Spidey Senses are Tingling

There was only one scene in the new Spider-Man film that slightly disrupted my suspension of disbelief.

Harry Osborn, horribly disfigured after another unsuccesful attack on his nemesis, Spider-Man, ponders his options. Peter Parker has just swung onto his balcony and begged for help rescuing their mutual friend Mary Jane.

Peter is Harry's best friend. But he's also Spider-Man, who killed Harry's father, the Green Goblin. His best friend. His worst enemy. They're both the same person! What is a chemically enhanced supervillain to do?

This is when his butler appears and reveals that Spider-Man wasn't actually responsible for Oborn Snr's death. The Green Goblin killed himself accidently. He's known it all along.

In the film, Harry hugs his butler and skims off on his flying snowboard to save the day. In my version of the script, however, Harry would have yelled:

"What? You KNEW ALL ALONG that Spider-Man didn't kill my dad? And you've STILL let me WAGE A ONE MAN WAR against the webslinger? Let me get knocked silly in an alleyway while Spider-Man blew half my face off? Why didn't you TELL ME? What DO I PAY YOU FOR?"

Then the butler would get impaled on the spiky snowboard thing and Harry Osborn would disappear off to find a good therapist and a plastic surgeon.

That small disruption aside, Spider-Man 3 was an amazing film. Crammed full of action and adventure, the two and a half hours flew by and three distinct storylines all wrapped up neatly into a thrilling battle on the top of a partially contructed skyscraper.

Spider-Man 3 continued the adventures of our friendly, neighbourhood Spider-Man, as he came head to head against a trio of wacky bad guys.

There's Sandman, an ex-con trying to go straight who is able to turn himself into an enormous sand creature. There's slightly loopy best friend Harry Osborn, who has adopted his father's legacy and become the new Green Goblin, intent on squishing Spidey like... well... a spider. Finally, there's a lump of venomous black goo that turns itself into a chic new Spidey suit - but the extra strength and agility it grants Spider-Man is offset by amplifying his aggression and negativity.

An awful lot to cram into one film, but director Sam Raimi manages it. He also keeps the pace varied, with some awkward emotional scenes that make you cringe and some brilliant comedy asides, such as Parker's disco strut down Fifth Avenue and a cameo by Raimi favourite Bruce Campbell as a sleazy French waiter.

The theme of the movie is redemption and every character goes through it. Spider-man discovers the darkness within when he dons his alien black suit. Harry Osborn struggles to reconcile his love for his best friend, but his hatred for Spider-Man. All Sandman wants to do is steal money to pay his daughter's hospital bills - but Spider-Man keep getting in his way. The only irredeemable character is the evil black blob. Which is an evil black blob, so very little time is spent on developing it's character.

I liked this movie a lot. Like all the Spider-Man films, it's a rich, emotional journey that remains loyal to it's comic book roots. It's not quite as polished or satisfying as Spider-Man 2, but remains a very worthy chapter in the excellent Spider-Man movie franchise.

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One question... Why is it Spider-Man and not Spiderman? Answers on a postcard please.