Review of Spider-Man 3 (2007) by Adam M — 02 Aug 2017

I grew up with this movie, it was my favorite as a child, and rewatching it a few times now that I own it, although I do admit it's not the best in the trilogy by any means, it's still my favorite of the three. There are real stakes in this film, and there is so much emotion in so many scenes. I never saw Harry's death scene coming the first time I saw it, and then to see Venom brush him aside like it's nothing and move on just made me tear up. They might not have made the Symbiote very similar to the one in the comics, but it fulfilled the same purpose and was produced well, not to mention it looked really cool when bonded to Peter (and the studio knew this and used it to their advantage). A lot of people don't like Venom in this movie, and while I can see why, I personally don't think a more "comic-booky" Venom would've worked for this film. Venom resembled Spider-Man in a somewhat symbolic way, like he was the evil, more sinister and heartless version of the Wall Crawler, and as such he shouldn't look too different from him, logically speaking. The symbiote never changed Spider-Man's appearance too much, so why would it make it's second host look big and bulked up? There's no reason for it, and the symbiote probably saw no reason to do so. Alien aside, I admittedly didn't like Eddie Brock's actor (not while I was rewatching it anyway, as a kid I didn't care). He didn't match the ferocity of the Symbiote and it's hatred, and anyone else would've worked better. Still, he doesn't do a terrible job, he delivers his lines well (although some are written a little poorly) and he does the best he can with what he's given. Unfortunately, he's given a very small role throughout the span of the movie, appearing every here and there to remind us he's a relevent, reoccurring character that we're going to see more of. If the movie had focused on Eddie a little more, and slightly less on Peter, then Venom could've worked much better, and I feel that audiences would have been impacted by his transformation, which I feel was handled well and, if it had carried more weight to it, could've been one of the movies best scenes.

Admittedly, Sandman is much more satisfying in this movie than Venom (which is a crime seeing that Venom is much more of a fan favorite Villain than Flint Marco). The movie gives us scenes that allow us a chance to care for his character, and when we get to see his issues at home and see the atmosphere his household has, it makes for some great emotional moments (something I would've absolutely loved to see from Eddie). Although he does go along with Venoms plan a little too willingly, you can't blame him for wanting revenge (which is a reoccurring theme in this movie, which it wastes no time in telling you). If Spider-Man showed up and beat you to a bloody pulp for something you were already arrested for that happened years ago, wouldn't you be a little angry (and baffled)? And when you've got the means to get him back, it's easy to do so, and tempting. Venom just egged Marco on, he already wanted a rematch. The movie really is beautiful despite its glaring flaws, every character wants to get revenge on Spider-Man for something, while Peter also struggles with a lust for revenge against Marco and, much later on, Harry (and technically Eddie, but it's only slightly touched upon, just like everything involving Eddies character). My favorite instance of revenge, however, is from the only character in the entire movie without lines... the Symbiote. I say this because it's the pure embodiment of hatred and spitefulness, carrying Peters hatred for every villain in the movie, Edie's Hatred for Peter, and it's own hatred towards the wall crawler. Some forget that the Symbiote that became Venom is the same no matter who it's bonded with, it's been through majority of Peters fights and conflicts throughout the film, and has a fitting appearance at the end. Once Eddie is removed from the life-forms clutches, it shows it's true self. No longer is it a moving mud stain, but a gigantic blob of hatred trying to take a somewhat human shape, showing it's intelligence as well as it's true intentions. It represents all the anger throughout the movie, and how it only grows and becomes stronger and hungrier and never stops feeding until there's nothing left to take. Once it's destroyed, and Eddie along with it, the theme becomes rather peaceful, not positive necessarily, but not aggressive. Peter finally gets an apology from Flint for killing his uncle, and he forgives him (the scene is a lot more impactful than it sounds). Harry dies in the arms of his two best friends in the world, both in tears in the midst of a sunset. The journey may have been a rocky one, but the movie ends on a satisfying note. There are small writing flaws that weren't necessary, like how Venom knew about Flints daughter, even though neither Eddie or Peter had ever heard him talk about it(although this may be due to scenes that were removed), and Peters dance down the side walk made absolutely no sense whatsoever, as he was technically dancing to nothing (thankfully we get to hear the surprisingly catchy music that makes the scene a little less awkward... as long as we don't think about it), but all in all it was an amazing, although ambitious, idea that should've been done over the span of two movies but doesn't totally fail being done in one. I'm bias as it was my favorite as a child, but I stand by what I say. Spider-Man 3 is respectable, and it's biggest flaw is being the end of the series.