Spider-Man 3 Comic Book Movie Review

The Bad:

The Villains Development
Unlike Peter’s development, the villains were a little lackluster. There were many villains in this film, a total of three with Sandman, Venom, and the new Green Goblin. They started things off nicely with some back story of Sandman, a guy just trying to get the money his daughter needs to stay healthy, the creepy and underhanded Eddie Brock who becomes Venom, and the twisted need for vengeance that Harry feels he must go through with to keep his fathers approval. These were all started in a fairly captivating manner, but by the end, when things had to be wrapped up, they moved way to quickly to put an end to everything. They didn’t move much past their original character developments.

The Final Act
As stated above, the movie tried to wrap things up to quickly a the end. One of the things that really bugged me was the sudden turn of Harry from a villain trying to kill Peter to being his bestest buddy and teaming up to save the day. Here we have Harry, who has been using his fathers formula to make himself stronger and more intelligent, which has a side effect of making one crazy. His blood lust for killing Peter is fueled by the conversations he has with his father – his dead father. In a big battle, his face is scarred beyond repair. He is haunted by seeing Spider-Man bringing in his dead father and placing him on a sofa. One would think all these things would make a man not want to help him in any way shape or form right? But all it takes is some quick words by his butler and all is forgiven and Harry rushes off to save his friend Peter Parker.

I think what would have been a much better ending would be if Harry went with Peter to help save Mary Jane. This probably would have been much more in keeping with his character. What we have instead was such a quick turn as to be unbelievable. I mean, he’s crazy…crazy!

Gwen Stacy
I understand the changes in continuity. They are needed because a two plus hour movie has a really hard time of condensing decades of story into something that makes sense and is compelling. That said, however, the Gwen Stacy storyline was a big letdown. In the comics, the relationship and subsequent death of Gwen Stacy is such a huge part of the Spider-Man mythos. It is a point in Spider-Man history that has changed and redefined Spider-Man, but what we have here in this film is a pale comparison to the original storyline. I honestly felt that the character was just used and tossed aside, her potential truly wasted. Now don’t get me wrong, Bryce Dallas Howard looked great as the blond bombshell and in her short scenes really came off well, I just felt that the character’s impact on the Spider-Man character couldn’t really be felt in the movies as her death scene was already played out in the first Spider-Man film with Mary Jane in Gwen’s spot. (You do remember the bridge scene where the Green Goblin pushes Mary Jane off and Peter must choose to save her or the children in the tram car and he saves both? That was the infamous Gwen Stacy scene from the comics, but in the comics, Gwen Stacy didn’t make it.)

Bottom Line:

Nitpicking aside, I enjoyed Spider-Man 3. I don’t feel that it was as good as the previous two films, and I really wish they would stop killing villains in movies, but this film was a solid superhero movie. If you like the characters already, I think you will enjoy the film, if you can get past the nitpicking. If you don’t like the characters then this film still has a lot to offer. If you like action, it’s got lots of it. Comedy, that too. Romance abounds. You might not appreciate all the characters and story lines that seem a bit shallow in places, but in the end, Spider-Man 3 is a good comic book movie.