Spider-Man 3

After the brilliant second film, Raimi a) joined a sect professing universal love and understanding, b) got on drugs, or c) just went crazy. How else are we to explain the emotional hyperboles in which Peter dances in the street in a perfect block, or receives the most poignant "life advice" from his aunt? Everything is so over the top that it simply CANNOT be taken seriously, and Raimi is simply fucking with the viewer for over two hours. I admit that it's really hard to absorb. On the other hand, the real problem I see is the underdeveloped characters, where in particular the villains lack proper motivation (otherwise Sandman and Venom are great) - in fact, absolutely everyone is lacking motivation. It's also unfortunate about some of the sloppy special effects in the action sequences, which look really bad in contrast to Sandman's perfect birth. All in all, it’s a rather uneven ride, but not at all boring, even though I found myself staring with my mouth wide open at times, and it wasn't just due to the action. Right now I’m giving it four stars, and I have to watch it again sometime so I can give it a proper review. (15.01.2009)

Durchschnittlich, stellenweise unglaublich schlecht und naiv. Raimi wollte alles, Tiefgründigkeit und Spaß, aber was heraus kam, war ein krampfhaft wirkendes CGI-Malbuch mit einem nicht überzeugenden Helden und so auffälligen Klischees, dass man sie nicht einmal zu genießen vermag. Optisch bietet Spidey außerdem gar nichts Neues und dröhnt wie ein leeres Fass, obwohl man hier bemüht ist, sehr weise und nachdenklich herüberzukommen. Er hält in keiner Weise beisammen, Maguires Leistung setzt alledem die Krone auf ... Das hier ging schlichtweg daneben. (07.11.2008)

Raimi completed his dream series, and even if the whole world berated him for the ending not turning out well, there will always be one comic book fan who will be forever grateful for such a packed finale. In such a complicatedly developed story, nothing had to turn out well at all, and that's why I am even more shocked that this director is perfect for me for the first time in his career. Successful and happy Peter swaps roles with his dissatisfied love, and once again, the problems do not only remain in the superhero realm. Most of us, however, were expecting action, and once again, it takes our breath away. Typical Spiderman villain Sandman, Hamlet-like Harry, and my favorite Venom have finally had their moment of glory, and during the grand resolution, all of my nerves and senses remained tense until the very last moment. Spider's best part and the most amazing farewell to the series that could have happened to the group around Tobey Maguire. (09.05.2007)

A very inconsistent movie and unnecessarily long. Raimi didn’t learn his lesson from the mistakes in the first two movies he made, far from it, he even makes them again and again, making this extremely painful to watch. The screenplay is bad, real bad. After getting rid of the whole original mythology it creates a brand new one, only much worse. What worked in the first two movies is completely out of place here, landing Parker in illogical situations and what he then does is more than just bizarre (I can’t even call it pretentious) humiliating himself in front of the viewer. I was literally praying for Parker to get into his suit or for the story moves to focus on one of the many villains. The action is great as usual and Venom, as I see it, was pretty good, but there should be hell of a lot more of him. Sandman’s tricks are among the high points of the movie although Flint Marko himself comes across a bit stiff. The biggest surprise was the character of Harry Osborn who became a much bigger hero than Spider-Man himself. (11.06.2007)

Mein Lieblingsteil der Trilogie, neben Kirsten Dunst sekundiert hier auch Bryce Dallas Howard in sehr angenehmer Manier. Ich habe keine Ahnung, wo der Fehler passiert ist, aber versuchen Sie mal, das gleiche Publikum fünf Jahre lang bei Laune zu halten, wenn es so übersättigt ist. Im Nachhinein schätze ich viele Dinge, darunter die Kompaktheit der Serie, den leichten Humor und das Zurückgreifen auf viele Charaktere. Und ich habe auch nicht das Gefühl, dass es zu viel Pathos gibt. Hier hat man eher etwas von der zweiten, viel extremeren Version weggenommen. Und MJ im Theater? Total cool. Schließlich habe ich auch die Originalgeschichte "Birth of Venom" gelesen, was dem Verständnis ebenfalls nicht geschadet hat. (13.02.2011)

A triple portion of moralizing nonsense, tastelessly worn-out sentiment, and the fact that all good people will live a happy life, while all the bad ones will burn in hell. Sam Raimi must have had a fever during filming if he thought that this transparent, boring, and worn-out nonsense would satisfy the viewers who were expecting a golden peak after the original first film and its action-packed sequel. Instead of a peak, there is a tragic downfall, Spider-Man has become an idiot pointing finger-guns at passers-by, wearing a dreadful hairstyle, Mary Jane throws wisdom around like a shaman of an ancient African tribe in her twenties, and Harry Osborne sees his deceased father in the mirror. Some of the supporting roles may have been decent, but the rest is an annoying, dull, and visually repulsive (incredibly obvious presence of computers) ride where the beginning fizzles out of your head before you even see the end. (02.10.2007)

Schrecklich überladen. Je länger der Film dauert, desto schlimmer wird er. Der romantische Soap-Opera-Plot ist definitiv eine der schlimmsten Sachen, mit denen der arme Spider-Man je zu kämpfen hatte. In den Szenen, in denen er böse und besessen sein soll, zeigt Tobey Maguire, dass er mehr übertreiben als spielen kann, und Mary Janes eifersüchtige Szene ist eine Tortur. Sandmann wäre ein solider Schuft gewesen, wenn man ihm mehr Raum gegeben hätte, weil die Szene seiner Geburt zu dem Besten gehört, was in einem Comicfilm je zu sehen war. Im Ernst, es ist keine Ironie. Spider-Man 3 sieht wie ein Versuch aus, "etwas wie Batmans Rückkehr von Tim Burton zu machen“. Das hat aber nicht geklappt. (11.05.2015)

The first two episodes boasted that unique Raimi’s signature that makes me appreciate them as modest little-big movies created out of pure love for the original comics. Compared to them, the third one is fake, pompous and seemingly hungry not for the support of the fans but for a big chunk of money... A blockbuster that is noisier, more megalomaniacal and more sprawling than its two predecessors, mocking itself in a figuratively and emotionally overblown finale that juxtaposes a heartfelt life confession and a tearful J.K. Simmons haggling with a little girl over how much she wants for her camera. Raimi’s direction is still better than good, the action sequences have the proper charge and the illegibility of the main character saves everything, but this is no longer the original Spiderman, it lacks personality and a surprising motif, just like all current comic book adaptations. 65% (21.07.2012)

By no means the dumbest film in the series (the previous ones were dumb too), just gaps between great action sequences so wide that no one can miss the idiocy... even an idiot. It's a giant laugh, this movie. The script is so retarded I'm surprised it was written and not drawn. Mary-Jane fires such salvos here ("How could you? This was OUR kiss!") that it can’t even be possible. The fact that the only thing the film perceives as purely negative is black alien matter speaks volumes, too. It's just that I'm not going to give a mediocre rating to a movie that, after a little work in the video editor, I could turn into a great five-star hour-long action flick starring J.K. Simmons and Bruce Campbell. And if Spider-Man hadn't run in front of the American flag in the third installment, I'd give one less star ;) (15.03.2011)

After a gap of seven years, I watched the third "Spider-Man" movie again and I have to admit that it is even worse than I remember. It is incredibly cliché and the screenplay is sometimes even stupid. Important storylines are closed simply or with an easy plot twist, which is not even believable. The potential of new characters, especially Venom, is completely wasted. It's not a complete disaster, but at times it's not even great entertainment. What a pity. Hopefully, "The Amazing Spider-Man" will maintain a good level with its future installments. (05.04.2014)