Spider-Man 3 Review

(slight spoilers)
Last summer, the third installment of Marvel Comics' second most successful comic to movie adaptation, X-Men was released on the silver screen. I entered the theater with much trepidation. I'd learned that Bryan Singer, the director of the 1st two films had been unceremoniously dumped due to his involvement with resurrecting the Superman franchise. Singer offered to return to the X-Men and give his conclusion to the narrative, but Fox said thanks, but no thanks. Instead Fox hired the infamous Brett Ratner of Rush Hour frame, started production one month after Superman began production and was in theaters one month before the last son of Krypton. The resulting film was a train wreck. Deaths of major characters for shock value, hokey dialogue, and improper plotting. They took the pinnacle of the X-Men's 40+ years of stories, the rise and fall of the Phoenix, and relegated it to a subplot. Now here we are, one year later, and Spidey is looking to complete a trifecta with a more satisfying conclusion. The difference is the original director/screenwriter, Sam Raimi, is still on board.

A little background Spidey and I. I've known of him for a while (see photo) and he was one of the principal introductions I had into comics. I thought the first film was amazing, until I saw the 2nd one. Every aspect of the first film: the emotional journey of Peter, the love story between him and MJ, the breakdown of Harry Osborn, the effects of Spidey in action, all continued and were improved upon. The train sequence blows my mind and then breaks my heart. Every time. I was highly anticipating this installment of his story with a bit of trepidation. I was awaiting his final fight with Harry as the new Goblin, but then I began to hear reports of two other villains that would appear in the movie. This seemed like too much and began to sound a lot like how other superhero franchises have failed (see Batman Forever. Don't even try viewing Batman and Robin). Still I trusted Raimi and went in with high hopes. I think this is a key point. I think your enjoyment of a pop culture snack is largely based on your initial expectations.

My initial impression is that it is a satisfying conclusion to the first two movies. We're given a resolution to Harry/Peter conflict that might have been the highlight of the movie for myself. It was patterned very close to the comics and is a personal story to my brother and I. We're given a new obstacle for Peter, dealing with success, which he does not handle well at all. Even before the symbiote. The MJ/Parker relationship is again strained to the breaking point, and this felt like a bit of a retread, but if they don't have issues, we don't have a movie. I'd have like to have seen Gwen Stacy in a bigger role. NERDFACT: Gwen was actually Pete's 1st major love in college who met her demise at the hands of the 1st Goblin in the scenario you saw Mary Jane in the 1st movie. As for the effects, they were excellent as always. I think there was only one instance where things looked a bit off (Gwen running from the crane).

We're there too many villains? Yes, but Raimi does his best with the cards he was dealt. He was pressured by the execs to bring in the fan favorite, Venom, into the franchise. You could have done this movie without the alien symbiote and it would've probably been more of a grounded personal journey as the first 2 were. But Raimi uses the black costume well, giving us the fantastically hilarious Emo-aggresive Peter Parker and the angry-vigilante Spider-Man. There are also a lot of convenient coincidences in this movie, which are at times hard to swallow. Have the Symbiote arrive on earth attached to a landing shuttle (piloted by John Jameson, of course) and then seeking out Peter, due to his super powered nature.
The performances were solid. Tobey really is Peter Parker in my mind. Excellent cameos by Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell. Kirsten Dunce's acting is fine, but she seemed to have soured on the role in her press interviews and with her character doing a lot of souring on the screen it leaves an acidic taste on the tongue. Bryce Dallas Howard is given very little to do as Gwen, but looks the part and has the acting chops to do the character justice if given more. Topher Grace is fun and J.K. Simmons is still the best J Jonah Jameson ever.

Currently Spider-Man 2 is still my favorite, then Spiderman and then 3. But they are similar to the Star Wars original trilogy in that I enjoy them all. We'll see if anything changes once I see it in IMAX.