Review Redux: Spider-Man 3

Genre: Superhero, Action
Run Time: 2hrs 20min
Rating: PG-13 - comic book violence, watching Peter dance around the streets like an idiot

Initial Reaction Review:

Spider-Man 3 is the third adventure with the friendly neighborhood nerd. Peter Parker’s life is looking great. People love him as Spidey, his love life with MJ is on the up, and he is scoring great grades in college. Unfortunately, for him things are going to change fast. His old friend Harry Osborn knows his secret and is out for revenge for his fathers death. Elsewhere, a meteorite falls to Earth and out of it comes an alien parasite which just so happens to attach itself to one of Peter’s Spidey suits. Uncle Ben’s real killer has just escaped from prison and has his body transformed into sand. All of that happens in the first thirty minutes.

Not to spoil too much of the story, but Peter is really pushed to the edge in this movie. Almost everything that he cares for is taken from him. That parasite that attached itself to his suit not only increases his powers but amplifies his aggression. As he learns that his uncles true killer has escaped from prison he makes the unwise choice of donning the black suit to track him down. This new black suit changes him slowly but steadily throughout the film from the fun loving Spidey that we know and love to a total asshole that pushes everybody around him away. The most important figure that he pushes away is MJ who is one of the few people that have a chance of saving Peter from the suit.

The action sequences in 3 are not the best in the series. Spidey has never looked better swinging through the air. Fights are played out with intense hard hits and a bit of logic. Unfortunately, the best action sequence is the exact same one the movies producers decided to put out on the net. It’s the fight between Peter in his street clothes and Goblin Jr., aka. Harry, in the first thirty minutes of the film. This scene does everything right and feels complete. Nothing for the rest of the movie is as fun as that first high. Not even the fights with Sandman or Venom can reach the heights of the first battle or even the incredible battle with Doc Ock on the train in Spidery 2. I’m not saying these action sequences are bad because they most definitely are not. The fights are great eye candy and are creative, but they lack originality. When I watch a movie I expect to see things that I couldn’t think of myself. Other than the two fight sequences with Harry I wasn’t impressed.

Now the best part of Spidey 3 is the story revolving around Peter, Harry, and MJ. This feels right and has emotional impact. We care about these characters and their story rings true. Everything else in the movie is filler. Venom is under-realized and only appears for the final 20 minutes. Sandman’s story requires changing the story of the first movie and his character doesn’t excite the way it should. Sure, he has emotional impact but the movie is already too long and Sandman doesn’t add enough to justify that time.

Spider-Man 3 is not the best superhero movie ever. Nor, is it the best Spider-Man movie, that honor belongs to Spider-Man 2. In the end, Spidey 3 suffers from containing too many storylines and only working with one of them. Perhaps with some tweaks to the story and the absence of Sandman the movie could have effectively presented Venom as more than just under polished eye candy for the comic book nerds.

Story - 7…too many characters add too many storylines, the main triangle between MJ, Harry, and Peter was handled exceptionally well

Visuals - 8…one, maybe two great action sequences, everything else lacks originality, CG is outstanding but flaws are noticable especially on a large screen

Sound - 8…music rarely stood out and felt more generic than anything else, sound effects are big and loud and out of proportion but hey it’s a comic book movie

Overall - 8…to complete the trilogy this is a must see, but don’t be surprised if you feel uncomfortable during the movie in knowing that it could have been much better

Redux Review:

After a repeat viewing I came out more disappointed than my initial viewing. The film is just too bloated featuring one too many villians. As I said before, I think the film would have worked better without Sandman so that they could focus more on Venom’s story. Still, the best part of Spidey 3 is the triangle revolving around Peter, MJ, and Harry. We’ve been with these characters for two previous films and it feels good to have completion to their story. Other than that the score is truly generic and obnoxious and I didn’t enjoy hearing it again.

Story - 7…too many new characters to effectively relate to in the runtime, nice resolution to the story of the three main characters

Visuals - 8…only one great action sequence, excellent CG all around, Venom was under realized

Sound - 7…sound effects are strong, soundtrack is generic and uninspired but more than anything it is draining on the ears

Overall Final Score - 7…obviously a must see for fans of Spidey, but don’t expect anything you couldn’t have imagined yourself