Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 arrives with lofty expectations. After the critical and commercial success of the first two movies (both of which I highly enjoyed), this sequel has a lot to live up to. So, cutting to the chase; does it work? As a raccous blockbuster event movie, it certainly succeeds on creating epic scale action scenes that are fun and memorable. On a character level; however, Spider-Man 3 packs in so many new faces that it's hard for anyone who wasn't in the first two movies to really shine.

This story is the most complicated yet, and would take at least three paragraphs to include everything. The short version; Spiderman wants to marry Mary Jane, Spiderman, impressed with his popularity, goes through a selfish period and pushes MJ away, Spiderman and an alien symbiote form an unhealthy relationship, Spiderman's anger begins to control him (with help from said symbiote) as he fights a new villain who may have killed his uncle, Spidey and Harry continue their long standing feud, a young upstart reporter develops a new feud, and all of these plots come together in a breathless final half hour. And that's not even mentioning Gwen Stacy, the new love interest who comes between Mary Jane and Peter, or the arrival of Venom, who swings in during the last act.

It's jam packed, and like any film trying to cram so much plot into a two and a half hour running time, many elements feel shafted. Gwen Stacy is only allowed to be a pawn in this film, and despite Bryce Dallas Howard's winning performance her role is vastly underdeveloped. Howard brings such warmth to her thinly written character that I desperately wanted to see her become a full member of the cast. Same goes for Topher Grace who is hilarious in an underwritten role as the secondary villain, Eddie Brock. He shines in all his scenes, but when he asks God to kill Peter Parker, it feels like the story has skipped several character beats.

The pacing is off at the start as well. With so many separate storylines at play, the movie opts for random encounters rather than properly built up scenes. A fight scene between Harry and Peter feels arbitrarily placed, the introduction of the Sandman feels rushed, and the film doesn't feel like it has truly started until an hour in.

Now, all of this seems to imply that Spider-Man 3 isn't a good film, but it eventually does find it's footing, and Peter's emotional journey, by and large, is compelling. The last half, especially after Peter succumbs to the partying lifestyle brought forth by the alien symbiote, feels far more energetic than the scenes that precede it. Sam Raimi brings out his bag of old tricks and offers up some campy, but funny sequences.

Everything does tie together in the end, and I was pleasantly surprised, despite its disjointedness, to see that the big emotional moments do pay off. The ongoing storyline, established in the first movie between Peter and Harry works best in these final scenes. It's hard not to root for Peter Parker, and the actors, particularly Thomas Haden Church, bring resonance to scenes that could easily have been cheesy.

Spider-Man 3 is a hulking behemoth of a movie, that fortunately finds a way to level out before it veers wildly off course. It's two movies in one, and at least one of those movies is genuinely good.

*** out of 4