I'm a comic book geek. There's no other way of looking at it. So of course, Spiderman 3 was a film I was looking forward to. And rightly so, Sam Raimi's done it again. Fusing the ever-present angst of the series with a mad humor reminiscent of his earlier films (Army of Darkness anyone? Bruce Dickinson even has a hilarious cameo as an officious waiter.)
Content-wise, this is a weaker film. The Venom backstory is too much to fit into one film, the black suit really needs a film to itself, but alas, it doesn't, leaving Venom itself to have a pitiful amount of screen time. Granted the symbiote creature is beautifully rendered, but Venom just becomes boring. Sandman was another strange choice for a villain, a weaker character in the comics, but presented here as a nicely rounded figure. And of course, the Osborn family are back once again, raging green psychotic terror (and allowing Willem Dafoe a cameo, hurrah!).
So while James Franco (as Harry Osborn) and the wonderful Tobey Maguire have a lot of fun being angsty, dorky, violent, and occasionally pretty campy, poor Kirstin Dunst has to resign herself to screaming and singing (or miming, and badly dubbed at that) as the unfortunate Mary Jane Watson. Poor MJ, she really isn't lucky in love is she? The supporting cast range from marvelous (Thomas Haden Church's Sandman) to ridiculous (Topher Grace's one-dimensional Eddie Brock). The comic-book name dropping is getting ridiculous too, Gwen Stacy and Dr Connors are thrown into the mix, and don't add much.
Yet all of these flaws are forgivable, thanks to lovely performances from some of the central roles and Raimi's delightful direction. As well as including some genuinely beautiful shots, there's some really hilarious sequences when Peter Parker is experimenting with the powers of the black suit (his hair changes color every time he wears it, too, which is a nice touch). These scenes are so good they could easily be reedited into an arty short piece on drug addiction, but it's a lovely change from the angst and silly pseudo-science of the rest of the film. The climactic battle is a thing of beauty, recalling the brutality of the first film, and, even though some things in it should NEVER happen in the context of Spiderman, it touched a little fan girl nerve.
If you're a fan of superheroes, or just want a fun few hours escapism with good old Hollywood silliness, go see this film. Don't expect the dark delights of the first film, or the unrepentant cool of the second, but go, grab some popcorn and settle in for fun CGI, interesting characters, and a delicious streak of surreal humor.
