10 PERFECT Casting Choices Wasted On Terrible Movies

Like the Star Wars Prequels, Sam Raimi's third Spider-Man outing is not quite as bad as you may remember. That being said, it's fair to say it could have been better if they hadn't thrown so many sub-plots at us or shown so much of Tobey Maguire's weird cringe-worthy dancing.

Perhaps the best part of the film is Thomas Haden Church's performance as Flint Marko/Sandman, one of the primary antagonists alongside Venom (Topher Grace) and New Goblin (James Franco). Whilst Grace and Franco both fall unbelievably flat during the film's excessive runtime and the threat of Venom isn't fully realised until the final act (a wasted opportunity in itself,) Church does a pretty impressive job at balancing Marko's criminal turn with his need to secure money for his ill daughter.

It's a very effective story which of course hits some bumps (the retcon of him being Uncle Ben's real killer is a little hollow), but thanks to Church's commitment to the role Marko remains the most endearing and two-dimensional character in the entire film, who deserved much more time to be thoroughly explored.

Unfortunately, all anyone can recall from the film is Maguire's dancing and both Grace and Franco's over-the-top acting. And that's unfair, because Church really was quite good.