Certificate:

Director: Sam Raimi

Release Date: 4 May 2007

Tagline: Next summer, the greatest battle lies… Within.

Main Cast:

Tobey Maguire … Peter Parker

Kisrten Dunst … Mary Jane Watson

James Fargo … Harry Osborn

One of my favourite Spider-Man villians is Venom, so I was both excited and concerned at the prospect of his appearance in S-M 3. “Why concerned?” you ask. Well he’s – to put it mildly – vicious. He kills with glee and abandon and nobody is off limits to him, be it man, woman or child.

Venom is a formidable foe in the comic books, and I knew that they would never be able to portray him in his true light. His appearance is all too brief and I was disappointed to see his demise. Ultimately though, it was the best thing to do as he can only ever be a watered down version of his gloriously violent self. It was good to see, however, that they remained true to the comics and the character of Eddie Brock. I was slightly disappointed at the fact that Peter wore a physical black costume. The alien bonds to his host, and Peter’s black suit isn’t a costume at all – the symbiote is the suit (as is later shown when it takes over Eddie Brock).  Again though, I understand why they did it. Peter had to be shown making a conscious decision to allow the symbiote to take control and they didn’t have the time to build up slowly. Films don’t have the luxury of a story arc built over many months. Also, having the exact same costume in black made for great visual images for all the posters

Sandman is an absolute  triumph of CGI. He’s fantastic, and left me pretty awe-struck. Years ago, I never dreamed that I would be able to see all these heroes and villains come to such fantastic life on the big screen.

Not everybody liked seeing two villains in the same film, and many of the poor reviews claimed that it was too confusing. They obviously missed the fact that neither Sandman or Venom could have been the main foe.

First of all, Sandman was actually a plot device rather than a villain. In fact, he’s not a villain at all. He’s just a man who did desperate things to save his dying daughter. He’s a tragic character, and is there firstly for Peter to react to with feelings of revenge and anger (thus showing us how the alien symbiote is beginning to take over his personality), and then at the end, when Peter has regained himself, he is finally able to lay the ghost of his uncle’s death to rest by understanding and forgiveness.

Secondly, Venom couldn’t have been the main villain because he only appears towards the end of the film. When we see what the alien has done to Eddie, a regular guy with no powers, we understand what the consequences would have been if Peter hadn’t come to his senses and rejected it.

Another gripe was about the depiction of Peter’s personality change. Yes, I would have preferred to see him dealing with criminals with more force than necessary rather than strutting down the street, but they won’t do that with a film that is rated 12. It wouldn’t be good to depict our hero abusing his power by kicking the s***t out of the bad guys. Bowing to pressure and making the films 12 rather than 12A was a decision made based on the marketing value of the franchise. I get annoyed at this, as not everything should be made to suit children. I want films to be made as well as they can be, and not compromised because of keeping parents happy or filling the already bulging pockets of the studios. Anyway, rant over! Back to the review

The reconciliation between Peter and Harry was nicely done, and ended that story arc very well. I’ll miss James Franco in the next one though, as I thought he brought a lot to the role and made Harry very engaging.

So… Did I like it? Hell, yes! Spider-Man 3 is an exciting, thrilling and very satisfying film. It was also used as a way to tie up loose ends so that we can start afresh and not have S-M 4 (there will surely be another) cluttered up with unfinished business.

Rating: