Spiderman 3

With all those sequels looming on the horizon (Fantastic Four, Shrek, Pirates etc), it’s hardly a surprise that one of the biggest films so far this year is a franchise films. Statistically, it was inevitable.

Emotionally, Spiderman 3 was quite the surprise.

That shouldn’t be, with Sam Raimi at the helm again, guiding Spiderman through the inevitable gauntlet of villains, heroes, romantic entanglements, and souring friendships. And with all the whiz-bangery and gaudy set-pieces it might be easier to look at the flashy merchandising and forget the heart that it delivers in spades.

Pulling together story-threads from both Spiderman 2 and 3, the film is the conclusion to an already triumphant trilogy.

The usual cast of players return. Tobey Maguire is at his usual exceptional standard, his sweetly awkward Peter Parker and agile hero juxtaposed perfectly without losing their innate humanity. Kirsten Dunst has improved impressively, and it’s nice to see that she’s finally learned to emote without looking half-asleep. James Franco returns as Spidey’s best-friend-cum-bitter-enemy Harry Osborne, and the rest of the supporting cast, notably Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and J Jonah Jameson (J K Simmons), make inevitable impacts, despite the briefness of their appearances.

But it’s the new characters that make the story. The teaming of two villains – Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways) and Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace, That 70's Show) – makes things more than a little sticky for Spidey this time around, and adds to the already full story. At a little under two-and-a-half hours, it must have been a tricky task to keep in all the important conflicts – friendship, love, villainy, celebrity, personal darkness – and a few components do fall by the wayside (Bryce Dallas Howard’s Gwen Stacy is more an occasionally swattable fly than a truly threatening love-interest) – but for the most part Raimi keeps everything on-track and accounted for, weaving the story as tight as one of Spidey’s webs.

The new characters are given believable back-stories and the old are kept emotionally consistent. The action is fast-paced, without detracting from the narrative. The comedy is quick, witty, and self-referential. The special effects are seamless. Oh, and Bruce Campbell gets a show-stopping cameo.

Raimi may drop the thread occasionally, but for the most part his Spiderman is less a tacked on money-maker, and more the third act of one truly great piece of art.