Spider-Man 3

A very inconsistent movie and unnecessarily long. Raimi didn’t learn his lesson from the mistakes in the first two movies he made, far from it, he even makes them again and again, making this extremely painful to watch. The screenplay is bad, real bad. After getting rid of the whole original mythology it creates a brand new one, only much worse. What worked in the first two movies is completely out of place here, landing Parker in illogical situations and what he then does is more than just bizarre (I can’t even call it pretentious) humiliating himself in front of the viewer. I was literally praying for Parker to get into his suit or for the story moves to focus on one of the many villains. The action is great as usual and Venom, as I see it, was pretty good, but there should be hell of a lot more of him. Sandman’s tricks are among the high points of the movie although Flint Marko himself comes across a bit stiff. The biggest surprise was the character of Harry Osborn who became a much bigger hero than Spider-Man himself. (06/11/2007)

By no means the dumbest film in the series (the previous ones were dumb too), just gaps between great action sequences so wide that no one can miss the idiocy... even an idiot. It's a giant laugh, this movie. The script is so retarded I'm surprised it was written and not drawn. Mary-Jane fires such salvos here ("How could you? This was OUR kiss!") that it can’t even be possible. The fact that the only thing the film perceives as purely negative is black alien matter speaks volumes, too. It's just that I'm not going to give a mediocre rating to a movie that, after a little work in the video editor, I could turn into a great five-star hour-long action flick starring J.K. Simmons and Bruce Campbell. And if Spider-Man hadn't run in front of the American flag in the third installment, I'd give one less star ;) (03/15/2011)

My favorite part of the trilogy and apart from Kirsten Dunst, Bryce Dallas Howard is also a nice addition. I have no idea where the mistake was made, but keep the same satisfied audience for five years if they have enough of it. In retrospect, I appreciate many things, including the compactness of the series, the light humor, and the use of a generous number of characters. And I certainly don't feel that there is too much pathos. They’ve taken some of it away compared to the second one, which is much more extreme. And MJ at the theater? A total fairy tale. (02/13/2011)

Raimi completed his dream series, and even if the whole world berated him for the ending not turning out well, there will always be one comic book fan who will be forever grateful for such a packed finale. In such a complicatedly developed story, nothing had to turn out well at all, and that's why I am even more shocked that this director is perfect for me for the first time in his career. Successful and happy Peter swaps roles with his dissatisfied love, and once again, the problems do not only remain in the superhero realm. Most of us, however, were expecting action, and once again, it takes our breath away. Typical Spiderman villain Sandman, Hamlet-like Harry, and my favorite Venom have finally had their moment of glory, and during the grand resolution, all of my nerves and senses remained tense until the very last moment. Spider's best part and the most amazing farewell to the series that could have happened to the group around Tobey Maguire. (05/09/2007)

The garishness of the coarsest, er... grain. The longer the film goes on, the worse it gets, and the soap opera-like romantic plot is definitely one of the worst things poor Spider-Man has ever had to contend with. In the scenes where he's supposed to be evil and obsessive, Tobey Maguire shows that he's more good at overacting than acting, and Mary Jane's jealous exit is an ordeal. Yet Sandman would have been a decent villain if he had been given more space, as his birth scene is one of the best ever seen in a comic book movie. Seriously, no irony. Most of all, Spider-Man 3 looks like an attempt to make "something like Tim Burton's Batman Returns" that didn't work. (05/11/2015)