In its latest installment, the Spider-man franchise tries to excite us with the promise of web-slinging action with a twist of angst only to come up short.

Happily dating his longtime crush, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and being New York City’s beloved superhero, Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is on top of the world. Even his former best friend, Harry Osborn, is talking to him again. But Peter becomes too focused on his own success. This problem becomes aggravated when he develops an alter-ego due to the influence of a goo-like symbiote or alien parasite referred to as the Black Spider-Man or Venom.

Usually the emergence of a hero’s darker, more sinister side is enough of a challenge to be the film’s only villain, but not in the eyes of “Spider-Man 3” co-writers Sam and Ivan Raimi. No, they wanted to pack as much Spider-Man history-which spans more than 40 years-into a 140 minutes movie as they could.

New editions to the cast include Topher Grace playing Eddie Brock, Peter’s photography rival at The Daily Bugle, Thomas Haden Church playing convict and physics disaster victim Flint Marko aka Sandman, and Bryce Dallas Howard portraying Gwen Stacy who is being used to create a love triangle.

The real confusing problem is the amount of villains. Just when you are getting comfortable with the plot and the villains, a new one is thrown into the mix. That alone is mind-boggling.

The New Goblin, Harry’s new evil persona, is out to get revenge on Spider-Man for his father’s death. Brock, who teams up with Sandman, has a personal vendetta against Peter for messing up his life. Then there’s Sandman who just seems to be a victim of circumstance.

With all these new characters flying about and the drastic changes to already established characters taking place throughout, a moviegoer will get befuddled when trying to keep everything straight in their heads. And that’s for the people who have seen both of the previous movies.
Despite these notable flaws in new character overload, the acting by Maguire remains solid in portraying an angst-ridden-turned-happy superhero, who then becomes a darker superhero, and then again back to an young, angsty superhero. He juggles all of the character twists, which happen often, like a soap opera star pro.

But the best acting in the movie is done by Church, for his role in becoming a villain which the audience can sympathize with, without feeling guilty for liking the bad guy. Through Flint’s story, there is a real human connection that is more accessible to the average person than the story of Spider-Man the citywide adored hero, or Harry, the conflicted son of millionaire super villain, or even the hapless singing waitress, Mary Jane.

Another big draw for the movie are the special effects. They are amazing and even better than both of the previous “Spider-Man” films. The level of realism the effects add to the “Spider-Man 3” experience-especially when you see Marko’s sand-form attempt to become his human self again after his accident-makes the movie worth watching and really brings the comic book story into the real world of possibilities. The effects help aid the audience in getting submerged into a world where a kid from Queens can get superpowers by getting bit by a radioactive spider.

If you want to see an action movie with great special effects, then “Spider-Man 3” is a must see. But if you are hoping to see a superhero movie driven by a great plot, then you should look elsewhere.

(3.5 out of 5 stars)