Spider-Man 3

After already heralding the biggest box office weekend in history (for how long is questionable though with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End today) Spider-Man 3 would have already served its main purpose. It has been a success and no matter what Sony may have been hinting at before this is most definitely not the last film in the series. But is it any good, and can the foundations laid by the first two films be built upon? Well the answer is… kind of. Whilst not the masterpiece many were hoping for Spider-Man 3 is still an entertaining and enjoyable blockbuster that suffers from a few basic flaws that hold it back. In fact I went into the film with rather lowered expectations from the rather mixed reviews the film has received since its release and maybe because of that I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I might.

Picking up some time after the end of the second film we begin by finding Peter Parker (Toby Maguire again perfect in the role) on top of the world, he is considering proposing to Mary-Jane, Spider-Man is more popular than ever, however it isn’t long before factors conspire to tip this balance and once again turn Peter’s world upside down. Now I’m not going to detail the plot because it does get rather confusing, now this in itself is not a bad thing but the criticisms that the film tries to stuff too much in are fairly justified. As well as Peter Parkers relationship issues we have (ultimately) three villains to contend with at one time or another and tying these threads together ultimately is where the film starts to fall apart, relying on unbelievable co-incidences and expositional speeches to navigate plot holes. However whilst the narrative may not flow as easily as the previous films in the series the action raises the bar above and beyond what we have seen before. For sheer spectacle the film can’t be beaten and some of the effects work here is stunning, especially on sandman and the various set pieces the film introduces are well executed and constantly exciting and inventive. However once again the film falls a bit flat in-between, the actors do a goods job and the drama level is raised but Raimi struggles to avoid the soap opera cheesiness that has also plagued the other entries in the series from overflowing again here, and the ‘emo’ style make-over he puts upon Peter Parker winds up looking a tad silly.

However for every bad scene there are some fantastic ones which is what makes the film a slightly odd mixture, but it is worth seeing not only for the effects but for those magical scenes that perfectly capture the character and style of the comic book. Some hated it but the much argued about dance routine in a jazz club had me laughing and there are lots of light, comic touches that elevate the series from the rather leaden and series superhero films found elsewhere. Many have problems with these parts of the film and I think that’s because of the rather overdone drama, had that been handled with the same delicate touch then the film may have ended up more a more cohesive whole.

There is also the fact that one of the fans favourite villains (though by all accounts not one of Raimi’s) Venom makes a far too brief appearance in the film and while, at the end, it becomes clear why the multiple villains are featured in the story, he never gels totally with the ongoing plot and it would have served the series better as a whole to merely introduce the character late on in this film in order to set up Spider-Man 4 perfectly.

But despite the flaws this is still an impressive and entertaining piece of blockbusting cinema, it could easily stand to lose a good 15 minutes from the run time even so it held my attention and certainly surpassed the other films in many areas, finally bringing many story threads to a close. Not perfect but not a disaster by any means Spider-Man 3 kicks off the summer blockbuster season with a bang, only in time will we see how its place in the history books falls.

Far too packed and tonally uneven this is still a massively entertaining and visually stunning film that despite its plot contrivances manages to make you smile and once again load its epic story with an important and well handled message.