Spider-Man 3 would have been two decent films. Unfortunately, packing three villains and two big sub-plots into a single film only works if you have four hours or so to develop it, and you don't get that in a tent pole film.

But to give credit where it's due, the script still has some of the summertime snap of Spidey's first two outings, and action fans won't be disappointed. There were a few dialog missteps, even for a super-hero flick, but it was pretty good, and a decent introduction to the villains. The effects were as good as we've come to expect — in fact, I don't think there's ever been a cape and cowl flick with a final fight scene this epic. One of the keys to comics — the aspects that separate them from other media — is their ability to effortlessly shift scales. In a super-hero comic a person can fight an enemy the size of a building and have it seem believable (within the context). Unfortunately, the cost and capabilities of film special effects have kept most cape movies from mirroring this aspect, ending up with one guy in a union suit fighting another, with some collateral property damage thrown in for good measure. It's nice to see that this film at least gets that much right.

If this film had been a comic book, it would have been spread over several issues; in fact, I understand that the story lines pillaged for this took years to play out. I wish the same could have happened here, but I guess Sam Raimi was afraid that he wouldn't get to make Spider-Man 4, and wanted to get it all out of his system now.

So while I have little doubt that there will be a Spider-Man 4, I will retain some hope that the director and producer will pick one story and carry it through, instead of trying to trump quality with quantity again.*

*Really, though, I can't say I care that much. I've always been more of a DC Comics guy than a Marvel guy, and yes, I'm willing to publicly admit that.