Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Today, we'll discuss the final Spider-Man film in the Sam Raimi trilogy: Spider-Man 3 (2007).  But this is not the end of my Spider-Man marathon.  Stay tuned for more Spider-Man film reviews after this one!  Warning: some spoilers ahead.

SYNOPSIS:
All is going very well for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) until an alien symbiote crashes to Earth and bonds with him.  It gives him improved strength while also boosting his confidence and enhancing his emotions.  But who is really in control, the man or the symbiote?  Meanwhile, an escaped convict who actually killed Ben Parker falls into a particle accelerator and becomes the powerful Sandman (Thomas Haden Church).  Peter Parker has to deal with his emotions over his Uncle Ben all over again as the Sandman runs amok in New York.  Peter also has to contend with Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), an amateur photographer who is competing to take Peter's job at the Daily Bugle.  And finally, Harry Osborn (James Franco) has discovered his father's Green Goblin experiments and is preparing himself to take on Spider-Man as the New Goblin.  If all this wasn't enough, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter Parker are having some serious relationship troubles.  Looks like Spider-Man's schedule is about to be very busy...

REVIEW:
Here is the epic conclusion of the Sam Raimi trilogy!  Sam really wanted Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard to be the villain in this film, which he had been building up to in the previous two films.  But audiences had been demanding Venom (the alien symbiote) make an appearance in a live-action film, so Sony decided to go with the fan-favorite villain.  This film is chock-full of villains this time around, though!  Venom, Sandman, and the new Green Goblin all make an appearance, leading up to a full roster and a lengthy runtime.

This film was almost split into a two-part story, but they decided to trim it down and keep it to one film.  Splitting a finale into two films hadn't quite become a trend just yet.  Spider-Man 2 (2004) was re-released as Spider-Man 2.1 with deleted scenes added back in and fans have called for a similar treatment for Spider-Man 3.  But so far, no extended or director's cut has ever come.  Originally, Sony planned to produce six Spider-Man films!  But due to creative differences between Sam Raimi and Sony, this ongoing series ended after only three.

One of my favorite scenes is when Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) is transformed into Sandman and has to learn how to fully form his body again.  It's a wordless scene with beautiful music, showing the struggle to reform and the frustration Sandman feels as he's trying to become human again.  They made Sandman a very sympathetic character. In the original Spider-Man comics, he started out a generic villain who eventually, over a very long time, became a sort of antihero.  In this film, they showed him as a misunderstood character who only did bad things to help his dying daughter.

The CGI to render all the living sand effects did not exist when production started on this film, but through a lot of hard work and tight deadlines, programs were developed that were able to simulate the effects.  I remember being absolutely floored by the visual quality of it in theaters, and it holds up especially well, even today.

Stan Lee actually got a speaking role in his cameo this time!  He showed up to spout some advice to Peter Parker on the streets of New York.  His two previous cameos were so quick, you had to be looking carefully to see them.  This would be the start of his more direct cameos in Marvel superhero properties.

Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi's friend and former star of his Evil Dead trilogy, also made another cameo in this film.  He played a French host at a fancy restaurant Peter invited Mary Jane to.  Peter planned a proposal to Mary Jane, which the French host was very excited to help with.  He got a more involved and silly role this time, which helped undercut the serious conversation between Peter and Mary Jane.

While Peter Parker is having a good time, settling into his role as the beloved superhero of New York, Mary Jane spends the film dealing with nothing but bad luck.  She loses her acting career and catches Spider-Man giving Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) a public upside-down kiss - the kiss that defined Mary Jane's relationship with Peter in the first Spider-Man film.  Every time she tries to talk to Peter, he dismisses her frustration and then turns the conversation back on himself without properly listening to her.  Their relationship is a mess throughout this film because they just don't communicate with one another!  Not only is Peter not listening to Mary Jane, but Mary Jane is just shutting down and not making an effort to effectively communicate back. It's very frustrating to watch.

Gwen Stacy, a fan-favorite love interest for Spider-Man, is introduced in this film as a damsel in distress, saved by Spider-Man.  She's the daughter of the chief of police and happens to be dating Eddie Brock; although she ends up leaving Eddie for Peter later on.  When she presents Spider-Man the key to the city, there's a full parade going on and you hear the old 1967 cartoon Spider-Man's theme playing from a full band nearby the stage.  Finally, a complete Spider-Man theme in a live-action film!

Did I mention that Peter is VERY egotistical in this film?  Tobey Maguire plays a very socially awkward and cringey Peter Parker, but he dialed it up to 11 for this particular film. All right, let's talk about it: the embarrassingly cringey dance scene with "emo Peter."  As I re-watched this awful scene, I noticed that girls are cringing away from him, not impressed or wowed by him.  I think what makes the scene especially awkward is that there's no music playing in the scene itself, it's just emo Peter dancing to - supposedly - music in his head.  We, the audience, can hear it, but in the scene itself, he's just dancing to nothing.  If there was a street performer playing some music that he was dancing to, it would be at least 50% less cringey to watch.

For the longest time, I just hated emo Peter in this film, but upon watching it again now, I realize it's the Venom symbiote that's enhancing his negative emotions and making him a jerk to everyone.  When he finally realizes what's happening, he ditches the symbiote and becomes the superhero we recognize from the previous films.  So I'll give the extra-cringey Peter Parker a pass.  As bad as he is normally, "emo Peter" was not his fault.

In the comics, it was Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 (1984) where Spider-Man got his new black costume on an alien ship in space.  But several Amazing Spider-Man issues later, he discovered it was an alien symbiote trying to bond with him and he managed to ditch the suit before it took hold of him.  It bonded with Eddie Brock as well, who became the villain known as Venom.  He really became popular with audiences in Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994). In this film, after Peter ditches the symbiote, we see it immediately bond to Eddie Brock, giving us the final form of Venom from the comics.

You may have noticed I have hardly mentioned Harry Osborn (James Franco) much at all in my reviews, and that's because he hasn't really been all that important to the plot.  He's had a 3-film build-up for his character arc and it was... decent.  He was a great friend to Peter in Spider-Man (2002), even if he was secretly jealous of all the attention and affection Peter got from Harry's dad, Norman Osborn.  Then Harry spends all of Spider-Man 2 (2004) brooding over his dead father and blaming Spider-Man for killing him.  His hidden jealousy of Peter slowly starts coming out and he accuses him of protecting Spider-Man from him, assuming Peter knows who Spider-Man is because of the good Spider-Man photos Peter takes for the Daily Bugle newspaper. Upon discovering Peter IS Spider-Man, he swears revenge for his father.  He then finds his father's old Green Goblin lab and, in this final film, we see him turn himself into the New Goblin and take on Spider-Man face-to-face.  It doesn't go well for him, and when he's pretty much a depressed, hopeless mess, only THEN does his butler speak up and give proof that the Green Goblin killed himself.  Oh, thanks!  NOW you mention it, after Harry ruined his friendships and his life.  Still, the climax of the film with Harry teaming up with Peter to take on the villains was pretty cool and a satisfying conclusion to the Harry Osborn revenge arc.

RECOMMENDATION:
This was a decent conclusion to the original Spider-Man trilogy.  I would have been curious about the six-movie deal Sony had planned (they've toyed with the idea of a Sinister Six film - the team-up of famous Spider-Man villains from the comics), but I'm glad to leave Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man for other actors in the role.  At least, until I see Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) in theaters, where I suspect Tobey Maguire will be making an appearance.  My next couple reviews will be on both of The Amazing Spider-Man films, starring Andrew Garfield.  See you then!