Review - Spider-Man 3

"Spider-Man 3" is the third installment on the classic Marvel Comics series.
Life is finally looking up for Peter Parker. His girlfriend, Mary Jane Parker, is a star on Broadway. He is planning on asking her to marry him. And Spider-Man is finally becoming popular. Little does he know how much trouble awaits him. Harry Osborn is still obsessed over the death of his father...and becomes the New Goblin to hunt down Spidey. Small-time criminal Flint Marko has an accident with a science experiment...turning into The Sandman, who is literally made of sand. Pesty photographer Eddie Brock is hounding both Spider-Man and Peter. And when Spider-Man finds himself covered in a mysterious black substance that augments his powers...but also starts to change him for the worse...can he find a way to make everything right again?
I waited a long time for this movie. And it was entertaining...don't get me wrong. But...I found myself drawing the unfortunate comparison to "Star Wars Episode III". Essentially, they tried to do too much. Too many characters...too many sub-plots...too much in too little time. You have Spider-Man battling both the New Goblin, Sandman, and towards the end of the movie, Venom (who deserved an entire movie all to himself). You have sub-plots involving Mary Jane's acting career, a possible second love interest in Gwen Stacy, the rivalry and animosity between Peter/Spidey and Harry/Goblin, the distraction of Eddie Brock. By the end of the movie, you almost need a scorecard to keep it all straight.
The inevitable comic book geek nitpick - Topher Grace as Venom?????? In the comics, Eddie Brock is a weight-lifter of near Olympic levels. Grace is only two and a half inches taller than Tobey Maguire...and let's face it, folks...he doesn't look like a weight-lifter to me. While he does capture Brock's trademark arrogance...he just doesn't have the physique to make it convincing.
All in all...an entertaining movie...but it should have been so much better. "Spider-Man 3"...we can only hope "Spider-Man 4" is better.
Starring - Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, James Cromwell, and Theresa Russell. Directed by Sam Raimi.
Time - 2 hours, 20 minutes. Rated - PG-13 (Comic book violence, some language)