Well, here it is. I have finally seen Spider-Man 3. After waiting for three years, 34 months, nearly 1095 days, the wait for me is over. I know you're all curious as to what I think of the movie, and naturally you would be. How did Spider-Man 3, in the eyes of a Spider-Maniac, perform? Well, we'll get to that in a little bit. Spider-Man 2 is, as you know, my favorite movie of all time, and that means that Spider-Man 3 has some large shoes to fill. But, I wasn't asking it to be better than Spider-Man 2, that's just ridiculous because it was so amazingly good to begin with. But even going in with three years worth of anticipation and ridiculously high expectations, did Spider-Man 3 deliver? It's also quite poetic in a sense that on May 4th 2002 I saw the original Spider-Man and that movie transformed me into the movie buff I am today, and now, on May 4th 2007, exactly five years later, the one movie I have spent every single day for the past three years looking forward to, has finally been viewed by me.

OK, I'll get straight to the point. Spider-Man 3, while not as good as Spider-Man 2, is still a knockout and not only one of the best comic book films ever, it's flat out one of my favorites. My expectations were astronomically high and to be able to say that I walked away extremely satisfied is really saying something. As with the other two movies, one of the main strengths of Spider-Man 3 is the acting. Tobey Maguire is back once again as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and does a bang up job. He really makes the character believable and sells everything in the movie, and it's important in this one because of all the emotions being poured out. Kirsten Dunst is back as well as Mary Jane Watson and once again, in my opinion, does a great job. JK Simmons is JJJ and is as hysterical as ever. His scenes are really great and are some of the best in the movie. Stan Lee has a really superb cameo and actually has some dialogue! Great one Stan! But one of the best is Bruce Campbell. His cameo is a complete scene-stealer and is simply hysterical. I was dying in the theater during his part. Thomas Haden Church is Flint Marko AKA The Sandman. He's absolutely perfect for the role and plays it very well. Topher Grace plays Eddie Brock/Venom and is really good, but underused. His Brock spews one-liners, which are generally humorous, and his Venom is good, even IF the voice is a little silly for the character. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Gwen Stacey, Peter's first true love in the comics. She's good with the character but is like Brock where she's underutilized. James Franco really impressed me though as Harry. He really shone here and it was nice to see him play more than a character who verbally abused Spider-Man. Overall, this had a strong cast that helped the movie greatly.

Danny Elfman opted out of this movie and Christopher Young replaced him. I rather enjoyed the score in this one. I still think the best score belongs to the previous movie but it was rather nice to hear something a bit different that also sounded really great to boot.

Now, this movie has come under some scrutiny whenever footage was shown because of the spotty looking effects. I can tell you now that the special effects in this movie are astounding. They aren't convincing 100% of the time and some spots do stick out, though nothing as obvious as the wretched helicopters at the end of Spider-Man 2. Overall though, the CGI is simply amazing. The first introduction to Sandman after he has been transformed into the villain is simply a work of art. The way the scene is shot, the music that is played and the CGI effects all combine to give us one stunning image. Seeing Sandman trying to re-form himself for the first time is a sight to behold. He begins to take shape and then completely falters and falls apart. He tries again but can't get a grip on it but finally manages to. The whole scene is just wondrous to behold. The rest of the Sandman effects are great as well. Everything flows smoothly with him and looks stunningly realistic.

But, this movie is definitely not perfect. It has its fair share of problems and things I just didn't like. For starters, the whole movie feels rushed. There is too much going on and in turn the pacing is off and the movie feels bloated. You've got Peter and MJ's relationship, Harry as a villain, Sandman, Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy, the black costume, the Symbiote and Venom. There's just too much going on here. Scene transitions are jarring at times and it seems like some things are rushed for the sake of the running time. The whole climax feels completely rushed too. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolute blast to watch and the effects are wonderful, it's just over too soon and it could have been so much more. Aunt May is also vastly underutilized. It seems that now she only shows up to give Peter sage-like advice when he needs to get his life back on track. Whatever happened to her pretty much knowing Peter's secret from the speech she gave near the end of Spider-Man 2? Either way, Rosemary Harris is great in each of the few scenes that she is in and it was great to see her again. Another thing I disliked was Sandman's method of transportation around the city. He travels in a large sand cloud. It looks absolutely ridiculous on the screen and made be wonder what the hell someone was thinking. But, one of my biggest gripes has to be emo Peter. When he turns "evil" he changes his whole look and looks like a Fall Out Boy reject. At one point he actually pulls his hair down to form what I call the "emo drop". The crowd burst out laughing and that was definitely not the intention. There's also a specific scene with Harry's butler that completely threw me for a loop. The butler says something that he should've said years ago to save everyone a ton of trouble. It was a bad move by the screenwriters. Probably the biggest gripe from fans will be the dealings with Uncle Ben. Some already know what I'm talking about; others don't so I won't give anything away. I agree that they shouldn't have done what they did but in the context of the movie it actually worked. I still like to believe what we have believed for the past five years but it doesn't really harm anything.

One of the biggest things that Spider-Man 2 has over Spider-Man 3 is its villain. Alfred Molina's Doc Ock is one of the greatest villains in cinematic history, in my opinion at least. He never hams it up or goes overboard with the character and he is as grounded in reality as a person with four arms fused to his body can be. We also care deeply for the character because we have spent time with him from the beginning and we know that he is really a great guy. In Spider-Man 3 we are introduced to Flint Marko as an escaped convict, Eddie Brock as a sniveling weasel and to Harry as a vengeance seeking killer. The only character we really have any connection with or feeling towards is Harry because he was in the last two movies. Either way, the villains do end up turning out nicely. Sandman is enjoyable and Eddie/Venom is pretty darn cool too. Harry is the best part though. The last negative I want to touch on is the team up of Venom and Sandman. It's quick and wholly unbelievable in the way that it is pulled off. The exchange goes something like,

"Hey, you aren't Spider-Man"
"No, I'm not. Wanna join up and kill him?"
"Sure"

Ok, so the actual exchange is different and longer than that, but you get the general idea. It could've been pulled off better and in a more believable way. The frustrating part is that all the raw materials for a great film are here. Brock and Marko both have potentially fascinating backstories and motivations. The idea of a self-serving, revenge-minded Spider-Man is intriguing. There are themes of redemption and forgiveness woven throughout the movie, but they're delivered tritely and without the skillful touch that characterized the emotional aspects of the other films. Sometimes the film feels chaotic, as though scenes are missing, as if they're still sorting out what to keep and what to throw away.

Those may seem like a lot of complaints but they really aren't that big of a deal when you look at the big picture. There's still plenty to love here. The action is bigger and better in this installment. There really isn't anything that stands up to the amazing El Train scene in Spider-Man 2 but the action we do get is great. The whole battle royale at the end is breathtaking. The choreography is superb and the effects are as well. There are some happenings in the scene that I cannot really talk about but emotions run high and something happens that I've been waiting to happen for three years and it just made me ecstatic to finally be able to see it happen and happen so well. This leads me to another point. With the ever-rising budget for these films and the need to outdo themselves with each new sequel, the filmmakers never once lose sight of the most important part of this trilogy: the characters. We care so much about these people we have spent the last five years following and it really pays off in this one. When one of them feels sad you feel the exact same way and the same goes with every other emotion. This film is also a lot funnier than the previous entries. JJJ is hysterical as mentioned and Bruce Campbell is very memorable in his cameo. Eddie Brock also has a couple of funny quips. One scene that will divide all fans is when Peter has first changed into emo Peter. He walks down the street to music and looks so ridiculous that you can't help but laugh. He's the most pathetic bad-boy ever. This scene probably wasn't needed but it was hysterical either way. I rather enjoyed it but I know that not everyone will, and not everyone has. While watching the movie, I thought of something, Spider-Man 3 is really like Spider-Man 2.5, and I mean that in the best way possible. I say that because I think that if you were to watch SM2 and SM3 back-to-back it'd be much more fulfilling. If you look at it as maybe one movie, things might not seem so disjointed and rushed. Then again, maybe it wouldn't matter. I just kind of noticed how a back-to-back viewing would work perfectly with these two movies.

So there you have it, Spider-Man 3. After three years of waiting, it has finally come upon us. It isn't a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination but it sure is fun. It will definitely be one of the best movies of the summer (probably will end up being my favorite) and is already one of my favorites of all time. It is inferior to Spider-Man 2 but, as I have said before, that was a hard act to top and I think that it followed it up rather well. The movie is fast, exciting, funny, dramatic, romantic and just plain fun. What more can you ask for out of a summer movie? Spider-Man 3 may not be fans favorite movie of the trilogy, but it's a damn fine entry into the greatest comic book franchise of all time.

 4/5 or 8/10