Spider-Man 3 (SPOILERS)

[KBT]

I was SO disappointed last night when I went to see the movie. I didn't think it sucked, but it was just average and I was expecting an awesome movie. Sorry but Kirsten Dunst just isn't a good leading actress and for me that hurts the movie. I will say the special effects were awesome and when Spidey went bad for a little but I really enjoyed that, but overall I was disappointed on how cliche the entire movie was. I can't wait for Pirates of the Caribbean 3, the preview kicked major ass. I think what hurt the movie the most was trying to make it hilarious and serious at the same time. I thought the movie tried to hard for laughs, even though some one liners were funny.

There was not one empty seat in the theatre I went to....what about everyone else

Am I the only who who thought KD Lang stood in for Tobey when Spiderman turned bad? I was laughing inside imaginign KD Lang playing the part instead of Tobey.

It looks like SM3 set a new box office record....early estimates has the movie at 148 million for the weekend!

[alwaysAMC]

This movie straight up SUCKED.

Topher Grace/Venom was the only good part for me - but he was barely in it.

Tobey and Kirsten blew...between her fang teeth and his horrible 'bad Spidey' hair...oh and the stupid, cheesy dancing.

God it was horrible.

[Drew]

There were several moments where the audience was laughing with the jokes, which is a good thing. But Spider-Man has always been a mixture of humor and melodrama going back to the books, it's been a successful part of Spider-Man 1 and 2, and Im glad they're not changing that to make a "serious action movie" - which none of the other Spider-Man films were. The "serious action movie" is what makes Marvel based films like the Blade trilogy, Punisher and Ghost Rider suck and be forgettable.

[DevotedToAMC]

I saw the movie and really loved it! Topher Grace really shined as Brock/Eddie but I am disappointed they killed off Harry. I liked him whether he was good or bad

[Toups]

I thought the movie was between alright and not very good. LOL It definitely ranked third out of the 3 movies.

The plot wasn't very good.

Peter went after Sandman because he thought Sandman killed his uncle? Boring! Tired plot line. Then he lets Sandman go away because "he was doing it for his daugher." Then there was evil Harry making MJ break up with Peter because Harry wanted to go after Peter's "heart." Then the butler reveals the truth to Harry at the end which makes evil Harry become good Harry again. WTF? Oh what about dark Peter with the hair and dancing? LMAO. Oh and MJ getting mad over the Spiderman/Gwen kiss...."it was our kiss!!!" LMAO That was bad. Harry's death scene was weak. I felt nothing.

I wanted more Venom. Venom should've been a main villain, instead Venom was barely on!!! Venom's arrival was weak - we just see it falling from the sky. Big whoop.

The highlights of the movie was Bruce Campbell and the whole champage bit - hilarous!! And Sandman's special effects. I thought they were really cool.

Also, there wasn't any memorable/important scenes.

And the final battle was about saving MJ.....again? It couldn't have been over something better....something more creative?

Who was writing this? It was so amateurish. I'm really disappointed in Sam and Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent.

I hope Spider-Man 4 will be better. If Tobey and Kirsten don't come back, I think Jake Gyllanhaal and Rachal McAdams (who should've been Lois Lane!) would be good replacements.

[titan1978]

I enjoyed Gwen, and Harry. Venom was really cool, and should have been played up way more. The rest wasn't all that great for me. I'm really sick of Peter losing his mask so that we know Tobey is in there. I get it. At this rate Aunt May, and MJ should be dead considering how many nasty people knew who Spider-Man is.

I just think the MJ storyline sucks in pretty much all of these movies. The people making the films just don't understand the character. She isn't this pathetic.

[ATWTCarOn4Ever]

That might be the worst movie of the year....

I honestly am SO disappointed right now. I really thought I'd love it. I expected it to be beyond magnificient. And then I get that piece of crap. It wasn't even long enough to justify the cost of the ticket. Such a horrible plot line and such an idiotic ending. Venom was only in it for like what...15 mins? Sandman didn't really do anything nor did he accomplish what he wanted to do initially. We saw his daughter once and somehow we're supposed to care about her? I think not.

Harry hates Peter. Oh wait a second he loses his memory and loves Peter. Now he loves MJ. Now he hates Peter. Now he all of a sudden believes what Peter has been telling him for a LONG time and he loves Peter again. That has to be the worst plot development I've ever seen in a film. The only good things were that

1) The scene where Harry and MJ were cooking, the Harry/MJ kiss, and Harry regaining his memory.

2) The fact that James Franco is drop dead HOT.

Harry is NOT supposed to die. Harry is supposed to be the GREEN Goblin. Not the "New" Goblin". Hes supposed to have a real Goblin mask and sound like the Green Goblin. Mary Jane is NOT that pathetic and she is NOT that desperate for attention. In fact shes the one who supposed to be independent and strong willed. Venom/Eddie Brock is NOT killed by some silly small bomb. They got the essence of the character but completely ruined everything afterwards. Last but not least why couldn't they have introduced Felicia Hardy into this movie? Or Flash Thompson? So MANY interesting characters could have come to light here and instead they bring in the boring Gwen who basically served no other purpose other than to make MJ jealous.

Other than James Franco and Kirsten Dunst it was pretty much a nightmare having to sit there and watch it. I can't believe that movie costs 500 million to make.

[PhoenixRising05]

Ok...be prepared because this is going to be a long post/rant. I saw the film on Saturday night and opted to wait a few days to properly review it because sometimes intial reactions can be clouded. Also of some note is the fact that every showing of the film in my area was sold out. My friend and I reserved tickets ahead and I was glad we did. Much easier.

Another thing I should note is that the critics have one thing wrong...this movie has a plot. Nearly every review I have seen is based on the premise that this is film has very little plot and is just a better version of the type of plot we saw in X3 and that is wrong. This film has a clear plot but it's internal. It may not be captured as well as it should've been in the film but it is there and is, at times, very well presented.

Anyway, the movie itself is slightly above average. It is as epic as the promos/trailers make it out to be but it lacks the kind of emotion and intensity you would expect based on those very same promos/trailers. Now, I think the best way to do this is to organize my thoughts into positives and negatives so here it goes:

Positives

-The film starts out pretty well. The beginning is very much like the first two in that things start slow and the character relations are of the greatest focus. The love story between Peter and Mary Jane is a major focal point of this film and I like that. We have seen the progression of their relationship through this films starting with flirtation/secret feelings in 1, confession-revelations-finally together in 2, and now we them drifting apart due to their own personal flaws and failities. The ending is a nice reward for the fans as you feel like their relationship is solidified now. It also leaves possibilities open for other movies so their relationship can keep evolving. I also like how the tension between Harry and Peter is picked up on right off the bat. I am very happy that they gave the fantastic James Franco more of a presence in this film after utilizing him very little in the first two. They gave the Harry/Peter relationship a good deal of attention and I like that.

-I like the feeling you get of things coming full circle in the film. Uncle Ben's murder, Peter and Mary-Jane, Harry and Mary Jane's brief infatuation with each other, etc. Alot of it takes us back to the first film and even the second in some ways so it's a nice way of tying up the first trilogy IMO.

-The casting was brilliant, as were the special effect. Sandman and Venom are captured perfectly. Thomas Haden Church conveys a great deal of emotion in his scenes while also maintain the hardness of the character. Topher Grace brings the proper arrogance to the role of Eddie Brock and he definitely has a firm grasp on the character. Tobey Maguire does a superb job of capturing evil Peter/symbiote Spidey. He seems to eat up the material. James Franco is amazing in this film and Bryce Dallas Howard makes a good Gwen Stacy (and would've been a superb Felicia Hardy but more on that later). Also, kudos to them on bringing James Cromwell on as Gwen's father and the police chief. Bruce Campbell was hilarious as well.

-J. J. Jameson was fantastic as usual and I enjoyed seeing the bugle a bit more. I did like the comedy in the film when it wasn't laid on too thick.

-The ending showdown of the film is great and one particular scene got to me and that was when MJ and Peter reached out to each other when Sandman was beating the hell out of Peter while MJ was in that web and close to being hit by the truck. I totally thought that was it for MJ since I thought they would kill her in this film. That last scene in 2 read like a hint to me they would kill her but I am happy, in a way, they didn't go the predictable route.

-Good history refenences with Stan Lee and the bell tower/symbiote scenes. I am happy they remembered that sound is a big deal with the symbiote and that tower was a good use of history. Also, big kudos on giving Sandman a backstory. One thing I like about Raimi and his crew is that they always give every character, hero or villian, a motivation behind their actions or a redeeming quality, I like that.

-I appreciate the way they balanced the villains out. Having Harry get that bump on the noggin was inspired because it took him out of the villain limelight long enough for evil Peter and Sandman to be established. I also like that it gave us a revisiting of Mary Jane and Harry, which was a great tieback to the first film. I like how Harry used that to get revenge and I like how cold he was to Peter in that exchange where he revealed he was "the other man" in MJ's life. That little scheme was good IMO. As I said, when Harry dropped out, we had Sandman and Evil Peter. When evil Peter and Sandman dropped out, we had Harry and Venom and then Sandman returns and then we have all 3 villains. I thought that worked well.

-The scenes with Peter and Bruce Campbell as that waiter were hilarious. One of the best scenes of the entire movie. The Peter/Aunt May moments were well-done too (and few and far between, sadly). Loved Peter and Dr. Connors working together too and the use of Peter's neighbors.

Negatives

-Ok..I am going to try to be as nice as possible because this wasn't as bad as X3 but it had more plot holes and more WTF waste of time moments. The most glaring was the Osborn butler, who conveniently decides to tell Harry almost near the end of the film that his father killed himself by accident and that Peter/Spidey was innocent. HELLO? WHERE THE F**K WERE YOU EARLIER? YOU DECIDE TO SAY THIS AFTER 2 MOVIES OF SEEING THIS GUY TEAR HIMSELF A PART WITH ANGER AND FEELINGS OF BETRAYAL!!!?? Poor writing. Sure, the butler could've seen Peter walk in with Osborn in the first film, much like Harry did. Sure, it can be said that the butler realized after hearing the exchange between Harry and Peter when he asked Harry for help that it was right to come forward but we never saw any of that. There wasn't a hint of the butler knowing anything. Peter and Harry are talking and the next minute...BAM...we are in the Goblin lair and the butler is telling all. Poor writing and just lame as hell.

-Another plot hole was having Venom team up with Sandman at the end. Excuse me but Venom is ONE OF THE BIGGEST VILLIAINS EVER!! Venom doesn't need to team up with anyone. Period. That was lame. Now, while the film balances villains well, they don't utilize them well at all. Sandman does nothing but rob banks and sweep people away and Venom isn't used enough to matter which, leads me to WHY YOU WOULD GIVE THE BIGGEST VILLAIN IN THE FRANCHISE LIKE 5 SCENES IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE!! While the symbiote is in the whole film, Venom gets almost as much screentime as Angel in X3. That is a big mistake and killing Venom and the symbiote off at the end like that was lame. They better bring him back or else that will go down as one of the biggest flops in comic book movie history. The way they had Eddie turn into Venom was ok but it felt anti-climactic as it happened and that was it. Evil Peter is the best villain in the movie (he was badass in his confrontation with Harry, which ends up deforming Harry) and that says alot.

-Having Peter forgive Sandman at the end was nice but a poor decision. Unless you have Sandman take a bribe, the tension between the two is gone. The interesting backstory and uncle Ben twist is all for nothing. Sure, Flint made a mistake but now that they are warmed up to each other and it seems they are ok with each other it isn't the same. Didn't like that at all. Plus, the backstory wasn't given enough play other then the one brief scene with his family and his mention his daughter a few times with the locket and all. It would've been better to see the daughter and wife more.

-While I like Harry turning good in the end, for some reason his death fell flat. I think it was because I thought MJ would die and, once she didn't, I knew he would. It just seemed like too quick a turnaround for me. It didn't evolve as much it happened all over one scene where he gets the information all of a sudden from the butler. Plus, the death didn't get enough focus because we kept going back to Peter and his battling of the villains. Harry dying in the same way as his father, only in reverse as he was saving Peter's life while his father wanted to take it, was nice but it lacked emotion. I felt nothing. Dunst I felt more then Maguire but that doesn't say much.

-Gwen Stacy, while brilliantly casted, was a waste. They may as well have used this chance to bring on Felicia Hardy so they could use her in future movies. She is nothing but a prop for evil Peter and to add more tension to Peter vs. Eddie. She has very little screentime and is useless since you never by her as a viable threat to Peter and MJ.

-Evil Peter was good but what the hell was with the metrosexual stuff in the middle? That was a waste and made symbiote/evil Peter come off as a joke. The hair felt like a gimmick but I liked it. To me, the proper darkness of symbiote/evil Peter wasn't captured until he accidentally hit MJ following the stuff with Gwen at the bar and then when we had the big fight with him and Harry at Harry's home. Those two instances captured the essence properly. Also, WHAT WAS WITH PETER GOING ALL DANCING WITH THE STARS in that bar scene? Ridiculous...although Tobey looked like he had a ball. I still like how the human failities, praise going to one's head, and all that led to Peter losing himself and to tension between him and MJ but alot of the rest was...WTF?!

I won't go into anymore because this is long enough but this movie is disappointing for die-hards and for those with high expectations. It delivers action but lacks in essence, suspence, emotion, and intensity. Dunst shines in this movie IMO. Franco shines too. In fact, I think I can say that Dunst and Franco outshine Maguire in this movie. Church and Grace so well IMO. Maguire seems off in this film and only seems to get into it with the evil Peter stuff (he seems to like the metrosexual part and all the corny/chessy scenes). Otherwise, he isn't impressive and one has to wonder if he is tired of playing the character. I would hate to lose him because he fits the role but he seemed really disinterested in this film. The other actors rose to the challenge and played well off each other and on their own.

Overall, I give the film a B-. It should be lower but it satisified in the special effects and action department and it's not a train wreck. It gets more right then X3 did and it has more moments of brilliance but it is still sorely lacking in several areas. 2 was still the best. I am not opposed to making more though. I think they need to make more to rebound from this. I don't know what it is about third movies in a franchise. Whether it's TBTB thinking fans will go see anything they throw out since the first two did well or something else, the third movie in a franchise (especially comic book franchises) always seems to fall flat and the second always seems to be the best of the series.

[KBT]

Did anyone notice the nurse(helping Harry) in the hospital? She is the red headed nurse on DAYS that is always used as Lexie's sidekick, but apparently doesn't have a name on the show unless I missed it. I am probably the only one that noticed that, I am just a DAYS geek.

[EricaKane70]

X-3 was way better then spider-man 3. No cheesiness at all there.

[Drew]

Felicia Hardy or Flash Thompson would have served the same purpose as Gwen Stacy did in being the third wheel for the Peter/MJ relationship. Felicia would have been the same as Gwen in this movie, and we already had Flash introed in Spider-Man 1 and nobody was friends with him there.

[Cheap21]

X3 was absolutely dreadful. I think SM3 is a much better film

[Toups]

Both third films in the SM and X-Men series ranked last in their respective franchise, but X3 was better than SM3 only because it was more intense and had more memorable scenes (ie. the fight scenes leading up to Prof. X exploding, Magneto/Golden Gate Bridge, Jean telling Logan to kill her, the ending when Wolverine finally killing Dark Phoenix) - that's what made it better.

[ATWTCarOn4Ever]

At least X3 managed to have a decent plotline that was intriguing. Even if they did make some major decisions such as killing off several important characters or removing others from the world of mutants (Mystique). Spiderman 3 was garbage pure and simple. The sad part is that Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, and a multitude of other acotrs and their respective characters had me more interested in the movie than Tobey Maguire/Spiderman. Hell even the female reporter talking to the camera and describing the situation made me feel more sad and depressed during Spidey's beatdown than Spiderman did.

The Hitler haircut he has after he received the symbiote was HORRIBLE. Whoever made that decision needs to be killed. I cannot believe the crew let him go outside the trailer looking like that. Its beyond comprehension.

The only good moments in this movie were the fight scene at the construction site and the scenes immediately before it showing MJ in the taxi. That was the type of drama and intensity that I expected from the movie. The beginning was actually decent I guess. The love relationship between MJ and Peter was okay although her b*tching about her job is NOT the character at all and definitely ruined my love for that aspect of the story. The casting was excellent too. Too bad Tobey Maguire looked almost dead in the movie. I think he is bored and if thats the case then he needs to go. However thats the end of the franchise for me. I can't watch Spiderman if hes not Spiderman and Kirsten Dunst isn't MJ. Plus I want James Franco in it as well who I hate that they killed off...idiots.

[King]

(I loved X3.)

I hated both Spidey movies so I probably won't be seeing this one.