Spider-Man 3 (2007) - Review and Analysis by Jason Pitt for Critical-Film.com

Please comment on "Spider-Man 3", and it's review in our Forum.

Spider-Man 3 A film review by Jason Pitt For Critical-film.com   If the original Spider-Man was a 4-star film, and the sequel, a 5-star film, “Spider-Man 3” is at best a 3-star film. This is unfortunate, as “Spider-Man 2” still holds strong in my mind as the best superhero movie made, to date. I was hoping that Sam Raimi could infuse the third film with the same energy as the second, as well as the same level of character depth and development. I was terribly disappointed in both regards.   “Spider-Man 3” suffers primarily due to its belief that a sequel has to do everything bigger and better. While this can make a film a superior successor to the original if done well, such is not the case in this instance. “Spider-Man 3” is bogged down by an excess amount of storylines; more than any single film could handle, and maintain any amount of cohesion. At 2 ½ hours, the film should probably be about twice as long in order to make sense of the storylines. Each could be interesting in its own regard, given more time for proper development.   The most significant plot is Peter's relationship with Mary Jane, which becomes quite one-sided as Peter becomes more and more self absorbed. This culminates with Peter donning a black suit of alien symbiotic material which accentuates his negative characteristics, while making him stronger than ever before. A bad combination, if ever there was one. This was certainly my most highly anticipated part of the film, as it would of course lead to the creation of Eddie Brock's Venom. More on that later… While the internal conflict that should have plagued Peter while he was under the negative influences of said suit, should have been the central concept and backbone of the film, it isn't even a factor until the final third of the film. It is at this point, however, that the film falters most. The problem being that there is little internal conflict after Peter's first encounter with the suit. Sam Raimi puts more effort in making Peter a downright asshole, than adding character depth due to any sort of internal conflict. Peter harasses women, is rude to everyone, and flies off the handle many times, being more violent than usual to both villains and innocent people. While all of this could have been used to develop a very dark subplot, it is quite often used to a comedic effect which seems terribly out of place in the film.   There are a number of other subplots and background stories which are never given the development they deserve thanks to Raimi's eagerness to cram as much into this film as possible. The Sandman is painted as a somewhat misunderstood villain who is only trying to do what's best for his ill daughter. This would all be fine and dandy, but the Sandman's sequences are far too melodramatic for their own good, coming off as far too sappy and one dimensional. Once again, this could have all been fixed with a little more time to flesh out the character's resultant one-dimensionality.   The inclusion of Gwen Stacy had a lot of potential as well, which was lost with her appearance in only a handful of scenes. She serves only to further the distancing relationship between Peter and Mary Jane, as well as influence Eddie Brock's already loosening grip on his own sanity. Gwen should have been a central character, yet was again, criminally underused.   This brings us, of course to Venom; perhaps the worst inclusion of the entire film. This is tough for me to accept, because I, and I'm certain most of you, have looked forward to Venom's inclusion since the first film's release. Those who looked forward to Venom's film appearance with the same childish glee will no doubt be disappointed. The character doesn't make an appearance until the films closing sequence, as everything else in the film leads us to this point. When he does make his appearance, although he looks cool, something is dreadfully amiss. When Venom speaks with the voice of Eric Foreman from “That 70's Show,” it certainly doesn't make me shake in my boots. In the comics Venom was a large frightening hulk of Alien mass, who spoke in the third person with an unsettling raspy voice. His execution in the film is much different than the comics, even if his overall appearance is the same. He's much smaller, and doesn't really utilize his alien powers. When he spoke it took me right out of the moment – something you certainly don't want during your climactic action sequence. Unfortunate, but that's the way it is…   For the sake of simplifying this review, I will only say this of the new Green Goblin - his entire story is built on contrivance, and develops to the series largest contradiction of prior events. That's all I will say.   “Spider-Man 3” was personally, my most anticipated film of the year, and I walked away utterly disappointed. The film felt like it was made by someone with barely a passing knowledge of the Marvel comics, due simply to its lack of cohesion. The action sequences are well done, if nothing we haven't seen before; and the special effects on display are some of the best ever put to film. However, a film is nothing without a backbone, and a little spine, and “Spider-Man” has neither. After the significant step backward in quality from the original 2 films, I can only hope the series ends here. The filmmakers have shown that they are incapable of crafting a simple story at this point. For comic fans, some of the liberties taken from the comics may be a little much of a stretch (Sandman being Uncle Ben's real killer, come on), and fans of the films who are not familiar with the comics will no doubt feel slightly confused by the lack of explanation of the events that do transpire. It's very difficult for me, as I am a lifelong “Spider-Man” fan, and will always enjoy the comics and cartoons that played such a large role during my childhood, but I can, in no way, give “Spider-Man 3” a recommendation.   (Two and a half stars)   This review was provided in HTML format, as your browser is not capable of displaying flash content. To experience Critical-Film.com the way it was meant to be seen, please download the flash player from <a href="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOW">Macromedia</a>.