MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!

I loved Spiderman 3, contrary to popular opinion on the web, at sister pubs and elsewhere despite watching it only on the 2 ^nd day at 11pm! Okay, the leap from Spiderman-2 to 3 was not as good as the jump from Spiderman to Spiderman-2, but the important thing is, it was by no means the nose-dive we saw from Matrix-Reloaded to Matrix-Revolutions. Making a sequel is hard, making a three- quel or whatever it is called, is harder. Take the Lord of the Rings, a 3quel or trilogy, which did not maintain its standards throughout. In each part, there was some shortcoming or the other and Spiderman is no different.

The movie for us at the AMC Mercado 20 began with a human announcement that if we had not seen the first two parts of this trilogy, we were going to be "lost". We find that out in the opening moments of the movie and begin to wonder whether we could get "lost" even if we had seen the first two parts. The reason for this loss is not the romance, but what follows, a meteor crashing in and spreading some black " goo" on the earth that seems pretty focused on attaching itself to Peter Parker, a.k.a Spiderman. Oh? You did not know that, not only did you not watch Spidey, but never read the Marvel comic or watch the cartoon in India!

The first fight between the Green Goblin Jr and Spidey was underwhelming. It was not even a fight, but I guess it was by design. Goblin recovers his body but not his brains. He comes back as this naïve and innocent buddy of Peter and MJ. The latter by the way seems way too aged in comparison to Spidey or Goblin Jr. If there were a Spidey-4, she would be tipped to play Spidey's aunt or asked to shoot entirely in Maui where she looks younger. Emotions run high and dominate the movie for a large part of the 1^st half. MJ is trying to make a name for herself and is overshadowed not only by Spidey's fame, but by Peter embracing it and not missing a single opportunity not to mention it. This part was cute since I could relate to myself doing that quite often even for petty achievements. Okay I think you get the point and I need not imitate Peter in this review!

The 2^nd villain was by far the biggest threat to Spidey after Doc- Oc in the 2^nd installment. A petty thief, who "accidentally" shot Peter's Uncle Ben in the opening edition of Spiderman which caused Peter a lot of grief and guilt throughout the series, comes into the picture. This was a well woven story through the 3 parts although it gets on our nerves to see so much screen time for old uncle and aunt. The villain story is also short and to the point. He has so much affection for the little girl that is not doing well that drives him to continue his fight to get her treated. He manages to dodge the cops only to land up as a guinea pig in a particle physics experiment that reduces or should it be elevates him to "Sand Man". He is someone who takes the form of a lethal super-human, but is nothing more than sand to anyone that attacks him.

Did I forget the "black goo" in the middle of these descriptions? I shouldn't. It makes a philosophical re-entry in the story theme as a metaphor to hate and consumes anyone who is filled with feelings of hatred or revenge, as Peter Parker is, when he discovers the identity of his Uncle's killer. He becomes an anti-hero wearing a black and white web costume. I loved this Spidey! It reminded me of how much I once loved Shahrukh Khan for his anti hero role in Baazigar. Toby has auditioned very well for his next big jig by showing very good diversity in this dual personality role. His negativity spreads beyond his dark costume on to the Parker character as well, as he is reminded by his aunt and MJ. The negative role was taken a little too far in the likes of a Bollywood movie towards the end of the jazz bar sequence when he hurts MJ not only emotionally by coming in with another girl to a bar where she's a waitress but also physically.

The comic timing was as good as in Spidey-2 and this time revolved mostly around the Peter Parker role. Here, Peter has an arch rival that tries to beat him to the job of taking Spiderman pics. He is ethically challenged in that he could morph pictures to please the boss and spread rumors on the Bugle. When Parker exposes his dirty tricks, he gets furious and his anger knows no bounds when he is not only out of a job, but Parker, to get back at MJ, who has challenges getting along with a darker Parker, resorts to his friend and foe, Goblin Jr. So, as soon as Parker gives up his negativity, there's a ready taker and he gets even more deadly by ganging up with Sand-man. Spidey can't take on the duo and needs help. This is shown realistically.

The special effects, cinematography and action sequences were all top class. Yes, you did not get a sense of shock and awe compared to the 2nd part of Spiderman. No, there is no but... coming up in defense. The proposal scene at the posh restaurant was very well handled and so was the lack of a proposal thereof. Two things were game-changing events that did it for this movie in my opinion. One was the timely rejuvination of a long time one sided friendship, it was a touch too timely to be real, but refreshing nonetheless. The 2nd was the "I forgive you" sequence. It is but natural and a touch philosophical and a good full stop unlike the oft repeated good defeats evil sequences.

A super-hero movie series like none other. If you have read this far, it is fair to assume you would have watched the movie or are never going to watch it. To the latter, I ask, h aving watched Spiderman and Spiderman-2 (safe assumption?, else I am not sure why you read this far), irrespective of the reviews, don't you want to get closure to the series? To those who watched, how did you guys feel about Spiderman-3? What could have been better? If you have a blog review, tell me about it!

Source: Mirror Post in Ram.