Fist of fury: Spider-Man gives Sandman what for in Spider-Man 3. Photograph: AP
Despite having gained his powers from a creature generally about as popular as a mung bean kebab stall at a cattle farmers' rally, Spider-Man has always been one of the more likable superheroes to make it to the big screen.
The first two films in the franchise managed to achieve the rare feat of combining critical success with box office firepower, with director Sam Raimi successfully keeping the fanboys happy while delivering a Spidey people who had never even seen a copy of the Marvel comic could also identify with. However, third time around critics have responded to Spider-Man 3 with poor to lukewarm reviews.
Aintitcool.com's Moriarty describes the movie as "a Teflon film", complaining that too much emphasis is placed on the central relationship between Spider-Man's alter-ego, Peter Parker, and his on-off girlfriend Mary Jane. The Observer's Philip French is even more scathing, delivering his verdict in fewer than 200 words. "The movie's strong suit is the shock'n'awe of its special effects," he writes. "Its weak suit is the attempts at emotional depth. Perhaps it's time for Spidey to close down his website."
Sukhdev Sandhu in the Telegraph is unhappy with the new film's elevated baddie quota. "There are too many villains this time round, too many half-baked back stories, too much moralistic baloney about avoiding revenge from Aunt May."
Chris Hewitt of Empire magazine couldn't agree more. "Multiple villains can be done, of course, as shown in Chris Nolan's Batman Begins," he says. "But where Nolan had his bad guys simply show up, bringing little-to-no back-story, Raimi has always insisted that his villains should have an arc. Great thinking when there's only one - bit of a problem when there's three. And so an otherwise smart and engaging movie becomes bloated..."
But the last word goes to Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian, who damningly compares the film to the later Superman movies. "There's a fair bit of zip," he writes. "And some terrific-looking Manhattan streetscape battle scenes, but no satisfyingly unified story, and [the film is] muddied by the fact that the love interest now knows the hero's secret identity."
So have you seen it yet? Given that the film has just broken the worldwide box office record for an opening weekend, Sony execs may not exactly be quaking in their boots over a few critical kickings, but we're naturally interested in what you think. Post your reviews below and let us know.
