Spiderman 3 Movie Review

The highly anticipated Spiderman 3 is finally out on the silver screen. Once again, our friendly neighborhood superhero is out swinging through the bustling streets of New York City, battling dastardly villains. The question on everyone's mind: Does Spiderman 3 live up to the standards of Sam Raimi's previous two movies both of which box-office-toppers? Or is it simply a hit and miss?

Tobey Maguire plays Peter Parker, a nerdy college student, freelance photographer and the alter ego of Spiderman. Spiderman 3 is very much like its previous two movies, revolving around Parker's life and relationships. However Spiderman 3 is noticeably different as the movie takes a violent swerve into a grittier path compared to previous two movies which focus on light topics of romance, action and humor. Spiderman 3 is a spiral into darker themes of identity crisis, betrayal and rage.

Spiderman 3 starts where movie 2 ends, after Mary Jane Watson learns about Parker's alter ego and actively supports it. Parker now expects a peachy life: his college life is fantastic, the public is now pro-Spidey and he currently has a lovey-dovey relationship with Mary Jane Watson, the girl of his dreams. However, his happiness is not to be. Through a sequence of unfortunately timed events, Parker and MJ have a falling out. When MJ is moping over her dismal career, Parker is busy being self-absorbed over Spidey's growing popularity. Spiderman's public kiss with Gwen Stacy is literally the last straw. MJ ignores Parker to seek solace with Harry Osborne, the New Goblin, suffering from short-term amesia has forgotten his hatred for Spiderman. Meanwhile Spiderman is occupied with a new villian, Sandman, and the symbiote (a living alien organism that bonds with another living organism in order to survive) -infected Spidey suit. Spiderman is intially thrilled with his new black costume, as it enhances his powers. When Parker finally realises the negative influence of the suit, he tries to remove it. The symbiote hastily occupies another host, Eddie Brock, who is at the scene, praying for Parker's death. Eddie Brock becomes Venom, and joins forces with Sandman to kill Spiderman.

Spiderman 3 skillfully pieces unrelated occurances together eventually inter-weaves them to an engaging plotline. However the movie fails to make smooth transitions, often jolting the audience from one scene to another with little synchronization. Cheesy lines, draggy scenes and Maguire's second-rate acting further cripples the movie.

Despite its flaws, the movie is still a good watch. The stunning visual effects and the action are worth the price of admission. The bringing to life of Sandman and Venom, the fighting scenes, the color contrast of the characters and the chrome-and-concrete landscape which makes up New York City, all of those are breathtaking. Spiderman 3 also has sprinklings of humor on the side, most are funny but some are just plain annoying. The movie also shows the humanity of the villains, emphasizing the blurry lines between good and evil. While this is refreshing, it is disappointing that the villains are portrayed as pitiable without revealing their more evil nature. We all know that there will always be grey patches here and there, but what are villains without their deliciously unrepentant malevolence and psychotic personalities?

Spiderman 3 is definitely one movie that justifies the experience of going to the movies with well-defined picture quality and fantastic sound effects. One of the movie's best points is its visual effects, so please don’t deprive yourself of that. Swing by your nearest cinema with your friends or family and enjoy!

By: Chia Ling Xian