. He hangs out with Peter as if they were still roommates, which was a setup for the team up in the final battle. I liked that we saw him team up with Spider-Man in the final fight, I didn’t see that one coming. However the way he realizes that Peter was right all along is really forced. The butler tells him one simple information (which he should have had long before) and he turns for good? Don’t buy it. James Franco was never any good in these movies, he has this grin on his face that just looks weird to me.
Next up is Sandman, who is the one that most resembles Doc Ock in terms of personality. He is not the typical evil guy looking to become rich and powerful. He is just a man who was just trying to help his daughter, but went the wrong way. He was also retconned into Uncle Ben’s murder, which also felt a little bit forced. But at least he was made relevant to Peter’s personal story. The effects of the Sandman are great, as they should be since they spent a lot of money on them. I am not sure how he can fly, and if he was just floating with the wind how did he choose which way to go? Unfortunately his story is abandoned for a good portion of the movie, to then come back all of a sudden to team up with Brock and kill Spider-Man. And I have a problem with that too. If he is so innocent and a good guy, why does he want to kill Spider-Man and endanger MJ in the process? If he is so sad about killing Ben by mistake, shouldn’t he be at least hesitant about kidnapping MJ? I just think his turn in the final scene is too sudden right after the big battle where he was such a bad monster. It was ok with Doc Ock, because he was somehow influenced by the tentacles, and then sacrificed himself to correct his mistake. But Sandman is not controlled by the sand! He should have been forced by some other event into teaming up with Brock.
And the final villain is Eddie Brock. Ever since his introduction I didn’t like this character. He tells Cap. Stacy that he is dating his daughter (a lie, they just had a drink) while they are watching Gwen Stacy in grave danger. But he doesn’t seem worried at all about her safety. That made it difficult for me to sympathize with him when he was angry at Peter for “stealing” his girlfriend. But he is also angry because Peter found out that he cheated to get his job. Well whose fault is that? I did not like this whole subplot about Brock. Once he becomes Venom he is just a monster for Spider-Man to beat.
Now let’s get to the biggest problem for me. Evil Peter. The symbiont is supposed to make the person more aggressive and dark, in fact Peter shouts at his landlord one time, and punches MJ during a fight. Normal Peter would never have done that. However we also see Peter act like a total jerk who think he is cool. He walks like Tony Manero, thinking that girls in the streets like him. He even makes the stupid Staying Alive dance in the middle of the street. That sequence was funny taken on its own, however in the context of the story it doesn’t make sense at all. I really had a hard time enjoying those scenes, as funny as they were. And why does the symbiont make Peter a great dancer and piano player? Again, well filmed scenes but they don’t make sense.
Another problem are the many forced coincidences in this movie. In a super hero story that will always be some coincidental events, starting from the origins of the characters powers. However there were way too many and too forced in this story. There should be an explanation for why Gwen was in the building and she was the one who fell off of it. Why did Peter go to that particular church and right next to the bell? Why was Eddie in that particular church praying for the death of Peter? How did Eddie find Sandman when nobody else could? This story simply lacked a coherent flow that bonded together all the different story lines.
Aunt May had a nice scene at the beginning when she was talking about how Ben proposed to her. Other than that this character is completely wasted on one single purpose: to impart life lessons to Peter, so that he can make the right decision. There is no character development or study on her past or present at all.
And finally two little nitpicks. Where is the spider-sense in this movie? There were so many instances where Peter should have sensed the incoming danger, but we were never shown this at all. As I said, it’s a minor complaint but at the same it shows the lazy or rushed writing. Also an indication of lazy writing: MJ is kidnapped and dangled from high point for the THIRD time!! Let’s come up with fresh ideas the next time.
Despite all these problems there were good things about this movie. All the action scenes and special effects were very good. I liked the black spidey costume, his movements were also slightly different so that we could see that Peter felt very good about it. The Sandman effects were again, as were the Venom effects. Not only how the alien symbiont moved, but also how the Venom face looked, including the teeth. Although I am not sure why Eddie would have those teeth as well. Some people didn’t like that Venom kept showing Eddie’s face while he was talking, but I think Raimi made a good choice. He learned from the problems in the first movie, so whenever there are masked people talking he will find a way to get rid of the masks.
The action at the beginning with Harry and Peter was very fast paced with quick edits. I liked that scene and it put me in the right mood for the rest of the movie. However on the IMAX screen it looked a little bit hard to follow. The final battle at the end was huge and enjoyable. As I said I liked the team up between Spidey and Harry, less so about the Venom / Sandman team up.
Looking back at this review I really had a lot of problems with the script, so I cannot give this movie 3 stars, even though there were enjoyable parts. I believe three villains forced the writers to mesh together too many different story lines, a difficult task that they didn’t achieve.
Rating: 2.5 Stars