Spider-man 3 Review (Spoiler-free)

5/10/07 11:42 AM comics , movies , No Disintegrations , reviews , Spider-man 0 Comments

Friday night I went to see Spider-man 3. It was opening night at an off show time, but the theater was still packed with fans. Spidey's got his work cut out for him in this one as he faces three enemies: Venom, Sandman, and New Goblin. The movie is very fast paced, almost too fast at times to fully absorb what's happening.

Coming in with a budget of approximately $500 million, you expect to see where the money went and you do. It was definitely poured into the special effects portion of the film - and it's worth every penny. The effects required to make Sandman believable had to cost a fortune by themselves. They didn't waste anything when it came to the symbiote suit or Venom either.

The plot is complex and familiar at the same time as themes from the previous films are revisited and recalled. One of the neatest things about the film is that they recap the highlights of the first two in the opening credit sequence. Symbiote Spidey is a total bad ass, as is Symbiote Peter Parker. Topher Grace is believable as a character other than Eric Foreman. Kirsten Dunst does her usual sneering and sniveling, some of which is more grating than the first two films, but there is one scene in there that Kirsten haters will LOVE. Bruce Campbell has some decent screen time and provides some great comic relief. I'm glad to see his old buddy Sam managed to use him a lot more this time. Stan Lee makes his usual appearance with a small bit of advice for our hero.

There's one scene near the end where a background character plays an unnecessary major role in the plot that ruins a character redemption. Other than that, the movie flows fairly well. There's a good balance of action, drama, and comedy. You get occasional slow spots, but due to the fast pace of most of the film, you almost welcome them. Overall, I thought it was a solid effort from Raimi and crew. It's open enough for another sequel, but resolved enough that you aren't hanging.

If you liked the first two films, you'll love this one. If you thought the first two were okay, I'm not sure where you'll fall on this one - although I think it lives up to its predecessors. My advice is go see it - it'll probably be the best comic-related offering we have this summer, and definitely the best sequel.