MOVIE REVIEW: Spider-Man 3

The "Spider-Man" movies have been the cream of the superhero crop for Hollywood. They have all made a killing at the box office and have yet to lose any steam. Today mark's the release of "Spider-Man 3," and also mark's the best superhero trilogy thus far.

"Spider-Man 3" picks up exactly where we left off in the last one. Peter Parker is finally getting the recognition for being a hero. The city has Spider-Man fever. Everything from balloons to Halloween costumes are flooding the streets. Peter even plans to wed his long time girlfriend Mary Jane, played by the not so cute Kirsten Dunst. So with everything going so well and on a high, where do we go from here? Down. Straight down. Enter Flint Marco, played by Thomas Church. He is an ex-con who breaks out to steal money in order to save his daughter's life. While on the run, he stumbles upon a scientific experiment (which by the way has the worst security of all time as Flint is just about to hop a fence and BAM! Super powers). So now he becomes the Sandman. Of course, there is still Harry Osbourne. In the last movie he discovered his father's Goblin gear, so in this one we also get the New Goblin, played by James Franco. To top it all off, a new photographer takes Parker's job at the Dailey Bugle. Eddie Brock, played by Topher Grace, is a pushy and arrogant photographer who does whatever it takes to get the job done. In the course of the movie, a symbiote is introduced (in the laziest fashion I have ever seen, mind you) after a meteor strikes the Earth (right next to the only Superhero in town, of course). The symbiote is drawn to Parker and consumes him at his worst, thus bringing out his anger and hatred. Parker becomes a dark character and one of the film's villians surprisingly.

We also get to meet another familiar character from the comics in "Spider-Man 3." Gwen Stacey makes her first film appearance and is played by Bryce Dallas Howard. She gets her own paragraph because she is probably the most attractive superhero heroin of all time. It was rediculous. The entire film you wonder why Peter Parker wastes his time with Mary Jane? It makes no sense. Come on, if the movie was realistic Parker would have been consumed by the symbiote, became an asshole, and got the better woman.

We have to talk about it because it is why everyone wants to see this film. How did Raimi handle Venom? Raimi has said several times he had no intention of bringing Venom to the screen, so it is obvious the studio pressured him into it. I was expecting the worst since Venom is only in the film for about a half an hour at best. To my surprise, and with the exception of how the symbiote is introduced, Venom is handled exceptionally well. Topher Grace plays Eddie Brock perfectly. You can feel the man's hatred for Peter Parker as the movie goes on, all the way to the bell tower scene where the symbiote choses Brock over Parker. Then when he is in full Venom mode, we get to see that Raimi knows exactly what in the hell he is doing. It was insane how good Venom looked. He was "taken care of" in the end of the movie, but "taken care of" in the same way that Jason Vorhees or Freddy Kruger get taken care of. Meaning, his ass will be back for "Spider-Man 4."
The action was the best of the series. This time around we know all the characters well enough so we actually care what happens to them, as opposed to another failed superhero franchise (I'm looking at you, "X3"). Everything was taken up a notch and it really felt like a lot was at stake this time around.

The performances in the movie are good. James Franco, as usual, was the highlight for me. He has really stood out in this franchise. Topher Grace also did a really great job bringing Eddie Brock to the screen. Venom could have easily been crap had both Raimi and Grace not have handled it the way that they did.

"Spider-Man 3" will no doubt be a big winner this summer at the box office. Plans are already in place for "Spider-Man 4" with most of the original cast returning as long as Raimi returns as well. This film sealed the deal by being the best in the series, and making "Spider-Man" one of the best trilogies of all time.