“Spider-Man 3” An Exciting Spidey Adventure That Still Has Some Flaws

With the Sam Raimi/”Spider-Man’ trilogy being reissued and will be showing at the Dietrich Theater coming up on September 26 - 28, I took a look at the first two installments of the beloved trilogy in the previous edition. For this edition, I took a look at “Spider-Man 3,” which I haven’t seen in a few years. So, is this third installment of the Sam Raimi trilogy still a mixed bag? The answer is yes, but it’s more entertaining than I initially thought!

Peter Parker and MJ seem to finally be on the right track in their complicated relationship, but trouble looms for the superhero and his lover. Peter’s Spider-Man suit turns black and takes control of him, not only giving Peter enhanced power but also bringing out the dark side of his personality.

Peter must overcome the suit’s influence as three supervillains - Sandman, Venom and the New Goblin - rise up to destroy him and all those he holds dear.

While the first two installments of the Sam Raimi trilogy are extremely enjoyable and a couple of the best comic book movies ever released, Sam Raimi’s 2007 sequel still can be a bit of a mixed bag. Now, while the second sequel does deliver some great action sequences and entertainment (especially from the infamous meme-worthy dancing scenes), the 2007 movie does still have its flaws.

The entire Sandman/Flint Marko story and the character’s villain origin is both visually outstanding. Flint Marko has been stealing so he could help save his dying daughter out of desperation. The entire sequence where Marko turns into Sandman by accidentally falling into a radioactive experiment is one of the best visual effects sequences of this movie. Flint Marko’s story also gets mixed into Peter Parker’s which also adds a more personal touch to Parker’s initial story (won’t spoil how both their stories get mixed together just in case you haven’t seen this sequel).

Another memorable moment (or series of moments), is when Peter Parker/Spider-Ma

n gets a bit of an upgrade after finding the mysterious black symbiote. After getting into contact with the symbiote, Peter’s behavior becomes more aggressive and arrogant and even gives him his own little infamous “emo dance” moment - which is still kind of laughable today!

While “Spider-Man 3” does deliver a good amount of action and a few meme-worthy scenes (mainly when Parker does his dancing), the main thing that really diminished the impact of this sequel was having too many subplots and quite a few new villains. With the movie delivering quite a few subplots and the numerous villains involved, it made the story feel too convoluted and, at times, hard to follow. At least, years after this movie came out, we got a decent interpretation of Eddie Brock/Venom in the 2018 movie!

Overall, after checking out this 2007 sequel for the first time in a while, I have enjoyed it slightly more than when I first initially watched it. Over the years, “Spider-Man 3” has received a slightly more positive response from audiences. And, from what I have read online, a lot of people who have given the movie another chance have agreed that the too many villains and subplots also bogged down the movie just a bit.

Make sure to check out the Dietrich Theater website for show dates and times for the Sam Raimi/”Spider-Man” trilogy reissue!

• Sam Raimi was deeply unhappy with how the film turned out. He had hoped that the planned fourth film would have made up for it.

• According to James Franco, they had to go back and do some reshoots just prior to the release, because test audiences felt that there was not enough action in the film.

• All of the screams Kirsten Dunst had for this film were recycled from Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004).

• It was considered at one point to split the movie into two films.

• The first shot of the Sandman forming took roughly 6 months to create.

• In total, the film took 2 years and 10 months to make.

• Originally, director Sam Raimi vehemently opposed having Venom as a villain in the film, claiming he hated Venom's "lack of humanity," but Marvel producer Avi Arad convinced him to include the character, explaining that Venom had a strong worldwide following. Raimi eventually came to appreciate the character, based on writer Alvin Sargent's script and actor Topher Grace's performance. However, to keep Venom's appearance a secret, he claimed during the film's casting and production that he hated the character, and had no intention of including the character in this film or any subsequent sequels. To make amends, he then treated the audience at the 22 July 2006 San Diego Comic-Con to the first public images of Venom in the film, albeit with unfinished special effects.

• Thomas Haden Church was offered the role of Sandman on the strength of his performance in Sideways (2004). He accepted the part despite the fact that there was no script.

• Reportedly an early draft had John Jameson, the astronaut from Spider-Man 2 (2004), returning from a space mission with the symbiote as a stowaway. To save time and money, this was eliminated in favor of having the meteorite just happen to land next to Peter Parker. The Jameson space mission story was reused for Venom (2018) but instead, Riot was the symbiote.

• The release date for the film was set before Spider-Man 2 (2004) was even released.

• Originally, Dylan Baker's Curt Connors was meant to mutate into the Lizard and become the main villain for this film. There is a lizard skeleton in Dr. Connors' laboratory that foreshadows this metamorphosis. Another hint is the fact that his right arm is missing: in the comics he tried to restore it using reptile DNA, which led to his transformation. The Lizard story was filmed, with Rhys Ifans in place of Baker, for the reboot movie The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). There were discussions about Curt Connors mutating into the Lizard for a potential fourth film.