Reviews by Matt

I needed a little longer to think about “Spider-Man 3” than any other movie I have reviewed over the past year. It’s not that it was horrible, but it is not because it was the greatest movie of all time. There was so much hype and I was so looking forward to this that I needed to makes sure that my initial feelings were correct. So, here it goes.

The third and possible final, but seeing as it is crushing box office records I doubt this is it, Spider-Man movie continues the story of Peter Parker (Toby McGuire) and his alter-ego Spider Man. This time around, Peter Parker finally has the love of his life Mary Jane (Kristen Dunst) and he has found the balance between his normal life and his super hero life. One night an alien parasite lands near Peter and MJ as they relax in a web. It catches a ride on Pete’s scooter and eventually fuses to the suit giving it the black look that you have seen in all the commercials/trailers.

Harry Osborn’s obsession with destroying Spider-Man/Peter Parker has caused him to become the new Goblin. He uses the same chemical that made his father the Green Goblin to make him super strong and go after Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) has escaped from jail and on is on the run. After being chased into an experimental lab (I think) gets his molecules fused with sand. He becomes made of sand and starts up a crime spree (kinda) to get his sick daughter better health care (or something like that).

I guess that is all. There is so much going on in this movie that has very little to do with the plot that I honestly cannot explain it all in a coherent manner. Now allow me to vent and I apologize if the following is as convoluted as the plot of the movie.

There was way too much love story in this movie. Yes, Mary Jane is an integral part of the Spider-Man story, but we do not need 2 hours of it. That is what we got, of 2 and a half hours of movie, there was, and I am not kidding, 2 hours of the love story between MJ and Peter. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We get it, Peter and MJ have a very complicated relationship. Move on to the action scenes.

As long as I am on the topic of action scenes, there were so few action scenes. There were 3 bad guys in the movie and yet the fight scenes were less then 15 percent of the movie. The action was so poorly handled that they underutilize some very cool bad guys. There was so much more that could have been done in terms of action. Spider-Man takes about 10 minuets in two fights with Sandman, five with the New Goblin and about 10 with Venom, the one bad guy everyone wanted to see him fight. There is no excuse for it at all.

Before I throw my computer out the window because I’m so angry about how mishandled, lets move on to the only really cool thing about the movie; the special effects of Sandman. That was the highlight of the entire disappointment that was “Spider-Man 3.” It looked really good, looked a lot like sand and was very well done. Not much more to say on that point.

There were a few cool moments in the movie, but they cannot save the movie. I was overwhelmed when I first came out of the theater and gave the movie a rating of an 8 initially, but dwelling on it, the rating has been lowered. Now, this is not as tight, thorough or even as good a review as I could give, but if the film makers put such a half-assed attempt, then why should I?

6 out of 10
Rated PG-13
2 hrs 20 mins