Movie Review #4 - Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3
Directed by Sam Raimi

We went to see this last Friday, opening night! My first impression when leaving the theater: SO AWESOME!!!

Of course, I am a huge Spidey fan, so I'm a little biased. But there was more than just amazing web-swinging action in this film. Don't worry, I won't give away any spoilers about the movie if you haven't seen it.

Basically, the best part about the movie is the depth of it. Behind the three villains of the film, behind the stunning graphics, and behind the friendly neighborhood humor, there are two main themes that I appreciated and learned something from. The two main themes were pridefulness and friendships.

Peter becomes very prideful in this 3rd installment of the trilogy. I first noticed it when he was arguing with Mary Jane, he just wouldn't listen to her. He kept flipping the conversation back to himself. So often do I do this in my own life that in the middle of that scene, Jen looked over to me and gave me a "hmm... sounds like somebody I know" type of smile. And I smiled back, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

But the pride in Peter doesn't stop there. Consistent with the comic books, a symbiote (alien organism) comes from outer space and bonds with Spider-Man. This organism amplifies his powers, aggression, and his confidence. Too much confidence (too much self-esteem) turns into pride, and together with too much aggression is a dangerous combination. Spider-Man turns into a mean superhero, and Peter is very mean to Mary Jane. I could see myself in his character. I could see my own mean, childish behavior being played out on screen.

The second theme that I noticed was in regards to friendships. Specifically, Peter's friendship with Harry. I can't go into great detail with this topic, as I don't want to give anything away. Basically, what we learned from Spider-Man 2 is that Harry swore to his father that he would avenge his father by killing Spider-Man, and he also found out that Spider-Man was his best friend, Peter Parker. This vendetta continues into this film, along with performance-enhancing drugs (i.e., green smoke left by his father the Green Goblin). These two fight in some really awesome sequences, ultimately teaching the audience what true friendship really is.

Sure, it may not have been as good as Spider-Man 2 in regards to critics' reviews and the balance of the movie as a whole. However, it is still worth it to see because of the consistently high-quality product that Spider-Man is as a franchise, and also because of the main themes of pridefulness and friendships that we can all relate to. And hopefully, learn something from.

5 out of 5 stars.

Image taken from RottenTomatoes.com