Spider-Man Battles His Dark Side and New Villains in Spider-Man 3
Written: May 04 '07 (Updated Aug 08 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Entertaining movie with interesting new characters.
Cons: Too much going on for one movie. Some characters receive very little screen time.
The Bottom Line: Spider-Man 3 was a very good, entertaining movie that is worth seeing. People who liked the first two movies should give this one a chance.
Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 are two of my favorite movies based on comic books. They showed that a movie about a superhero can have strong plots and well developed characters instead of just relying on mindless action and special effects. I have been wanting to see Spider-Man 3 for a long time.
When discussing the plot of Spider-Man 3, I intend to only mention things that the different trailers showed. The plot for this movie was the most complicated of the three movies, so it might seem like I’m telling a lot even though I’m not. Some of what I mention would be spoilers for people who haven’t seen any of the trailers yet. Certain things that I mention could be spoilers for the first two movies for people who haven’t already seen them.
Things were going really well for Peter in most aspects of his life. He and Mary Jane were happily in love and Peter was planning to propose. Spider-Man was finally getting acceptance and support from the people of New York City, especially after he rescued Captain Stacy’s daughter Gwen. Peter was letting all the attention go to his head just when Mary Jane was having trouble with her career and needed his support. Harry Osborne had discovered the things his father had used as the Green Goblin and turned himself into the New Goblin to go after Spider-Man. Eddie Brock, another photographer, was trying to scoop Peter with new pictures of Spider-Man.
Flint Marko had escaped prison and while he was running from the police, he ended up at a test site for some sort of experiment with particles. The test changed him and gave him the ability to turn into sand. Peter was furious when he and Aunt May were told by the police that Marko was actually the man that had killed Uncle Ben. While Peter was planning to track down Marko, a strange black symbiote attached itself to Peter’s Spider-Man suit, turning it black. The new suit seemed to amplify Peter’s aggressive and vengeful thoughts while making him more powerful and turning him against everyone he cared about. Peter had to battle his dark side and free himself from the symbiote. He then faced a vicious new enemy, Venom, when the symbiote found a new host in Eddie.
I’m really not sure how long after the end of the second movie that Spider-Man 3 started. When Peter and Aunt May were told about Marko’s connection to Uncle Ben’s death, Peter basically accused the police of having kept the information from them for two years. If I remember right, it was mentioned in the second movie that Uncle Ben had been dead for two years. With what Peter said in this movie, it did make me think that not too much time had passed since the end of the second movie. There was a bit of a recap of what had happened in the first two movies during the opening credits, similar to what was done with the credits in Spider-Man 2.
I’ve only read one or two Spider-Man comic books, so I am far from an expert on the characters and the plots. I did recently pick up The Amazing Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide that shared information about the different characters and some of the plots. From reading that book, I now know that some things connected to Flint Marko/Sandman were changed for the movie. Probably the biggest change was making Marko be the man who actually killed Uncle Ben. That did end up working with another plot that dealt with the symbiote and how he changed him. Peter was feeling a lot of anger when he found out about Marko, which made him more vulnerable to the symbiote. The symbiote story and how it eventually became Venom was in the comics as well. From what I could tell, it seemed like much of the symbiote plot remained fairly close to how it had been in the comics.
Spider-Man 3 was longer than the first two movies which did make sense since there were several storylines going on. That did make the plot more complex. I didn’t feel like it was so complex that it was hard to keep track of what was going on. People who haven’t seen the first two movies could be a bit lost with a few things since they built on events from the first movie. The conflict between Peter and Harry was tied directly to that movie and what had happened with Norman/Green Goblin. The storyline with Flint Marko/Sandman also ended up being connected to the first movie since Marko had been named as Uncle Ben’s real killer. In addition to those two different storylines, there was another one dealing with the symbiote and how it eventually bonded with Eddie to become Venom. As part of that plot, Peter was also dealing with his darker side and the lure of the power the symbiote gave him.
Since so many things were going on throughout Spider-Man 3, some things and characters didn’t receive as much attention. Flint Marko/Sandman and Eddie Brock/Venom were very important in the comics and they did play important parts in this movie as well. However, neither one of them, especially Eddie, were really around that much. The majority of the movie was focused on Peter dealing with the symbiote and how it changed him. The symbiote spent more time as Peter’s black suit then it did bonded with Eddie, which may disappoint some fans. That did disappoint me a bit since Venom has been such an important villain in the comics and even in a newer cartoon. It probably would have worked better if the part dealing with Venom had been saved for a fourth movie. The issues between Harry and Peter were dealt with, though that storyline really deserved more attention as well. Gwen Stacy, a very important character in the comics, was introduced for the first time in this movie. Her part was very small and really didn’t add anything to the movie. I’m guessing that maybe her appearance in this movie was laying groundwork for her to play a bigger part in a possible fourth movie.
Spider-Man 3 included several action scenes that were well done and entertaining. Spider-Man was shown swinging through the sky around New York City several times. Once again he rescued people and tried to deal with criminals. He ended up in fights with Sandman, Venom, and Harry. Those fights did add violence to the movie. This was the darkest of all the Spider-Man movies and I think there was a bit more violence as well. Special effects were used throughout the movie for several things. The effects were well done for the most part, but they did look a bit obvious in a few scenes. Effects had to be used in most of the scenes with Sandman and all of them with the symbiote and Venom. Those characters wouldn’t have worked without effects.
Spider-Man 3 also contained some emotional, serious scenes that moved a bit slower and might bore some people. There was a very young boy sitting near me in the theater and he kept losing interest in the movie. Instead he was more interested in playing with a toy he’d brought with him. This movie was too long for younger children to sit though and not loose interest. The movie was serious overall, but some humor was added in here and there to help lighten the mood. Basically every scene that J. Jonah Jameson was in made me laugh at least once. One of his earlier scenes was very funny. Peter said and did some things that were funny as well. The things done to add humor did work well.
Several characters that were in the first two movies returned in Spider-Man 3. Characters like Aunt May, Dr. Curt Conners, and J. Jonah Jameson didn’t have big parts and were only in a few short scenes. Dylan Baker, Rosemary Harris, and J.K. Simmons were all good in those parts even though they didn’t have a lot to do. Cliff Robertson turned up in a few flashbacks as Uncle Ben. Bruce Campbell once again had a small role like he did in the first two movies. James Cromwell turned up briefly as Captain Stacy. Bryce Dallas Howard had a few more scenes as his daughter Gwen. They were both fine in their parts.
Peter/Spider-Man was obviously the main character. Peter has struggled with being Spider-Man and doubted his abilities in the past. He’s had to deal with a lot of things, like trying to keep a job and struggling to pay the rent on a run down apartment, that most other superheroes haven’t had to deal with. For the first time, he was feeling more confident as Spider-Man since people were actually making it know that they liked him. He let that go to his head, making him a bit cocky. Once the symbiote became his new suit, his personality changed drastically and he was acting like a jerk. Tobey Maguire handled playing a darker Peter really well.
Mary Jane was happy with Peter and accepted that he was Spider-Man. Then she had trouble with her acting career and felt like Peter wasn’t there for her. She didn’t know what was going on with him and the symbiote. Kirsten Dunst was fine in the part, though I’m still not sure that she was really right for the part to begin with. Harry was still obsessed with avenging his father’s death and he had descended further into madness like his father. He turned himself into the New Goblin to go after Spider-Man. James Franco handled the part well and made Harry a believable character.
Flint Marko was probably in more of the movie than any of the other new characters. He escaped from prison for a very specific reason connected to his daughter, which was also why he continued to steal. It seemed like the daughter was added in just to try to make him a more sympathetic character. Thomas Hayden Church was good in the part that was very different from anything else I’ve ever seen him play. Eddie Brock was another new character. He was a photographer that was willing to do anything to scoop Peter with pictures of Spider-Man and get a job with the Dailey Bugle. Topher Grace was good in the part.
Main Cast
Dylan Baker - Dr. Curt Conners Thomas Hayden Church - Flint Marko/Sandman James Cromwell - Captain Stacy Kirsten Dunst - Mary Jane Watson James Franco - Harry Osborne/New Goblin Topher Grace - Eddie Brock/Venom Rosemary Harris - Aunt May Bryce Dallas Howard - Gwen Stacy Tobey Maguire - Peter Parker/Spider-Man Cliff Robertson - Uncle Ben J.K. Simmons - J. Jonah Jameson
Sam Raimi - Director
Spider-Man 3 was a very entertaining movie that is worth seeing. I really enjoyed it and will be adding it to my DVD collection. People who have liked the first two movies should also like this one. This is a movie to see in the theater at least once.
Columbia Pictures Spider-Man 3 reunites the cast and filmmakers from the first two blockbuster adventures for a web of secrets, vengeance, love, and f...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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