Film Footle: Spider-Man 3

Perhaps it's folly to start a review with the conclusion, but I saw Spidey 3 with three others who had the exact same reaction to it, namely: "Well, I was expecting a lot worse."

The Spider-Man trilogy started with a stunningly watchable, enjoyable film and then, for my money, took a rapid nose-dive into preachy territory with a patchy sequel in which the only redeeming feature was the (underused) presence of Alfred Molina. I had certain perturbed preconceptions about film three, it being almost entirely focussed on the theme of responsibility and vengeance that had become so heavy handed in Spider-Man 2.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. This is a flawed film, and far too long, but I saw it as quite an adept return to form. Tobey Maguire has, unfortunately, failed to add any depth to Peter Parker, but I do enjoy his performances. Kirsten Dunst is dangling from her cutesiness by a thread, barely getting away with it anymore but for retaining her sweet looks. However, Thomas Haden Church, while underused, gave a controlled and moving performance as Flint Marko, the man who will become the Sandman.

The character of Venom is also introduced, first infecting Parker and then moving on to another candidate. Between the Sandman / possible murderer of Uncle Ben storyline, the problems of Peter's relationship with Mary Jane, the on-going revenge storyline courtesy of a misinformed Harry Osborn (the terminally dull James Franco), Peter's rivalry with a Daily Bugle freelancer and the effects of Venom of Parker's rapidly inflating ego there is far, far too much going on in this film. I mean, look at the length of that sentence...

In an effort to cram in two new characters and revisit the Green Goblin, this becomes a bit of a bum-number, running to two and a half hours. Forty minutes could happily have been excised, but rather than removing much of the pointless banter between charmless dullards Franco and Dunst I'm afraid that what Sam Raimi would have opted for would be the removal of the most enjoyable part of the film, a cringeworthy comedy sequence where Maguire earns his pay cheque in humiliation dollars.

Oh, and speaking of cringeworthy, there was one moment where a Spider-suited Parker lands square in front of a billowing Star Spangled Banner that definitely ought to have been sliced from the final cut.

Long, over-complicated and occasionally tiresome? Yes. Unenjoyable? No. It's as good away as any to while away the hours, and if the improvement in tone continues then maybe the inevitable Spider-Man 4 will see Raimi completely back on track.