Spider-Man 3

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

It is probably the most anticipated movie of 2007. Since it was announced over two years ago, people have been salivating for it, awaiting what director Sam Raimi and company can do to top the last one. The international box office has been quiet the last couple of weeks because everyone feels that it will rule once more, just like the first two films in the series. “It” is of course, “Spider-Man 3”.

For a comic book geek like me, the surge in superhero- and comic-based films has been a delight. After all, there was a time when I thought my favorite superheroes were doomed to reside merely within the confines of “the funny pages”. Luckily, technology, audience tastes, and Hollywood realized what I have known for so long: there’s a gold mine in comics just waiting to be tapped. Perhaps there is no bigger comic-movie adaptation franchise than the “Spider-Man” series. Since the first Spidey film broke box office records in 2002, there has been a true comic-to-movie boom, with the wall crawler as the biggest star.

In the latest installment of the franchise, life is actually good for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). He’s in a relationship with his longtime crush, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). New York finally appreciates his efforts as Spider-Man and shows him love. Even his job at the Daily Bugle isn’t as bad as it used to be. However, things are never quite perfect in Spider-Man’s world. Old friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) still blames Peter for the death of his father Norman (Willem Dafoe). Escaped convict Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) is discovered to be the real culprit in the death of Peter’s Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) and becomes the villainous Sandman. And a strange gooey substance of alien origin is about to change Peter’s attitude about a lot of things.

Let’s get this out of the way right now: I loved the first two “Spider-Man” films. For the first time in a long time, Raimi captured what Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created in comic form and successfully translated it into living, breathing three-dimensional characters. Both had all the pathos and conflict that are eternally consuming the lives of Peter Parker and his supporting cast in the comics. For once, movie audiences saw a superhero with numerous faults and doesn’t necessarily earn a “happily ever after” ending. With villains like the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus, you had malevolent menaces who did everything to put Spider-Man through the ringer.

My anticipation of “Spider-Man 3” stemmed for the most part for the big screen debut of the villain known as Venom. A Spidey villain from the 1990s, Venom was an alien symbiote who once acted as Peter’s black costume, but tried taking over his mind by bonding with him. Once Peter defeated the costume, it bonded with disgraced photographer Eddie Brock, and both set on destroying the Web-Head through various means. Venom was one of the most popular Spidey villains, but Marvel Comics overexposed him and had him appearing in too many titles. The popularity eventually waned and Venom became a symbol of what was wrong with comics in the last decade.

I however still enjoyed Venom. With a great character design stemming from the old black Spidey costume, a toothy grin with a disgusting tongue, and a buffed up physique for Brock when he bonded with the symbiote, Venom was a great counterbalance to Spider-Man. In this film, I believe Topher Grace played a great Brock and Venom. He was as sneaky and lacking in morals as the character should be. Church proves that you can have great acting in a superhero film. As the Sandman, he lends weight to the role of a villain who didn’t want to go down this path, but would do anything for his sick daughter. Franco finally gets some serious screen time in his third Spidey film. As the “New Goblin”, he actually gets in on the action and is also allowed to flex his considerable acting muscles.

Perhaps that last paragraph is also why I didn’t enjoy “Spider-Man 3” as I did the first two flicks. It just felt that, at times, there was too much going on at the same time. SPOILER WARNING: You had Peter’s selfishness versus Mary Jane’s insecurity. There’s Harry’s short term memory loss. There’s Eddie Brock’s sleazy personality and his hate for Peter. There’s Sandman’s sick daughter and sudden revelation that he’s Ben Parker’s real killer. There’s the new black costume that came from outer space. That’s a lot of plots and subplots to fit in a 2 and ½ hour long film.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing Venom and Sandman translated so well on the big screen. It’s just that I kind of felt that there were certain compromises made to force what could have been two motion pictures into just one. It really bugs me that Raimi and company made Flint Marko Ben Parker’s real killer. Maybe my comic purist tendencies are coming out, but that’s just me. I also felt that they made both MJ and Peter a little too whiny in this film. I mean they’re flawed and all, but they don’t have to be such selfish little prisses, do they?

I would still recommend “Spider-Mann 3” to everybody out there. Please, draw your own conclusions! It’s just that this comic book geek can’t help but feel that this film could’ve been way better than what was the end result.