BEWARE OF SPOILERS, THEY DO EXIST IN THIS REVIEW

It is now close to 9 P.M. on Friday, several hours after I finished watching Spider Man 3 and it has taken me this long to figure out what I wanted to say. The problem is I have been a Spider Man fan for over 40 years, and I loved the first two movies. They were incredibly well done film renditions of a classic hero, driven by guilt and anger at the world around him and at his own failures.
This one seems more interested in turning that same character into a clown, a buffoonish image of who and what he always way. The first time Spider Man fought Sandman, he defeated him without help from anyone with the use of a really strong vacuum cleaner. Yeah, that's right; a vacuum cleaner. Spider Man seldom needed any help during his career, often preferring to 'go it alone'. Early in his career he did try to join the Fantastic Four, but changed his mind. He also tried to join the Avengers, but that didn't come through for many years.
But throughout most of his crime fighting life, Spider Man worked alone. He didn't have a partner, he didn't ask for help and he usually defeated his enemies using his mind as well as his physical abilities.
Here he is reduced to almost the level of a mentally challenged rat, and has to go to his sworn enemy to beg for help. This is not what Peter Parker would do. In short, this movie was not about Spider Man or even Peter Parker; it was more about what could the director cram into the time allotted to make this movie. And that is a dang shame.
Sam Raimi is an incredible director, usually about to squeeze blood out of a stone to accomplish what he wants with a film. I don't know what happened here. I can make guesses, but that is about all. For one thing, the lost out on one of the most important aspects of the first two films, character development. I knew exactly who the Green Goblin was and what pushed him to do what the did. I knew why Doc Ock attacked Spider Man and why he and Goblin hated Peter.
Here, instead of staying with the normal Super Hero format of simply going after the villain, they had to bring in more angst by making Flint Marko the actual killer of Peters uncle, a device that I felt was more soap-opera then Super Hero. And I really don't want to spoil what happens, but trust me when I say that the final confrontation between Marko as the Sandman and Spider-Man actually leaves you feeling somewhat disgusted with the whole concept of a secret identity.
Also, waiting until the last 20 or so minutes before bringing in Venom was a waste. While he should not have even been in this film, using this character the way they did was little more then tossing the audience a bone. We actually saw very little interaction between Spider Man and Venom and the fight didn't last that long.
Frankly, the best battle scenes were between Spider Man and the Goblin (Harry Osborn). Osborn had a reason to try to kill Spider Man, and his hatred of Peter made for a good balance of good to evil on the screen. While the outcome of the first fight was more in line with the Comic, it was also over too fast. But the special effects were stunning.
The problem was, way too much time was spent on special effects without building on character in the rest of the film. An example would be Chief of Police Stacy and his daughter Gwen. First, we didn't get a chance to know either of them that well. And Chief Stacy has a very profound influence on Peter Parker, an influence that was not even hinted at possibly coming into being here.
As for Gwen, what the heck did they bring her in for? According to most it was for a 'new love interest'. What? What sort of 'love interest' is there if the only time you are on the screen is as eye candy in one form or another? We see her for a few seconds as a student, then as a falling woman, then as a speech maker who kisses Spidey and finally with Peter trying to hurt Mary Jane emotionally. And she is not happy there.
I am sure she has a great future in film, and not based on her daddy. She is attractive and apparently intelligent, so she needs to use her mind to get herself good roles, and not just as an almost walk on who could have walked through her lines. But, her apology to Mary Jane was some of the best acting in the film.
The film had a great concept, if they had just worked from the idea of making a fourth one. If the writers had worked the script in a way that lead into another film, much like the end of Empire Strikes Back into Return of the Jedi, and used this film in really make the symbiotic costume more known, and then have Venom appear at the end of this film as an intro into the next one I think it would have worked a lot better. As it was, we didn't get a chance to see what the alien costume was able to do.
I do like the origin for it they created for the film; it would have been tough to use the Comic Book origin. But they still could have shown more of the attributes of the entity. With Brock, the costume seemed to respond to his needs, moving from his face or covering it as was needed. With Peter, it pulled it on like a normal costume, including the mask.
Another aspect of the costume was its chameleon like ability to mimic just about anything around it. Peter didn't need to 'change clothes'. The symbiotic creature changed for him. Like it seemed to do for Eddie Brock.
Sandman's origin was changed only slightly from the book. The origin in the film was along the same lines, with the differences being very minor. As in the first two films J. Jonah Jameson tears up the scenery and sets when he is on camera. He is blustery and over bearing, which is how he should be. The attention given to Betty Brant and a budding relationship with Peter Parker was an excellent addition and using her as the 'new love interest' would have been much better based on the way they were on screen.
Another problem I had which will probably be fairly silly to others is that I was never a real big fan of Saturday Night Fever, so seeing Peter strut down the street dancing to his own beat, and turning into a cocky, flirtatious, boorish moron for about half the film left me feeling pretty cold. Actually, it seemed that he was suddenly turning into a normal man. Ok, sorry about that one.
The other problem for me was the Jazz Club scene. You watch that scene and tell me you don't hear Jim Carrey say "Smokin'" and think about the film The Mask. I can think of several other ways that scene could have been played out, and if I can think of several, Sam Raimi could think of a lot more.
And would someone explain to me why, if he cared so much for the father and then the son, did the Butler, Bernard, wait so long to give Harry his bit of advice? You couldn't mention this earlier, like you know, before he tried to kill everyone? Tell you what Bernie, that would be the end of your Christmas Bonus this year.
One of the best things in the film was Bruce Campbell as a French maitre d'. He is great, as usual and I was very happy to see they gave him more to do and a chance to show off a little. The addition of Stan Lee with lines was a good move as well.
I guess when it just comes down to it, for me there are just too many things going on at once. It felt bogged down and sluggish in too many places.
I hope this is not the last Spider Man film, because it's certainly not the best way for the series to end. It needs at least one more film to regain the magic and the sense of wonder of the first two films.