The Inevitable Spider-Man 3 Review

Although this write-up won't contain any significant spoilers, I'm going to assume some may not read much past the first sentence prior to seeing the movie for themselves, so let me just say upfront: it was very good!

In terms of quality, I'd put it somewhere between the first two movies in the franchise. It seemed better than the Spidey debut, but not up to the level of the masterful sequel. Each of the three villains were done very well, making it the proverbial comic fan wet dream to see Venom, Sandman and "Goblin Junior" represented so well on the big screen. Some good tension was introduced into the Peter/MJ relationship, which we knew had to happen since things were left entirely too happily-ever-after at the end of Spider-Man 2.

For this fan, though, the highlight of the movie had to be the introduction of Gwen Stacy. I've made no secret of the fact that, along with DC's Silver Age Supergirl, Gwen pretty much stole my heart at a young age and never gave it back. I had serious reservations about the casting of Bryce Dallas Howard - Richie Cunningham's daughter - as the young Miss Stacy, simply because I couldn't quite picture her in that role. Having seen the film now, I'd say she's nearly perfect for it! The sad part is that the character's already been supplanted by MJ, as the movie version has Petey in love with his red-haired neighbour from childhood on. In the comics, Miss Watson was always the consolation prize, and anyone who thinks differently can take it up with yours truly! Had the Goblin not killed the lovely Gwen in Amazing Spider-Man # 121, there's no way he'd ever have settled for flighty MJ.

Here, Gwen's portrayed as smart but not brainy. She's Pete's lab partner in science (how come I always got stuck with the guys who only bathed on Saturday night?) and he makes some sort of offhand comment to MJ about how science isn't Gwen's strong suit... but we have to remember this is coming from a mega nerd! One of the things that always appealed to me about Gwen in the comics, after all, was that she could hold her own in any argument with Parker. Although the character's not given a lot of screen time in this movie, she does have one scene that's absolutely perfect, in which Peter uses her to try to make MJ jealous. Gwen's reactions, first to Pete, and then to MJ, were heartbreaking to me.

I'll admit to getting a little tired of seeing the female leads in these movies taken hostage, usually somewhere up high, and then plummeting to their death unless the hero can catch them. Maybe it's because that's how Gwen died in ASM # 121, but I wish the writers would try some other tricks. We've endured that scene in Superman movies, Batman movies, and now I think it's been in each of the three in this series! In this one film alone, both of the girls are put in that predicament, individually!

About the only other quibble I'd have is that the comedy was a bit too broad this time around. I laughed out loud at a lot of it, but it doesn't feel like the sort of thing that'll stand up well on repeat viewings. I did enjoy the Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee cameos, although Sam Raimi's brother Ted had an appearance that left me cold.

While we wait to find out if Sam, Tobey, Kirsten, and (please!) Bryce sign up for the next one, I feel confident in saying that the first three films in this franchise have set an incredibly high bar for comic book movies. If you travelled back in time a dozen years and showed these gems to a 1995 comic fan, you'd probably give him a heart attack! Only the X-Men trilogy has come anywhere close to this level, although I remain hopeful that The Dark Knight will provide similar thrills to what we got from Batman Begins. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is a great time to be a comic fan!