Spider-Man 3 - Review

Just got back from the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 as my contribution to some sort of box office record today or the weekend -- we'll see if my $11 worked. The only record I'm seeing is a single-day or maybe 2-day. With Shrek the Third coming in 2 weeks time, and then Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Spider-Man 3 would be lucky to hold on to any record. Transformers may even be the biggest movie of the year who knows. And there's still Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

As a Spider-Man fan, I liked the movie, but some thoughts:

First of all, Spider-Man has the best set of villains and supporting characters in comics. You would have to do a major botch-up job to make it seem otherwise. This movie almost did, but not because the characters themselves sucked.

Topher Grace has now become one of the greatest miscasts in film of all time. As Eddie Brock, ok, but as Venom -- he pretty much destroyed it. I think Sam Raimi became a bit confused in trying to explore some of the darker themes in Spider-Man and at the same time not alienating the kids which seems to be one of the important target audiences for Sony. The result is an ill-advised casting of Topher Grace among other things. I'm not a big fan of Venom -- because I hate him/it since its so evil -- but Topher, even if it looked like he tried his best, pretty much made Venom look like a joke.

Tobey Maguire is a horrible actor. When you cry and the entire audience laughs, that's serious bad acting right there.

Finally, since when was Kirsten Dunst known for her singing? This is a spoiler, but consider it a warning: Kirsten Dunst's singing bookends this movie. Get ready.

Again, just great to see Spider-Man on the big screen. The animation is top-notch with some really good sequences between Spidey and the Green Goblin. Unfortunately, this should close the book on this particular cast of Peter and Mary-Jane. If they ever make a fourth movie with Tobey and Kirsten still in it, I will definitely not watch. And to think that Kirsten said that her chemistry with Tobey is what made the Spidey movies worked -- the nerve. Spider-Man is Spider-Man -- you were lucky you got cast in his movie Kirsten.

Verdict: Still worth watching with some reservations