Toby Maguire Returns in Spider-Man 3 2007 Film
Directed by Sam Raimi and Features 3 new Marvel Villains
Aug 24, 2009
Finally, Peter Parker has managed to find the right balance between being New York’s beloved superhero and being a normal guy. Unfortunately he is blissfully unaware that the people around him are falling apart, and that is own world is about to be undermined as his past comes back to haunt him.
Spider-Man 3's Plot and Villains
Spider-Man 3 suffers from trying to do too much, and features 3 enemies any one of which would have been suited to their own story. Harry Osborn (James Franco) finally launches an assault on Parker donned in a new outfit as the new Goblin (that does not resemble a Goblin in any way). He is out for revenge because he believes Spider-Man killed his father Norman Osborn the first Green Goblin from the first film (something that the audeince knows that Parker didn't do). Parker also has to deal with the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), the real killer of Uncle Ben, which fuels his guilt of going after an innocent man in the first film and at the same time a strange black ooze attaches itself to him.
Harry Osborn’s initial attack leaves him in a coma for a short while and when he wakes up he has conveniently forgotten everything that has happened. He remains in this state for the majority of the film before regaining his memory and setting about ruining Parker’s life.
Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), Peter's girlfriend, is also failing in her Broadway career, something Peter is oblivious to as he struggles with the revelation that his uncle’s killer is still on the loose. The ooze attaches itself to him whilst he sleeps, and enhances his powers but also brings out an arrogant, aggressive self-important side to his personality that causes him to launch an almost fatal attack on the Sandman.
After rejecting the ooze (which turns out to be an alien symbiote) it finds Eddie Brock Jr (Topher Grace), someone who was exposed trying to make Spider-Man look like a thief, and then becomes the villian Venom.
The Pros and Cons
Unfortunately, whilst the cast from the previous films are all present and correct, Spider-Man 3 doesn’t seem to know exactly what it should be focussing on. After the set up in Spider-Man 2, director Raimi had to give Harry the chance to go after Parker, but obviously he didn’t want to focus on just him, which may be why Harry has amnesia through most of the film.
The Sandman is not a mercilessly insane villain (unlike the brilliant Green Goblin), he commits crimes to try and support his sick daughter, something most people could understand which makes him a more ‘complex’ bad guy.
The villains all look the part and play their roles well. Venom especially looks very unnerving, and when the alien moves back to reveal the twisted face off Eddie Brock Jr, you can clearly see the horror on Parker’s face.
Regrettably this is the most flawed of the three films, the story jumps from one villain to the next, then back again. Harry is apparently beaten but then he isn’t, the Sandman seems to have been killed but returns a little while later, and then the symbiote finds someone new to attach to.
Spider-Man 3 also has a series of amazing coincidences, the alien symbiote lands in Central Park conveniently next to New York’s only superhero, it latches on to his bike, then manages to find its way into his apartment. When Parker rejects the symbiote it falls onto Eddie Brock, who just happens to have wandered into the same building and just happens to have a grudge against Parker.
In addition Spider-Man’s mask seems to be a bit of an afterthought because he seems to spend large quantities of the film running around without it, and even engages in an aerial battle with Harry (who is also unmasked) in his civilian clothes. Parker’s spider-sense (something that saved his life in the first film) also seems to have been forgotten by everyone and doesn’t really feature.
6/10
The cast do fine, but the film lacks clear direction. Bruce Campbell’s cameo is again a highlight but if the franchise is to survive then Spider-Man 4 will have to be something very special.
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