Cinema review
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Toby Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Hayden Church
Release date 4 May 2007

Peter Parker is on top of the world, adored by Mary Jane and the people of New York. Only an alien symbiote can take the Spider-Man higher, but at what cost?

For a film series called Spider-Man, there's surprisingly little to be seen of the boy in blue-and-red in instalment number three. After an opening appearance that turns out to be a looping reel on an electronic billboard, the traditional Spidey suit is barely seen before the closing reel, as Peter takes to the skies first in civvies, then in his widely publicised black costume.

This is supposed to signify an all-round darker Parker, but the film never lives up to the moody noir of its promotional posters, which have been raising hopes of a fight for Spider-Man's soul for months now. It's common knowledge that director Sam Raimi was reluctant to include the alien Venom symbiote that unleashes Peter's dark side, and his failure to engage with this plot thread is apparent on the screen.

For the first half of the film, Venom is relegated to a blob on Peter's floor, biding its time like a malevolent inkspot, while Raimi sets up his myriad plot strands. Given that the character has been included as a sop to the hardcore fans, this is not so much teasing as distracting, as much happens without the film ever seeming to kick-in. By the time the highly anticipated main villain does make its presence felt, it feels like an interloper in another film.

And, of course, that's exactly what it is. The film Raimi wanted to make was about Sandman and Harry Osborn, and both suffer as Peter's inner struggle takes centre stage. Sandman's alter ego, Flint Marko, in particular, is given only the most cursory back story, with some tick-box trauma and off-the-shelf family problems that are used as a justification for his rage, but never touched on again.

Harry is served slightly better, with a largely satisfying conclusion to his ongoing feud with Peter, but it undergoes one too many plot-twists along the way. Where Sandman is relegated to rent-a-monster status for Peter to vent his newfound anger, Harry makes for a far more satisfying foe, shocked and surprised by Spider-Man's hitherto untapped capacity for malice.

But these scenes are few, and much of Peter's inner struggle is sadly played for laughs. The symbiote's main influence on Peter seems to be a bad emo hairstyle, and a predilection to act like a knob. This makes for some very funny sequences, but entirely undercuts the idea of great power exercised without great responsibility. Even evil Superman in Superman III conveyed more menace than snidey Spidey.

With this potential squandered so spectacularly, it's hard to understand how Raimi was convinced to include Venom at all. When Peter breaks his bond with the symbiote, it takes a new host (fans of the comics will know who). But with no villainous plan beyond killing our hero, it could be any old villain – albeit one driven entirely by hate, with none of the intellectual rigour of Spider-Man's more worthy adversaries.

With so much going on, there's not much for Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) to do, except sing a couple of songs and defy death in her usual winsome way. This time round, she's even competing for screen time with a second leading lady, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), another fan favourite from the comics who is just as underdeveloped here as Venom.

But Mary Jane remains at the heart of the series, and her scenes are grounded in an emotional reality more in keeping with the first two films than the manic excesses of this one. Dunst and Maguire's shared scenes are the highlight of the film, and the rapport that they've established over five years is apparent.

The romance is just enough to save the story from being pure spectacle and manages to hold everything together in its gossamer-thin web, however disjointed and sprawling. A breathtaking sky battle early in the film is heightened by Peter's determination not to lose the engagement ring Aunt May has given him, and the return of the upside-down kiss motif encapsulates Peter's growing arrogance and insensitivity much better than any number of bad boy stylings.

But, in the end, Spider-Man 3 is a film that tries to do far too much, and, as a result, only does some of it well. With one eye on the past, resolving old storylines, and one on the future, introducing new characters such as Gwen Stacy, it loses sight of its own place in the canon, and feels oddly intermediate for a film that many are considering the third part of a trilogy. Some excellent moments of drama and comedy add to the characters' ongoing stories, but do not make for a satisfying whole overall. Simon Hugo

VERDICT: 6/10
The weakest Spider-Man film to date is still good fun, despite its lack of focus.