Movie Review - Spiderman 3

I had actually watched Spiderman 3 more than a week ago, but its taken me till now to write the review. I guess thats saying something already, that I wasn't that excited about the movie to review it immediately.

I was going to watch Spiderman 3 no matter what, since I love science fiction/fantasy films. I also loved Spiderman 1 and 2 and couldn't wait to see the finale. When I read the review in The Age newspaper where they gave it 4.5 stars and ranked it up there in terms of a trilogy with Lord of the Rings (some of my favourite movies of all time), Matrix (Matrix 1 is my favourite favourite movie of all time) and Star Wars (again some of my favourite movies), they had set my expectation levels up to MAX.

Right from the start, the signs were not good. We missed the 9:40pm session as it was full. After waiting an hour for the 10:40pm session, we eagerly sat in our seats ready for the film. About thirty minutes into the film just as we were about to learn about the Sandman, the movie stops. Just suddenly, the screen went blank. An usher went to the front and told us there was a "technical difficulty". After a 15 minute unexpected intermission (I have never been at a movie that actually stopped for more than a few seconds), the film resumed.

Well to the actual film, I thought it was like a two part movie. The first part which I really liked was Peter's struggle with trying to get a grasp of his new fame and how that affected his relationship with Mary Jane, who's fame he had now overshone. Also, Peter's relationship with his best friend, Harry, was being tested due to Harry thinking that Peter killed his father. I think that the whole movie should have been about Peter and Harry resolving their problems, either to be friends again or be eternal enemies. Then when there was a final resolution, that should have been the end.

The black spiderman suit thing could have been weaved in somewhere to show how power can get to you head. However, trying to introduce more villains like Sandman and the photographer Eddie didn't work for me. They seemed to be there just for the sake of effects. I know that the Sandman's story was relevant in that it tied it all back together in terms of him killing Peter's uncle, but it didn't work for me. The photographer Eddie and his competition with Peter professionally was just a silly unnecessary side story.

The effects of the movie are truly stunning and the chase scene at the start between Peter and Harry was breath taking. However, lots of movies have great effects (maybe not as good, but still good) and the days of the blockbuster with no story just won't cut it anymore.

In terms of acting, I really like James Franco's portrayal of Harry. For me, his anger and then ignorance as he had amnesia were great. Tobey McGuire was good as usual but I didn't like Kirsten Dunst's performance that much. I found her character kind of annoying.

So to sum it up, this final movie of the Spiderman triology does not lift it into the upper Echelon of trilogies such as Lord of the Rings, Matrix or Star Wars. It could have been so good had they (in my opinion) focused on the story between Peter and Harry and Peter and Mary Jane, characters that had a long history and who we have gotten to know over the last two films. They already had the perfect villain in Harry and in Peter's internal struggles in coming to terms still of his alter ego. Peter still needed to fully believe that "With great power comes great responsiblity" and a final resolution shown.

Overall Rating: ***
I liked the first half of the movie and the effects.