Review: Spider-Man 3

I went to see this one this afternoon, and it was well-worth the 3-year wait. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finds himself on top of the world, with a beautiful girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), a great job and top of his class at Empire State University. He runs into a few complications, however, when he runs afoul of his old friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) who becomes the New Goblin and attacks Peter. After losing his memory, Harry becomes friends with Peter and MJ again. Meanwhile, petty con Flint Marko (Oscar Nominee Thomas Haden Church) falls into a molecular chamber and is transformed into the Sandman. Then, to top it off, photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) vies for a staff photographer job with Peter at the Daily Bugle. Later, when an alien symbiote bonds with Peter's clothes, he gets a black suit, and a new attitude, a bad one. When Peter finally figures out how to get rid of the suit, the symbiote falls onto Brock, transforming him into the supervillain Venom, and he and Sandman target Spidey and MJ. Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of film director Ron Howard) plays Peter's lab partner Gwen Stacy, and her father Police Captain Stacy is portrayed by veteran actor James Cromwell. A thrilling climax in which almost all the principals are involved caps off a 4-star movie. This one is just as good as "Spidey 2" but not as good as "Spidey 2.1," but it is worth seeing.