With Spiderman 3 breaking box-office records left and right, the only question remaining is - does the movie deliver the goods? The resounding answer is yes! The Spiderman franchise, as portrayed by director Sam Raimi (“Spiderman 1 & 2“), is the crème de la crème of the comic book and action movie market. Raimi and his co-writers give the audience both a great personal story for Peter Parker and deliver some jaw-dropping action and special effects for Spiderman.
I hope to help you navigate these treacherous waters, through the thirteen sequels and/or re-makes of summer 2007, listed by the order of release.
In this third installment, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker is in the strangest of predicaments - almost everything in his life is going well. His alter-ego Spiderman is beloved by the people of New York, and Peter has found a balance between being Spiderman, having a personal life, going to school, and working for the Daily Bugle. The love of his life, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is having professional troubles with her acting that Peter doesn’t seem to notice. This starts a rift between the couple, and with the deteriorating mental health of childhood friend Harry Osbourne (James Franco) and the appearance of a new potential love interest, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard; “The Village“), the relationship is torn even further. Also, Peter is challenged by a new photographer at work (Topher Grace; “In Good Company“), and a new super-villain escapes from prison, the Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church; “Sideways“), who has a dark tie to Peter‘s past. To make matters worse, a strange symbiotic substance merges with Peter to become Spiderman’s new black suit, which increases his fortitude and certainty but also makes him cold and overconfident.
With all these different story lines going at once, the film is busy but not overcrowded. Maguire shows the great range of his acting ability by playing Peter as vulnerable, goofy, cocky, detached, and angry as the film progresses. Franco’s Harry Osbourne finally gets to come full circle, as he lashes out at Peter with his father’s toys, but he also gets the opportunity to scheme on the sidelines. The new villains, Sandman and Venom, are well-portrayed by their actors, with the special effects being the best and most realistic I have ever seen. Spiderman villains are never one-dimensional and there is always a decent reason for their actions and anger, which make the fight scenes much more powerful. Mary Jane has plenty to do, from dealing with Spiderman’s fame and the heartbreak of Peter‘s actions, to singing as part of her Broadway performance. Even Aunt May performs the role of moral compass for Peter well, giving him advice and guidance which Spiderman will need before the end of the film.
The third film of a series should be the culmination of all the prior films and give the audience something new, which Spiderman 3 does with great deftness. A lesser director would have dropped the ball and descended into camp, as in “Batman and Robin“, or given the audience only a satisfying visual display, while merely skimming the surface of the character’s issues, as in “X-Men - The Last Stand“. Raimi makes neither of these mistakes, and closes the story of young Peter Parker in a crescendo of action, loss, and even some laughs.
No one will walk away believing they did not get their moneys worth out of Spiderman 3.
