Do not get me wrong, Spider-Man 3 is still a great flick and is extremely entertaining, but it had a lot of problems.  My boy Sam Raimi is back to direct the third film in the series.  He is the man responsible for the first two Spider-Man films, along with some of my favorite films such as Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.  It was funny because I was waiting to see where Raimi would fit in Bruce Campbell this time.  For those of you who don’t know who Bruce Campbell is, he was the lead actor in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films.  Raimi will usually place Campbell in a funny role in the Spider-Man films.  The Evil Dead series can be looked at in a similar light to Peter Jackson’s older films such as Dead Alive and Bad Taste.  Like Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong),  Sam Raimi went onto to make his big blockbusters.   Going back to Spider-Man 3, the flick stars Tobey McGuire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Topher Grace (“That 70’s Show”, In Good Company) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Lady in the Water, The Village, she is also Ron Howard’s daughter). 

The Plot: This time around in the Spider-Man series, THERE ARE THREE VILLAINS!!  That is funny considering it is the third film.  It is no secret as to who these three villains are.  Therefore, I am not spoiling anything.  They are “Sandman,” played by Thomas Haden Church, “Venom,” played by Topher Grace and “Hob Goblin,” played by James Franco.  If you haven’t seen the first two films, do not worry because they give you a decent recap in the credits of the new movie.  Basically, all you need to know is that Peter Parker (Tobey McGuire) was bitten by a spider which gave him super powers.  He becomes New York City’s hero, known to everyone as Spider-Man.  The love of his life is Mary Jane (played by Kirsten Dunst).  

As the second Spider-Man film ended, we found out that Mary Jane knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man.  They confessed their love for one another and everything was fine and dandy.  To further the background story, Peter Parker’s best friend in first Spider-Man film was Harry, played by James Franco.  Harry’s father was the “Green Goblin,” who was killed by Spider-Man.  This obviously created some tension between Harry and Peter Parker.  The villain in the second film was Doc Ock, played AMAZINGLY by Alfred Molina. 

Now, Spider Man 3 picks up where the second film left off.  Peter is in love with Mary Jane (Dunst) and he wants to propose to her.  There is obviously a problem.  Harry, played by James Franco wants to get revenge on Peter for killing his father; hence the reason Harry becomes the “Hob Goblin.”  As stated above, two new villains are introduced and you will see how they come about.  “Venom,” also known as Eddie Brock, was not in the movie as much as I wanted him to be.  Eddie Brock happened to work at the same newspaper that Peter Parker (Spider-Man) worked at and you will see how he becomes “Venom.” 

If you have seen the posters for Spider-Man 3, you will see that Spider-Man is now wearing a black suit.  This will all be explained in the film.  Basically, the black suit is evil and turns Spider-Man into a nasty super hero.  It also has something to do with how “Venom’s” character comes about.   I really do want to give too much away.  The basic plot is the same as the second one, dealing with Mary Jane’s life being in jeopardy and Peter having to save her from the nasty villains.  There are a lot of new plot twists, which were really cool and should surprise a lot of people.

The Review: Overall, like I said above, the flick is AMAZINGLY ENTERTAINING, but I do not feel it was not as good as the second film.  It definitely beat out the first Spider-Man movie, which I would probably give a 4 BDK rating to if I was reviewing movies at the time.  Spider-Man 2 would receive a 5 BDK rating on my scale.   I am giving Spider-Man 3 a 4.5 BDK rating because it did have some major issues which left a weird feeling in me.  Though the movie kept me interested the entire time and it was extremely action packed, the cheesiness of some of the scenes kind of ruined parts of the film for me. 

One specific scene that blew my mind in the amount of cheesiness it had was the fact that they put an American flag in the movie.  Now, you may be wondering, why is that such a big deal?  Well, right as Spider-Man is trying to save the day, he swoops on down to a building and there happens to be a HUGE AMERICAN flag, perfectly placed behind him.  The camera stops on that shot for a second.  This was obviously put there for PATRIOTISM reasons.  NOW, PLEASE DON”T GET ME WRONG. I am not saying that I am unpatriotic.  But come on Sam Raimi, did you really have to put that there?  That is just trying a little too hard. 

I also could have stood without the news reporters in the film discussing the fight sequences between the characters.  You will know what I mean when you see it.  Those were basically the only things I did not like.  Everything else was perfect.  I even liked the goofy dance sequence that Peter Parker does when he becomes the evil Spider-Man. I was laughing so hard, I was almost crying.  The movie is extremely action packed and highly entertaining.  Besides some cheesy moments, the movie is definitely a good flick. 

The Verdict: I give the film 4.5 BDK’s because I feel that it should definitely be seen in theatres.  It can be enjoyable as either a matinee viewing or going to see IT RIGHT NOW, hence the 4.5 BDK rating.