Super-Cember Day #13: Spider-Man 3 (2007)

(Originally posted December 13th, 2017)

This review was so difficult to write. If a film was just fantastic, or just awful, or just bland it's incredibly easy to talk about it. But Spider-Man 3 (2007) somehow finds a way to be all of the above. On one hand it's predictable, on the other hand it's intriguing, on another hand it's messy, on another hand it's tight, on another hand it's infuriating, on another hand it's satisfying, the list goes on. And the fact that I'm so conflicted about this movie is something that makes it one of the most confusing films I've ever seen, and even now I don't quite know what to think of it. Maybe talking about it will make things clearer. Starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst as Mary-Jane Watson, James Franco as Harry Osborne/ New Goblin, Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko/Sandman, Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom, Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy, Rosemary Harris as May Parker and J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson.

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Alright, let's start with the familiar aspects of this movie when compared to its predecessors. First of all, the visuals are once again stunning, especially for 10 years ago, and the fight scenes are just as epic as they always have been. James Franco was actually my favourite actor in this movie, and I loved how they handled his character. At first, I was annoyed they were doing the whole amnesia route, since you can tell he's just going to remember what happened then vow revenge on Spider-Man again, but I did eventually get why they did it: it's so Harry can play Peter for a fiddle. That scene in the cafe was so great for Franco's acting alone, and his entire performance is so engrossing. It's just a shame his fate was so choreographed, and what should have left me crying, or at least tearing up, just had me going, 'Yep'.

James Franco as Harry Osborn

Another familiar aspect of this movie is the let-down of Mary-Jane. In fact, she's somehow worse in this movie. She serves two roles here: to be something for Spider-Man to rescue, which isn't new, and to break up with Peter so he goes down his dark path, but the way they do it is just not good. The whole thing could have been avoided if she'd just told Peter about her getting fired immediately, instead of letting Peter think she's upset about something she isn't. A character that usually had me disinterested now had me annoyed, and even angry. That extended, sadly, to Gwen Stacy. As I've mentioned before, I've read about 10 Spider-Man comics, and Gwen Stacy played a prominent role in them, so I was fairly attached to the character, and was excited when I saw her in this movie. To see her used as merely a plot device to get Mary-Jane jealous was hard to watch, and I hope they do the character better in The Amazing Spider-Man.

Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy

On to the new things, and I'll just lead with this: Tobey Maguire was surprisingly good in this movie, even pretty great. I'd heard a lot about the path his character goes down and, yes, when he isn't doing that stupid strut through the street, he's downright entertaining. It's a side of Peter that's always existed under the surface, but it took the Symbiote to bring it out, so it never felt like a betrayal of the character. In fact, it might be because the performance was so different from the previous films that was why I enjoyed it so much: it was just something different. His struggle with the Black Spider-Man suit throughout the movie was by far the most interesting aspect of the plot, and they did this story very well, when they didn't have to rely on constant MJ disappointment in order to make it happen.

Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker

I'd heard this movie shuffled a lot of villains, and I'd especially heard that Venom got screwed because of this but, I'm not going to lie, I think Sandman was much less integrated than Venom was; I actually think they handled Venom very well. The entire story is about the Symbiont and its effect on Peter, so it only makes sense that Brock become Venom late into the piece. It was probably a little too late, but I understand why they did what they did. I looked up the Venom's backstory, and specifically Eddie Brock's, and from what I saw, it actually seemed very faithful. It also helps that Topher Grace does an excellent job here, when he's not begging God to kill someone. He's likeable enough at the beginning to make you understand his spiral towards the end. He goes a little nuts, but that's down to the Venom suit, so I didn't mind. It also really helps that Venom himself looks really great in this movie, and his inclusion really added a lot to the movie by the end.

Topher Grace as Venom

To that end, it was Flint Marko and the Sandman that felt the most shoehorned in here. The character didn't really add much to the overall story, and I hated how they basically had to retcon the Uncle Ben story in order to justify his inclusion. The whole 'great power, great responsibility' thing doesn't seem to carry as much weight anymore now that we now it wasn't Peter's fault, or at least, not as much as we previously thought. I was actually really offended by this twist, since I felt they handled the Uncle Ben story so well in the first movie, and even when they brought it up in the second, and now it just seems empty. That said, Sandman looks fantastic on screen, and one of the more emotional moments was the scene where the Sandman wakes up in the sandpit. I actually found myself choking up a but during this sequence; without even a line of dialogue and really limited facial expressions, they manage to convey so much emotion, it was actually really impressive.

Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko

So, with about 30 minutes to the end of the movie, I was getting worried. There were so many balls in the air at that point, and I wasn't sure if they would all come together for a satisfying conclusion. That's why it's kind of weird to say that this felt like the best Spider-Man third act. Everything just came together and it worked. And I'm not just talking about the final fight scene, as epic as that was. It was the themes this movie had, and there were a lot of them. They all integrated in such a way that I didn't really expect. The way Eddie meets his fate in contrast with Peter's arc, the way Marko reaches his end, Harry's redemption, it just all worked. I didn't see it coming, especially considering how messy the first two acts were. The third act was so tight and well structured that it almost felt like a completely different movie. I was completely engrossed in what was happening, and considering what had come before it, that was quite the feat.

J. K. Simmons as God J. Jonah Jameson

All in all, Spider-Man 3 (2007) was such a mixed bag of quality, that I still don't quite know how I feel about it. As the conclusion to this trilogy it's not the best, but there's enough here that I was entertained enough to probably consider watching it again. I'd just have to shut my brain off enough to justify some of the character and plot elements, and that'd do me well. 5.5/10.

Tomorrow: it's X-Men Origins: Wolverine.