4. Spider-Man 3 (2007) - Sandy Birth
Sony PicturesWhile Sam Raimi did a commendable job of bringing everyone's favorite wall-crawler to life in the first two movies, Spider-Man 3 suffered from heavy-handed studio interference, resulting in a bloated script that crammed three villains into a ridiculously long running time. The outcome was a huge disappointment and even fan favorite characters like Venom were short-changed as a result. One character started out particularly promising though and that was the Sandman, an iconic villain who has plagued our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for decades in the comics. For the characters transformation, most directors would have happily just let the special effects speak for themselves, but Raimi took a different approach, imbuing the scene with an unexpected poignancy and meaning. As Flint Marko begins to form into a human shape, orchestral music builds in the background. Everything comes together in a quiet, almost poetic moment of calm as the Sandman is born. Halfway through, Marko finds his locket which contains a photo of his son, but the poor man is unable to become solid enough to pick it up at first. The pathos on the Sandman's face is heart wrenching to see and its emotional resonance is a testament to the CGI used in this scene. It's just a shame then that the rest of the movie couldn't show the same restraint that Raimi exhibits here. The finale is a muddled mess of poor special effects and meaningless confrontations, but this one beautifully shot scene serves as a reminder that Raimi can still be an excellent director, even when studio hacks are breathing down his neck.