Movies: Spider-Man 3

I'm warning you now. I'm going to be talking about things that happen in the movie. If you haven't seen it and don't want to know about them, then skip this entry. You can easily scroll through it without reading a word. Just look for the next heading. If you continue on, you'll be reading about the movie.

You sure? Okay then.

Spider-Man 3 is the latest in the acclaimed series of movies that last saw its last feature back in 2004. I wasn't crazy about Spider-Man 2 (and I think I am alone in that category), so I wasn't quite as hyped as everyone else about going and seeing it. The trailers didn't help, as it revealed that Flint Marko, the Sandman, was Uncle Ben's killer. Not the burglar, whom Peter had failed to stop when he had the opportunity.

This, in my mind, created a huge problem for the Spider-Man mythos. See, if the burglar hadn't killed Uncle Ben, then Peter's lack of action did not lead to his beloved Uncle's death, in which case the grand lesson of 'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility' does not apply. Peter's off the hook. Go avenge your uncle, and go to sleep with a clear conscience. Fortunately, the filmmakers must have realized this, because in the flashback sequence in which Sandman relates the events that led to Ben's death, it shows that the burglar was indirectly responsible, and had Peter stopped him, Ben would still have been alive. Guilt remains, lesson remains. Happy day.

The biggest complaints I've heard about this movie is that there is too much going on for one storyline. I, however, think that the movie managed to fit it all in quite well. You have Harry Osborne finally taking his revenge on Peter, using a strange opportunity to tear into Peter's personal life. You have Peter coming upon the black suit in his quest to avenge his uncle, and its effect on his personal life. You have Eddie Brock's rise to and fall from grace (get it?) and his possession by the Venom suit. All of these work together and actually rotate around each other quite well. It's not like Batman & Robin, where the filmmakers through darts at a wall covered in Batman villains and slapped Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Bane together for no good reason. This movie really works with what it's got. Sure, it's much more fast paced then the previous two, but it certainly does not seem rushed.

In fact, my only complaint is the usage of the character of Gwen Stacy. The roll she's put in for this movie does not at all match her character from the comics (a model?). The date scene in which Peter uses her to make Mary Jane jealous could have much better been done with a character like Betty Brant or just a random girl. Gwen Stacy is a very important character in the Spider-Man world, and that was not at all represented here. Perhaps in a later movie, we'll get to see her chucked off a bridge. Shame they already killed Norman Osborne, huh?

I greatly enjoyed Spider-Man 3, and it left me hoping for a Spider-Man 4 with all the cast and crew returning. If every comic movie could be like this or Batman Begins, then maybe I wouldn't feel the need to cringe at an X-Men: The Last Stand.