A tangled web

>> Spider-Man 3 is an overly convoluted but still entertaining superhero sequel

by MARK SLUTSKY

Every Spider-Man movie seems to get just a little more complicated. The series’ last installment, running over two hours, tried to pack in way more Spider-stuff than the movie really needed—it suffered from blockbuster bloat, a sadly common affliction these days (see also that last Pirates of the Caribbean movie).

Now along comes Spider-Man 3, which is, if anything, even more complicated than the last movie. We’re talking three major villains (two of whom are new to the series and get the full-on origin story treatment), two romantic interests, two romantic rivals for Peter Parker, a new costume, two Kirsten-Dunst-sung torch songs, a revised look at Uncle Ben’s death (the event that sparked Spidey’s crime-fighting career) and the brief appearance of a new hairstyle for our hero. And yet, somehow director Sam Raimi keeps everything moving along at a cheery enough clip that, even at around the same length, it seems a lot faster and more fun than 2.

Where to start with the film’s plot(s)? Okay, deep breath. Peter Parker/Spidey (Tobey Maguire) is happily dating Mary Jane (Dunst). His erstwhile best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), son of the late Green Goblin, still hates him for his part in the Gobbie’s death, until, fighting Spidey as the Hobgoblin, he takes a knock on the head and loses part of his memory.

Meanwhile (everything in this movie is “meanwhile”), escaped convict Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), falls into a particular accelerator while on the lam and turns into the swirling, granular Sandman. Also some black goo falls from space (comic fans will recognize this as villain Venom), which attaches itself to Spidey and eventually becomes a fancy new black suit, which fuses to him and brings out the meaner, more aggressive aspects of his personality, leading to the movie’s worst misstep, a Nutty Professor-style emo-beatnik-Buddy-Love sequence in a jazz bar.

Oh yeah, here’s some other stuff in Spider-Man 3: potential love interest Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), rival shutterbug Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), and of course, some wham-bang action set pieces, of which there are a couple pretty exciting ones. There’s way too much going on in this movie, but as an overstuffed summer entertainment, it somehow hangs together.

Spider-Man 3 opens
this Friday, May 4

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