“Spider-Man 3” (PG-13) ** 1/2
A lot is happening in Sam Raimi’s third Spidey flick: Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) remains on the outs with former BFF Harry Osborn (James Franco), who used to date Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) and thinks Spider-Man killed his dad. Meanwhile, Peter wants to propose to MJ, calm her jealousy about a classmate (Bryce Dallas Howard), fend off a rival photographer (Topher Grace) and get revenge on Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an ex-con who, aside from turning into the villain Sandman, may have killed Peter’s Uncle Ben. Peter also absorbs an otherworldly substance that changes his personality. And Harry loses his short-term memory in an accident. And MJ struggles on Broadway. Got all that?
Skip it: With all eight eyes of this “Spider” on something different, the film is crazily uneven and unable to get its excitement or its psychology in place. (Peter, MJ and Harry have always had a complicated thing going, but “3” can’t decide how anyone feels about anything.)
Catch it: For the unusual scenes of Parker acting like a strutting, tough-guy stud. All he has to do now is lose the squeaky voice and this could be the premiere episode of “Pimp My Superhero.”
Bottom line: While generally entertaining, “Spider-Man 3” is like a boomerang in a basement. It bounces all over the place, occasionally hits something solid and never settles in.
—
mpais@tribune.com
