Spider-Man 3 (I finally got around to writing it)

Why are the mechanic from "Wings," the son from "That 70s Show," and Daniel from "Freaks and Geeks" all trying to kill that kid from "Pleasantville"? Because "Spider-Man 3" has a lot going on, that's why. With the contracts of director Sam Raimi, and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst running out after this outing, Raimi decided that it was kitchen sink time.
By now you've either already seen this movie or you've made up your mind whether you're going to or not, regardless of what anyone else says, so I'll try to keep the plot explanation brief. Try is the operative word. As I said, there is a lot going on in this movie.
"Spider-Man 3" opens with Peter Parker (Maguire) feeling pretty great about life. The whole world loves Spider-Man, he's doing well in school, and he finally has Mary Jane Watson (Dunst) all to himself. But it doesn't take long for Harry Osborn (James Franco) to take the Green Goblin mantle from his father and start causing trouble for Peter and Spider-Man. After a pretty wild aerial battle, Harry is knocked unconscious. He awakes in the hospital to see Peter and Mary Jane with no memory of recent events. It's as if he'd never harbored a grudge against Peter for believing that he'd killed his father, Norman Osborn.
Meanwhile, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) has just escaped from prison and while on the run he falls into a giant pit of sand that just happens to be getting experimented on. Before you can say "instant superpowers" Marko's molecules are restructured, making him the Sandman. Also turns out that Marko is actually the man who killed Uncle Ben, not the thief we saw in the first film.
Then there's the black substance that attaches itself to Peter and gives birth to Venom, unleashing Peter's dark side. Plus, Peter and Mary Jane have their problems and blah blah blah. (I think I did that pretty quick actually.)
None of these story lines are bad. In fact they're all quite interesting. And if only a couple of them (not to mention a villain or two) were cut out all together, this would have trumped the first two Spidey films. Once we get into one story line it's dropped for more than a whole reel in favor of another. I liked seeing the ups and downs of the Harry-Peter friendship over the course of the trilogy and wish that that had been given more attention in this film. At the same time, Venom isn't given nearly the attention that he should. Topher Grace does just fine as Eddie Brock, but he doesn't get to do much with Venom. I've never really read the comic books, but for those who do, Venom is a big deal. Even I felt cheated. Throw in Gwen Stacey (Bryce Dallas Howard) and a bizarre sequence in a jazz club (it's so strange that it just kind of works) and you've got yourself one bloated blockbuster.
All in all I had a good time with this movie and so will you, but it's over-villained and everyone and everything are short changed as a result. The movie's best moment is, you guessed it, the scene with Bruce Campbell. If you know nothing about it, I won't give it away. I will say it makes me want to go to a French restaurant. 6/10