Bad to the Exoskeleton: Spider-Man's Back for Some Thrills and Several Spills

Considering the critical acclaim and box office bucks earned by Spider-Man 2, it's fitting that Spidey has morphed into an egotistical, paparazzi craving, fame fiend. In fact, Bryce Dallas Howard go mope in a shower, for once I actually would have welcomed a film cameo by Paris Hilton. With all that fame and mass appeal, it's bound to go to your head and in this case Spider-Man 3 is swinging towards the nearest televised couch to bounce on. Now Sam Raimi is a talented filmmaker (Spider-Man 2 case closed!) and this time around he delivers a lot of great nail-biting moments, but he falls short in the story department. Like Spidey, the film is experiencing an identity crisis, with a mild case of Chicken Little. Maybe that sounds a little harsh, ok very mild, but mild none the less. If you liked the first two movies by all means see it (no review could have stopped me), but be warned: it's too much of a good thing.

I was pleased to see the reappearance of the web weaving crime fighter and settled back in my chair for the fun to begin. It seemed very promising. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is ready to settle down with love Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) who is now headlining in a Broadway play. M.J. is having difficulty relating to her beau who seems too interested in himself to notice her discontent. Dunst does a great job portraying a variety of emotions in this film, starting with love, then envy, then jealousy, some of which happen at the same time. Even Harry Osborn (James Franco) has a nice come back as Parkers ex-best friend, who is now determined to avenge his fathers "murder", which means kill Parker. I was worried that this story-line would get a little hokey, but it was actually one of the films best touches. This leads to an awesome eye-popping battle between Osborn equipped with his father's Green Goblin gear and the unaware Parker.

Now one would think all of this would be enough material to expand into a film, but apparently we still need an alien meteor blob, the evil Spider-Man, the forgetful Osborn, and two more villains. The first villain we meet is Flint Marko a.k.a. Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), a fugitive who turns into living sand when he accidentally stumbles into a top-secret dematerializing project, I hate when that happens. All we know about this guy is he "may" have killed Parker's uncle and he steals money for his sick daughter. Other than that he turns into sand and it's CGI time. He's mostly there to look cool. The other villain is Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace) who is a lot more likable and fun as well. Brock shares a duel role as Parker's nemesis in the work office and on the crime ridden streets. Venom is slimy, terrifying, and rather humorous. As far as super-hero villains go, he had the potential to be one of the best around. It's too bad he's hardly in the movie.

And then there's the black suit Spider-Man, who acts more like the unfriendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Suddenly Parker has found a new sense of confidence, along with a new hairstylist and sweet dance moves. He has so many new skills: dancing skills, piano playing skills, numchuck skills... There is a scene where Parker does a sweet dance which had to have been inspired by Will Ferrell's flute scene in Anchorman. It is funny and true to the Raimi's campy roots, but it felt so forced and awkward. If it was one of a few flaws I might've forgiven it.

The final battle is thrilling, but I was ready for the film to wind down about when Venom became a villain. A little too late. There is also a character that knew a tidbit of information from the first film that could have prevented a lot of drama and violence if he just opened his mouth a little earlier. He is either a moron, a sadist or just saying it for the convenience of the script. I'm thinking the latter. Spider-Man 3 is like starving yourself and then going to a all you can eat buffet. There are so many possibilities and you want to wolf down as much food as possible. But before you know it you have stomach pains and the food looked better than it taste. Raimi should have taken the hint from Tim Burton and moved on to other projects. Paging Mr. Schumacher... Well, I have to go, Spider-Man 2 is playing on F/X.

B-