***Disclaimer: Before you start reading this, let me remind you that most of the material coming from this post is based on my experience watching this movie; hence, it has lots of spoilers. It is under your discretion to look at it if you haven't seen the movie. If you feel that you need to see my opinion before you go watch it, then go for it. Otherwise, look at Mark's post below.

And here we go...................................

I just woke up, so at least my mind is clear now. But let me get this thing straight: Spider-man 3 is such a disappointment, you might as well spent your Labor Day watching another movie (Gray Matters, perhaps?).

Now, let's start nitpicking. Here's the stuff that I really HATE:

Opening Credits

If you're a follower of the Spider-man franchise, you'd easily notice how the editors had used old clips from Spider-man 1 and 2. Others would argue that it's merely retelling what happened on the previous movies, for the sake of new viewers; for me, it's just the editors having no CREATIVITY at all to come up with a Previously..." type of summary. Come on, the credits to Spider-man 2 was creative, using comic book sketches to portray what happened on Spider-man 1. All I can say is, WHAT A LAZY AND COMPLACENT BUNCH OF *SSES!!!

Storyline/Plotline

This one was actually very surprising for me, because this was the one I liked during the previous two movies. Peter had lots of interactions with the main antagonists, sometimes Osborn and Octavius are portrayed as icons/father figures of Peter. This made the fight scenes between them memorable, because there's one side (that's Peter for you) reluctant to engage another in battle, because of the deep respect Peter has for the other.

This time, it's different. It's like they put too many characters in this movie that there is no time for character development. It's like the writers just had to explain why these new characters are there, and how they are actually connected to Peter Parker. It's just a waste of talent for actors such as Topher Grace (Eddie Brock), Bryce Dallas Howard (Gwen Stacy), James Cromwell (Chief of Police Stacy), and yes, even the alien symbiote (although it is not actually an actor).

For example:

***SPOILER ALERT***

Gwen is introduced as Peter's cute lab partner, who he eventually upside down kisses her, making MJ ballistic and eventually led to Peter and MJ's breakup. Peter also used her to get back at MJ.

Eddie Brock is introduced here as the new upcoming photographer for the Daily Bugle. He took out Gwen once for coffee, already assuming that he is already dating her.

Gwen's dad was introduced when Gwen was attacked by a very intelligent crane that actually lacks the accuracy needed to kill Gwen. IF THERE WAS ANY CHANCE OF KILLING GWEN, THIS WAS IT!!!

We go to Peter and MJ doing some PDA over a web in a park. As they were kissing, a shooting star appeared containing the alien symbiote. YES, THIS IS HOW WE GET INTRODUCED TO THE ALIEN SYMBIOTE: WHILE PETER AND MJ ARE MAKING OUT!

***END OF SPOILERS***

You see how they were actually introduced? It's like they just popped out from nowhere.

Pacing

Because of the multitude of characters, there was little plot development. Which means less time in actually connecting one storyline to another. This was another major flaw in this movie, as it just flows from one big thing to another, without even providing a very meaningful background as to why it happened that way.

And that's not only my main gripe here. Even though there was less time in connecting these storylines, there are parts that were longer than I would expect. These parts made me fall asleep! True fact: there have been only three films in which I actually fell asleep, and I ended up being disappointed with all of them. #1: Constantine - the end part was very wordy. In other words, boring to the point of sleeping. #2: Da Vinci Code - enough said.

***SPOILER ALERT***

#3 Spider-man 3: The part where Spidey and Harry where fighting in midair, up until the part where Harry got clotheslined by Spidey's web. Maybe it's just me being sleepy, but I think that fight was boring compared to the other fight scenes Spidey had in the previous movies. Or maybe it's just because the scene was in the dark.

One other lengthy part would be the way Peter Parker changed once the symbiote got into him. The loser type, dancing part took too much time in the movie, that it could have just shown how incredibly strong and agile Spidey is, instead of showing how great of a pianist and dancer Peter Parker is.

***END OF SPOILERS***

Now, I don't hate everything about Spider-man 3. I loved the Venom costume. I loved Spidey's fight scenes with Venom, although I still felt that it was not long enough. I loved Topher Grace's portrayal of Eddie Brock, as I still see a little Eric Forman in him. His that sarcastic, insolent tone, the same tone you love on "That 70's show" was there, it even made you hope his dad came out of nowhere just to say "You jack*ss!" Bruce Campbell as the Maître d’ was exceptionally funny. Thomas Christian Haden's Sandman portrayal was exceptionally done, yet it comes out as shallow because his interaction with Spider-man was minimal. Only in the end did they actually talk to each other with any human emotion.

I think the main problem of the movie is that there was not enough time to weave all these interacting storylines together to fit in three hours. I mean , little things such as Peter actually discovering that sound affects the symbiote and can help remove it from him would have helped. I really cannot imagine someone such as Peter to just go to the bell tower and just as he's trying to remove the costume, hits the bell, which led to the belltolls, and eventually the symbiote moves away. Peter's a scientist; the least you can do is let him discover how to actually remove the symbiote.

Here is what I would have done if I were Sam Raimi: I would have just developed the Stacy family storyline and Eddie Brock's character in Spider-man 3. You know, Stacy flirting with Peter to MJ's disapproval, of course, and Eddie just doing anything sleazy just to get the upper hand in getting the photographer job over Peter. Continue with the black costume Spidey for the whole movie, and just fighting the Sandman over avenging his uncle's death. Spidey realizes how evil he's gonna become. So he finds a way to remove the symbiote, which is sonic waves, and then proceeds to the bell tower, where Eddie Brock was coincidentally there wishing for Peter Parker to die. Drop goes the symbiote, and we've got Venom. Then Spider-man 4 could be dedicated to Spider-man vs. Venom, which would have been very entertaining if they could actually recreate the fight scenes Spidey and Venom have in comic books.

They could have at least done what Quentin Tarantino did with the Kill Bill series. He actually thought the movie was too long for 3 hours, so he split it into two volumes. Alas, I have to assume this is the final chapter of the Spider-man series, as there is closure (ugly closure I might add) in the movie.

I hope comic book fans don't get too disappointed like I did. Because I believe that that's not the way to end a series, even a comic book series.

4.5 out of 10 stars