Movie: Spider-Man 3

When “Spider-Man 3” first came out back in the summer I wanted to see it on the big screen. But circumstances didn’t allow it. Now, having seen it, I’m kinda glad I waited to see it on DVD.

It was just okay for me. It had two scenes which were VERY weak and ill-placed, and I admit they really ruined it for me. The first scene was Peter Parker’s initial “Saturday Night Fever” scene wherein he’s walking down the street being all cocky. I understand the black suit makes him more aggressive, but at that point I don’t think Peter would have gone so far as to make finger guns and point at hot chicks.

The second scene was in the Jazz Room bar when he started playing piano and dancing in an effort to humiliate Mary Jane. Uh. Seriously? I HATED that scene. It was just awful and so NOT in keeping with the movie. Since when did Spider-Man movies = bad comedy? At that point I figured it would all be downhill from there, but it managed to overcome that bad scene.

I felt like Tobey Maguire phoned this one in. Kirsten Dunst wasn’t much better. James Franco was good, and much more adept at playing good and bad. Sure, Tobey got to play “bad” for a while, which all actors love, but I still didn’t feel like he was into it as much as he was in Spider-Man 2 where he was GREAT.

I just thought this installment could have been a lot better than it was. If they DO decide to do a Spider-Man 4 (and all signs generally point to yes on that), let’s hope they get a better writer (or a more discerning production team that will know what scenes should NOT be filmed after all) and that the actors realize they have a good thing and need to bring it in order to keep fans like me interested.

2 1/2 bells ringing out of five.