Peter Parker and company return for
a third go-around in the Marvel Comics
fan-favorite “Spider-Man 3.” Loaded with
action, special effects, humor and almost
as many subplots as there are screaming
women, director Sam Raimi’s latest attempt
at fleshing out Parker’s life is a noble attempt
– albeit an annoyingly overstuffed one.
Revenge and forgiveness are the themes of
this darker, more introverted effort. Parker
(Tobey Maguire) and his girlfriend Mary
Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) are getting
along happily with life from the onset.
Harry Osborn (James Franco) is where we
left him, convinced Peter killed his father.
Through some simple coincidences, Eddie
Brock (Topher Grace), a photographer at the
Daily Bugle, and his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy
(Bryce Dallas Howard), get intertwined in
the lives of the Pete and Mary Jane.
Grace, after his impressive turn in “In
Good Company,” really has fun with his
role as Brock/Venom. With his potent
cologne, highlighted hair and black leather
jacket, he is the anti-Peter Parker, and his
under-the-breath banter is perfect. When the
Symbiote attaches itself to Spidey, Maguire
is convincingly sinister, and we wince
when all the people who admire him – the
girl with a crush on him in his apartment
building, Aunt May – suffer because of his
newfound powers.
With all these characters in the sequel,
Raimi still finds room to add more. Several
return for cameos, including Osborn’s butler
(who reveals information that should have
been given in the second movie) and Bruce
Cambell, in a hilarious bit as a ma