Spider-Man 3

Release Date: May 4, 2007

Watch Date: August 11, 2024

“Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finally has the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and New York City is in the throes of Spider-mania! But when a strange alien symbiote turns Spider-Man’s suit black, his darkest demons come to light changing Spider-Man inside as well as out. Spider-Man is in for the fight of his life against a lethal mix of villains – the deadly Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace), and the New Goblin (James Franco) – as well as the enemy within himself.”

---

   We’ve come to the end of an era, of the classic Spider-Man, the one I grew up with at least, Tobey Maguire. And we go out without as much of a bang as I would have hoped, but also less of a whimper than everyone talks about.

   Are there too many villains in this film? Yes. I think including ‘New Goblin’ not a villain I was aware of, you could have just called him Hobgoblin, was one step too far. Yes, it’d been building, but it didn’t need to come at Spider-Man all at once. I understand that there needed to be a villain to give the symbiote the anger he needed from Spider-Man, but either Sandman or New Goblin could have done that on their own.

   Is ‘Emo Peter Parker’ a little too cringe? Absolutely. I get second hand embarrassment every time I watch those scenes. But the thing is, and I think what some people might have missed when it first came out, is that he’s meant to be cringe. The symbiote doesn’t make him cooler, it’s just feeding off of his pride and making him think he seems smooth. Instead, he’s just another crazy person dancing in the New York City streets and making finger guns at girls – a technique which never works by the way. And I think that, personally, we could have all done without the dance.

   Are M.J. and Peter terrible for each other? Again, yes, they are. Their relationship just doesn’t work, and I don’t know why anyone would hold it up as the ideal romantic relationship, or one of the best from the comics. At least not the way it’s portrayed in this film. She purposefully doesn’t tell him she’s lost her job, or that she’s found a new one she’s unhappy with. She gets mad when she tells him how she’s feeling about her reviews, and when he tries to relate, she says he’s making it all about himself. She cheats on him, really, really easily. And on top of all that, there’s not even resolution about where their relationship is by the end of the film. I think they were expecting a fourth one? I don’t know. But it’s not well done.

   The intro sequence is also weird, where it recaps the first two movies. Which is great. But…I’ve never seen another film do that in a montage before the actual movie starts. It just feels long, drawn out, and boring. There wasn’t enough backstory, or important enough backstory, that couldn’t have been covered in a few lines of dialogue. I will admit though, that if more Marvel movies did this, it would make following the epic decade long plot line a lot easier.

   But this movie is fun. This movie does have a heart, at least where Sandman is concerned. I think Topher Grace does a pretty good job of being Eddie Brock Jr., and he has the best line in the entire film in my opinion (going to a Catholic church and asking God to kill someone is pretty ballsy, and made me laugh way more than Bob thought appropriate). It’s a good popcorn flick, it does have resolution to at least one major plot point, and it leaves Spider-Man, at least, in a good place. Which is good, since we won’t see him again for over a decade.