‘Spider-Man 3’: It almost
makes your head spin

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

When a movie is as big as the Spider-Man franchise has become, people inevitably will pick it apart.
Which brings us to Spider-Man 3. There’s a lot going on in this latest spectacle showcasing our superhero, meaning there’s either a lot to love or a lot to criticize. I find myself somewhere in the middle between loving it and hating it.
The first movie was fresh and new, and Tobey Maguire nailed the part of Spider-Man. Spider-Man 2 had a great villain in Doc Ock and a nice plot as Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s love interest, Mary Jane Watson (or MJ), learned his true identity.
Spider-Man 3 is missing some of the magic of those two movies, but it’s not for lack of trying on director Sam Raimi’s part. Raimi weaves a tangled web for Spider-Man, squeezing in a lot of superhero action and a lot of drama in Peter Parker’s personal life this time around, which probably is why the movie is almost two and a half hours and cost a reported $250 million to make.
Fans may cringe when Peter dances down the street and MJ sings, but they’ll cheer when Spider-Man takes down Venom, one of the three villains challenging him this time.
At the beginning of Spider-Man 3, things are going great in Peter’s life. He’s ready to propose to MJ (Kirsten Dunst), he’s doing well in school and he’s going for a staff job at the Daily Bugle, where he has been a freelance photographer.
But his former friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) is out to avenge his father’s death and becomes the New Goblin.
While dealing with Harry, Peter learns that a man named Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) killed his uncle. Marko is a small-time thug with a wife and sick daughter. He escapes from prison and has an unfortunate mishap while running from the authorities. It seems this mishap also turns him into Sandman, a fellow who can instantly transform into a large sand creature.
As if all this doesn’t have the potential to get real messy, Peter encounters some competition gunning for the staff job at the Daily Bugle. Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) is a photographer who will lie and cheat to get that job. Peter reveals Brock’s deceptive ways, which understandably ticks off Brock enough to vow revenge.
We also shouldn’t overlook a mysterious substance that finds its way onto Peter’s Spidey suit, turning it black and giving our hero an altered personality that is just as dark.
Leave it to Brock to get his hands on that black substance. It turns him into the vicious Venom.
Peter’s so-called darker emo side is one of the funnier parts of the movie, even if it does seem a bit misplaced. As the "bad" Peter, he dances down the street in dark hair and black eyeliner, and he doesn’t score points when he causes a ruckus in the restaurant where MJ is a singing waitress. He even tries to make MJ jealous by dating his lab partner, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), who also happened to be Eddie Brock’s love interest.
The darker side of Peter does cause him some internal struggle. It is nice to see him work through those issues and return to us as the Spider-Man that everyone knows and loves.
This third installment isn’t as good as the other two, but that’s not to say it’s a disappointment. There’s a lot to keep track of, and it seems like almost everyone is crying at some point. Also, if you ask me, Sandman is a weak villain.
There is more humor this time around. The beginning and the end of the movie are the best; the middle is a bit muddled.
What matters, I suppose, is that Spider-Man’s action scenes are well done, which is really what spurs fans to root for him to sling his web and save a world full of evil. ••
Movie Grade: B