Spider-man 3

Many years ago when Spider-man first came to the big screen there were screaming fans that appreciated the quality Sam Raimi could create. Now in its third installment, it has fallen to the curse of the trilogy. Not many films that make it to number three have been able to keep the quality up, and this isn’t one of them. This is no Lord of the Rings, in fact this is Spider-man: The Musical. Or at least it feels like that.

The movie begins with Harry Osborn (James Franco) and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) getting into a battle that picks up where they left off in Spider-man 2. This reintroduction of the rivalry between the two best friends makes the movie easy to get into. As the film progresses Spider-man crosses over to the dark side. An alien symbiote takes over his suit and enhances his powers, but at a price. While Spider-man undergoes this transition he also deals with a new villian named Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church). Sandman just happens to be the man that actually killed Peter’s uncle Ben, in the first movie.

Peter has to compete with Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) to keep his job as the official Spider-man photographer for The Daily Bugle. The challenge is that the one that can catch Spider-man doing something bad will get a staff position. This rivalry thickens when Peter is able to shed the alien symbiote it consumes Brock, turning him into Venom. At the end of the movie Venom and Sandman join forces to fight against Spider-man.

Kirsten Dunst reprises her role as Mary Jane Watson and the series also introduces another female, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), whom Spidey comic geeks should recognize.

There are several twists and turns in this film, that I will not ruin for you. But these twists are truely a let down. I walked into the film with very high expectations, especially from the trailers, but I walked out feeling like Sam Raimi has killed the series. There are points in the film where Peter even sings and dances, making the movie seem more like a musical than an action flic. Don’t get me wrong some of the special effects are great, particularly the Venom sequences.

There are rumors of continuing the series, not to mention an actual Broadway musical in the works, but after this let down, I think that they should lay it to rest.