Warning this review contains plot spoilers.

Almost like a loosely written comedy, the writers and producers of Spider-Man 3 choose to include as much material as possible gathered from the comic books, throw it at the wall, and see what stuck with the audience. All we are treated to in the end is an entertaining, albeit unfocused comic book film which tries to cram too much into its 145 minute runtime and doesn’t leave you feeling with the sense of conclusion you were hoping for.

If one was to gather any indication of a film’s quality from its first trailer we should have seen this coming, Spidey 3‘s initial teaser was a jumbled, underwhelming mess that certainly didn’t promote the biggest adventure for the web-slinger on the big screen.

It isn’t that Spider-Man 3 is a bad film; it just tries to do too much. In the span of two-and-a-half-hours we see the origin story for Sandman, the Venom symbiote crash to Earth and “infect” Peter Parker, a love triangle between Parker, Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborne go from bad, to good, pretending to be good but still bad, then good again, Eddie Brock becoming Venom, and it just goes on and on. In an industry where many time critics complain about a lack of plot, this film goes into the opposite spectrum and tries to give too much to the fans.

Sure there will be fanboys all around who are practically drooling for another chance to see the black-suited Spider-Man toll around New York, or Venom appear on the big screen, but there was so much that could have been excised from the final cut of Sam Raimi’s picture that there’s almost two movie’s worth of material here. Even with all the plot thrown in here the Sandman character feels completely unnecessary, and his inclusion seems more as a way to take the focus away from Venom and Harry’s follow-in-your-father’s-footsteps-brooding.

It was nice to see how the black suit affected Parker, but his over-the-top emo look (ripped straight from an AFI concert) was a bit over the top, and his “jazz” routine near the end of the film’s second act is more of a distraction than really relating to anything pertinent.

The best part of the film is actually the short cameo by cult-actor Bruce Campbell, this time as a French maître d’ who steals each and every scene he’s in.

Spider-Man 3 is going to make a lot of people happy, it’s an entertaining film that puts the web-crawler on the big screen to finish up an initial trilogy, but like the original Star Wars trilogy, the third installment ends up being the big disappointment after a spectacular second chapter. After it’s all said and done, you’ll see the film again and again because its pure Hollywood popcorn, but you won’t come away from the movie like you did the first and second installments with a huge anticipation of the next chapter in the back of your mind. After Spider-Man 3’s credits wrap, you can honestly say, you don’t mind if they make another one or not.

Regardless of when this review is posted it won’t matter too much, you will already have seen the best movie of the summer. No denying it, no refuting it, Spider-Man 2 is the best movie of the season. We can already look forward to being disappointed come Oscar time when the film won’t even be nominated for Best Picture, best Actor, or, most importantly, Best Director. However, we can stand around the water cooler, join up on message boards, and verbally speak out how seeing the next chapter in the Spidey saga brought hope to an otherwise abysmal summer season. Take my hand, its okay.

I had trouble finding the words after seeing Spider-Man 2. Really, how do you explain emotions you haven’t felt in such a long time towards a movie? When a movie brings everything, every genre together into a tight, clean, awesome package, how do you really explain to someone that they should drop what they are doing, get a ticket, and see such an amazing picture?

Spider-Man 2 picks up nearly two years after the first film’s end. The Green Goblin/Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe) has been killed by Spider-Man, Harry Osborne (James Franco) despises the hero, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) has finally made it as an actress, and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) must now find a way to balance his life as an average, ordinary persona with that of Spider-Man. With the Green Goblin dead, a new villain must step up to the plate and provide a worthy antagonist. This new villain goes by the name Otto Octavius (aka Doc Ock) and is wonderfully acted and presented by Alfred Molina.

Spider-Man is one of those superhero movies where you aren’t cringing at the bad dialog or the horrible acting. Watching Halle Berry as Storm in X2 was one of the most excruciatingly painful things I’ve ever had to do, but every single member of the cast is strongly represented and wonderfully portrayed. Harry Osborne is the brooding, word-obsessed follower of his father, Peter Parker is the sometimes-reluctant hero who struggles to keep his non-Spidey life together after the woes of the city begins to weight down on him, and Doc Ock is the scientist under the duress control of his mechanical arms. Each of these parts is believably acted and each actor knows what they are doing. Even the supporting cast brings everything they have to the table with a notable standout being J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson who nearly doubles his screen time and ups the ante on the laughs.

It’s nice to see a film that has something for everyone. The humor is well placed and well scripted, but just as fast as a joke is delivered the film can switch gears into a serious tone with no problem, and nothing lost on the audience. The action sequences, especially the fights between Spidey and Doc Ock, are amazing. The computer effects, drastically improved from the first film, really portray the look and feel of a comic book with highly stylized camera angles and sets. Never before in a comic book movie have the pages of the graphic novel come to life as accurately as in Spider-Man.

For fans of Spider-Man the script includes many shout-outs to the series and opens the door to sequels to come. In order to keep this review spoiler free I won’t dive into them, but familiar names do make an appearance, and if you are a die hard fan of the comic, you will fine plenty to sink your teeth into. Not to be outdone, fans of director Sam Raimi will find a whole sequence harking back to the days of Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness complete with fast zoom shots onto a chainsaw, a camera moving across the ground just as in Evil Dead and even an appearance by the “King” himself, Bruce Campbell. Like I said before, the pleasure that this film brings to any moviegoer will certainly rival anything else produced this year.

If it seems I strayed away from talking about the actual film in this review, you are correct. Like I said in the opening paragraph, nothing I say here will change your mind about seeing the film, and I wouldn’t want it to. Spider-Man 2 is every bit as good as you have heard, and I honestly can’t find anything I didn’t like about it. Comic book fan or not, Sam Raimi fan or not, Spider-Man fan or not, everyone needs to see this film and have the best time at the movies this year. I don’t think there will be many who disagree with me on this one, see it, no matter what.

I’m one of the hugest Spider-man fans. Over 1,000+ comics in my collection I would say 90% of them are Spider-Man. Heck, I trying to get job so I can draw for it one day. I’ve waited 4 long years for the arrival of this film and it was worth it. While the making of the film was in many court battles and was handed to many directors. (Such as James Cameron, director of The Terminator, Aliens, and Titanic.) I believe Sam Raimi, (Evil Dead Series), was the best choice though. If you see a movie this summer see Spider-Man and here’s why.

Sam Raimi’s vision of how comics books work is amazing. The camera angles and everything this man thinks of for this film really make you feel like you’re reading a comic. The fantastic cast helps. Tobey Maguire, (Cider House Rules) plays Peter Parker and Spider-Man great. Both Tobey and Peter seem to be shy guys you seem to go for. William Dafoe (Platoon), was an awesome choice for Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin. If the two egos to don’t function well as one character, then it fails, Dafoe made sure that it didn’t fail. Kristen Dunst, (Bring It On) plays Mary Jane Watson, “The Girl Next Door”, right from the start she is why Peter gets stuck being the hero. She plays Mary Jane well, better than I could have imagined. She seems to be somewhat a tease for Peter but hey what girl isn’t?

Right from the beginning of the film, you see the geeky Peter Parker’s many attempts to fit in but, alas our poor hero is an outcast but with the exception of Mary Jane and Harry Osborn (James Franco). Mary Jane eventually learns to be Peter’s friend. I guess taking pictures make any girl fall for you, eh? Anyway, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider which leaves him sick and unconscious through out the night.. You then learn that Osborn’s Company, OSCORP, seem to be in financial problems and the only way to recover is to sell an experimental super soldier formula and accompanying glider. This leads him to test the formula on himself and causes him transform into two personas (Osborn and the Green Goblin).

Peter awakens to find the next morning, but he’s different than his normal self. He learns of his abilities, the same as a spider, and tests them out. Raimi’s humor is shown as Peter tries shoot his webbing. Peter then tries to raise money to find the affection of Mary Jane. Peter fights Bone-saw! (Macho-Man Randy Savage) in order to collect his prize money for a car. By the way, if you see Bone-saw and watch wrestling, you can tell Randy has gotten huge! Seems Peter is duped and then Peter’s uncle is killed by the same robber that he let get away at the wrestling match. It’s kind of like a cross road what if he did get that crook? Would he have become Spider-Man? Who knows? Peter learn that “With great power, comes greater responsibility.”

Then the movie changes setting, which is New York City. Peter becomes Spider-Man, and helps the city out. The Daily Bugle tries to make him look like bad guy. Mostly because of J. Johann Jameson. (J K Simmons), the creator of the paper. The Green Goblin starts to cause trouble in town and tries to get Spider-Man to join forces or die. Of course, ol’ Spidey won’t let this happen. So they duke it out in many great battles. Raimi loves to show intensity in these battles to which is greatly received. The ending is great and I don’t wanna give to much of the final setting away but lets just say it’s superb.