Spider-Man 3 has built up such a legacy as a "disappointing movie" that it's hard to know from what angle to approach it from anymore. The follow-up to the frankly astounding Spider-Man 2 has become famous for the rage that caused with a whole host of missteps, the worst of which had Topher Grace cast as the villainous Venom, who shouldn't have been in the movie in the first place but was forced in by the executives at Sony. So whereas we can't blame director Sam Raimi for the Venom thing, we can blame him for the rest of it. Which includes his decision to transform Peter Parker into what can only be described as an "emo" for a large portion of the movie, and for the several associated sequences in which said emo dances through the streets of New York, or jumps on tables at jazz clubs. Probably not as bad as everyone makes out, a disappointment nonetheless.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
