Spiderman 3 Review

***Warning: Mild Spoilers***
Abby and I watched Spiderman 3 the other night (our 2nd movie of the year).  Abby thought it was OK, but I hated it.  I had so many problems with it, but to summarize my feelings they did to the Spiderman franchise what Batman and Robin did to kill the previous Batman franchise. Too much eye candy, not enough substance.  Too many villains and no character development.  Those that do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.

To be fair, I liked the physical representation of Sandman/Flint Marko.  I liked how Venom looked when Topher Grace's head was covered with the black stuff.  And.....well, thats about it.  The rest was an amalgam of non sequential, disjointed events.

Characters
-Gwen Stacy.  She was originally Peter's first girlfriend before Mary Jane.  Gwen died in a historically monumental event at the hands of Green Goblin in a battle with Spiderman on a bridge (which was cribbed from in Spiderman movie #1).  Her late inclusion throws off the sequence of events.
-Flint Marko.  He was a petty thief that had a heart of gold, which was mentioned in the movie.  However he had no connection to Uncle Ben's death.  Completely fabricated for the movie.
-Edward Brock, Jr.  One of the best villains in comic book history is diluted down to a punk who got his feelings hurt.  They at least got the part right about the suit jumping onto Brock due to his hatred towards Peter Parker.  The "suit" felt betrayed by Peter, so it attached to Brock for revenge.  Venom (suit + Brock) went on to harass and torment Peter and his family, which never happened.  It was that torment that made the character great.  Plus, Venom did not trigger Spiderman's "Spidey Sense", a plot line that makes Venom much more interesting.  Barely a mention in the movie.  Venom's lifespan on film is about 15 minutes.  They never even call him Venom in the movie.  The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that director Sam Raimi killed the best story line on purpose so the next Spiderman director would not use the Venom stories.
-Harry Osborn.  Not sure what this Green Goblin 2.0 thing was all about.  Historically, Harry uses his father Norman Osborn's GG gear after having relationship and school problems, which led him towards drug addiction.  His addictions triggered a similar muliple personality disorder like his father.  Much more interesting than just having flashbacks when he sees his father's portrait, huh?

Actors
-Kirsten Dunst.  How did she ever get work?  She's horrible.  Not to mention that Mary Jane is supposed to eventually become a supermodel after her "B movie" career.  I just don't buy her as Mary Jane anymore.  As a high school alpha female abused by her father?  Sure.  The struggling Broadway singer?  Not a chance.
-Topher Grace.  He comes across as his typical smarmy typecast persona.  Not what I envisioned for Brock.  In my mind, Brock is more of a brute with a chip on his shoulder.

Reoccuring Themes
-Maskless.  Can't a superhero or super villain go 2 minutes without taking off their mask? 
-Falling from building physics.  All the action sequences seemed to be a full acrobatic routine while falling from a building.  Spiderman is highly athletic and acrobatic, but that does not mean he falls from the rooftops slower than anyone else.
-Uncombed hair = Evil.  What a lazy motif!  The suit makes Peter evil, therefore lets give him a goth look with his hair in his eyes.  They might as well have given him a goatee and a sinister cackle.

The special effects were good, but not enough to cover up the lack of a decent plot and new paper thin characters, but I will still go see the fourth movie.