Film Review: Spider-Man 3 (2007) B

Date Viewed: 5/9/07
Venue: DGA

Let me get something off my chest: I hated Spider-Man 2. Well, I didn't hate the whole thing. I actually enjoyed whatever screentime was given to uber villain Doc Ock, but I loathed every frame of hand-wringing, angsty superhero self-questioning that Peter Parker had to endure. I want my superheroes doing super things first, self-analyzing second.

Which leads us to Spider-Man 3, which is a giant mess of intersecting plots, love interests, and bad guys. Spidey must deal with the honest criminal Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church), the alien Venom, and a new Green Goblin (James Franco), while alter-ego Peter Parker has a rival photographer (Topher Grace), ongoing problems with Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and a new love interest in Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard).

That's a lot to keep a handle on, even in a lengthy 140 minute running time, and I can't say the film is entirely successful with the juggling act. Neither Sandman's or Venom's storylines feel fully played out, and Gwen Stacy is actually overdevelped in relation to her importance to the overall plot.

Still, there is a lot of action, which solves one of my issues with the last Spidey film. And Peter's ongoing conflict with Harry (the Green Goblin) is nicely done and their showdowns are the best parts of the film. There's also a lot of over-the-top humor with Peter's dip into his dark side (via contact with the evil alien Venom) that works well within the series' slightly lighthearted tone. And did I mention (the mighty) Bruce Campbell is back again and hilariously steals a scene as a snooty French waiter?

Spider-Man 3 is by no means a perfect movie. It's a very flawed summer sequel that, like many sequels before it, tries to cram too much into a single film. But the action set-pieces are well done, the humor is free-flowing, and I'd rather have a film try too much and fail some than do too little and bore me.