When Spider-Man 3 hit theaters back in 2007, it had big shoes to fill. After all, it was the third part in a trilogy that established Spider-Man as a big-screen superhero. It was what fans had been clamoring for throughout the 80s and 90s. Spider-Man, helmed by Sam Raimi, redefined the superhero film genre and was a dream come true for many fans.
Spider-Man 2, also directed by Raimi, was and still is regarded as the definitive superhero movie. It currently sits at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, even nearly 20 years after its release. It ranks on the top of many fan lists of the Best Super Hero Movie of all time, a heroic (pun intended) feat in the age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
So, with Raimi coming back for the third installment, Spider-Man 3 just had to be an instant success, right? There was no way it wouldn’t meet, or even beat, the spectacle of Spider-Man 2.
Well, not exactly.
While Raimi had planned for the movie to focus on Sandman, the studio insisted on including Venom, a popular anti-hero and Yin to Spider-Man’s Yang. The final product became a bit of a mess and garnered a less-than-stellar reputation among fans (51% for fan reactions on Rotten Tomatoes).
And yes, while Spider-Man 3 is a bit of a mess when it comes to storytelling, it’s not that bad of a movie. It accomplishes what it sets out to do and not only adheres to the Spider-Man mythos but manages to build on it as well.
So here, on its fifteenth anniversary, I’m going to take a look at the good, the bad, and the cringey of Spider-Man 3.
The Good
Without a doubt, the opening fight scene between Peter and Harry Osborn’s Goblin is magnificent. It’s frenetic and dynamic, and it sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The quick action is fun to watch. The fact that it takes place above the city and in between alleys makes it visually interesting. Some of the CGI is dated by today’s standards, and the Goblin design is less than iconic, but this scene encapsulates the feeling of a comic book battle. Add to that the tension of Peter being out of costume and the possibility of him losing the engagement ring Aunt May gave him ramps up the tension and makes it even more engaging.
I also loved Spider-Man dealing with non-powered threats. In Spider-Man 3, there’s a scene with an out-of-control crane and a giant girder threatening a midtown building. While we’ve seen Spider-Man deal with non-powered threats before, this scene really stands out. It involves Spider-Man being selfless, going out of his way to save others. In the first movie, Spider-Man tracks down the crook who killed Uncle Ben (though we’ll get to that in a moment), and while he was acting Spider-Man-y, it still had a direct connection to himself. But the crane scene in Spider-Man 3 shows the kind of hero Spider-Man is and why the city loves him at the beginning of the movie. He does what needs to be done without regard for himself.
While most comic book adaptations make changes from the source material to fit the film, the Spider-Man movies adhered pretty closely to the characterizations from the comics. Spider-Man 3, however, saw a significant change to one of the Spider-Man villains, well, actually all of them, but I’m specifically referring to Sandman.
In the film, Sandman was working with the crook that Peter Parker let escape at the beginning of the first movie. It was thought he was the one who shot Ben Parker and set Peter down his path of righteous crime-fighting. However, in Spider-Man 3, it turns out that it wasn’t this crook that shot Ben. It was Flint Marko, aka Sandman.
Many fans were disappointed with this change, but I found it to be necessary. The Spider-Man movies have always been about the Peter Parker/Spider-Man duality. Each of the bad guys he’s fought has had connections to Peter first, and Spider-Man second. And that trend follows into Spider-Man 3 with Harry Osborn and Eddie Brock.
Flint Marko/Sandman would have been the outlier. In the comics, Marko had no connections to Peter before becoming Sandman. By making this change, Raimi tied Marko and Peter without changing what drove Peter to become a superhero. It may not have been a necessary change considering the number of characters in the movie, but I support it nonetheless.
We also can’t forget about the classic Sam Raimi direction in Spider-Man 3. During the subway fight between Spider-Man and Sandman, just as Spidey is ripping open the water main, the camera quickly zooms in on Sandman as the rivets on the pipe begin to pop, cutting back and forth between the pop, quick zoom, pop, quick zoom. This effect is so synonymous with Raimi that I’m surprised he hasn’t patented it yet. I absolutely love it.
The Bad
After Peter becomes infected with the symbiote, he goes off in search of Sandman, intent on getting revenge for the death of Uncle Ben. When he finds Sandman, a stellar fight scene ensues. This leads to Spider-Man breaking a water pipe and washing Sandman away.
He later tells Aunt May that the man who killed Uncle Ben was killed. Aunt May is horrified by this, while Peter just stays nonchalant about it. And… it’s really weird. Sure, Peter was under the influence of the symbiote at the time of the battle, but it was literally the first time he came into contact with it. And he wasn’t under its influence when he told Aunt May about it. So it’s odd that Peter would be so flippant about a murder he committed that even his own aunt finds repellant.
I also need to point out the terrible way Gwen Stacy was portrayed. Played by Bryce Dallas Howard, Gwen was introduced in the third film as a classmate of Peter’s. She’s a part-time model, above average science student, and also dating Eddie Brock. But her role is limited to making Mary Jane jealous.
Peter has never shown interest in Gwen up until he is infected by the symbiote. After he and Mary Jane break up, Peter takes Gwen on a date to the jazz club that MJ works at to make her jealous. Then, Peter breaks into his “hip” dance scene. When Gwen realizes he was just showing off for MJ, she is immediately apologetic.
Gwen deserved more than that. She is a rich character with a deep history in the Spider-Man mythos. To be used as a cheap plot device and a stand-in for what could be accomplished by literally any woman is just terrible.
The perfect stand-in for this could have been Felicia Hardy, best known as the Black Cat from the comics. Felicia is another love interest of Peter’s but is also a bit cold-hearted. She’s openly flirtatious and would have been the perfect vehicle to test Peter and MJ’s relationship.
Speaking of the women in Spider-Man’s life, Mary Jane gets some disrespect rubbed on her in Spider-Man 3 as well. Though she’s more fleshed out than Gwen, it’s only just barely. Her entire existence is to be in love with Peter Parker, cause him heartache, and be a damsel in distress.
I mean, yes, they need to raise the stakes for Peter emotionally, and putting Mary Jane in danger is the easiest way to do that. But all it does is highlight how Peter is right to push her away for her own safety. And just like Gwen, Mary Jane is a more dominant force in the Spider-Verse just to be reduced to this sort of trope.
The Cringey
Spider-Man 3 features a lot of dancing. Like… just too much dancing for a non-musical movie. This is a point of contention for most fans. Most people focus on the jazz club dance scene and an emo Peter Parker crotch-thrusting his way down a New York sidewalk. But for my money, the worst offender doesn’t involve Peter Parker at all.
In the film, Mary Jane, jilted by Peter for the umpteenth time, goes to Harry Osborn for advice. They make food together and, for some reason, listen to “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. What follows is Mary Jane and Harry doing the twist in the middle of the kitchen as they make omelets. And just why? What early- to mid-twenties person living in New York City in the year 2007 listens to “The Twist”? That’s the kind of thing they’d only tolerate at a wedding or something, not voluntarily choose to put on their iTunes playlist. It’s senseless and cringey and I hate it so much.
But probably the most cringe-inducing thing is James Franco’s portrayal of Nice Guy Harry. When Harry loses his memory and is in the hospital, his smiling and fawning over Peter and MJ is creepy. He smiles widely, calling him his “best friends” like a five-year-old with every new kid they meet on the playground. It’s weird, far beyond the level of Franco weird.
The Verdict
While Spider-Man 3 isn’t the best movie in the Spider-Man filmography, I don’t think it deserves the level of derision that it gets. And with Tobey Maguire’s return to the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, I think a great way to celebrate the film’s 15th anniversary is to settle in and give it a rewatch. Unfortunately, it’s not streaming anywhere, but it is available to rent on most platforms.
