[private joker]

SPIDER-MAN 3 SPOILERS!!!!!



I really disagree with you, El D. I loved the first Spider-Man (to the tune of 9/10) but thought the second one was just decent (7/10). This third one was nearly great (8/10) and much smarter than #2, doing a lot of interesting and self-aware things.

It managed to work everything about its plot into the key messages it was making about character. The whole thing was about character and identity, and all three villains related to that, specifically to Parker's identity crisis.

At the end of Act 1, Peter and Mary Jane both start believing their own press at the same time, to deleterious results. Peter gets too proud, while MJ loses her confidence. And the more you believe your own press, the less of an identity you have. MJ asks Peter "who are you?" and he honestly replies "I don't know." Having a superhero alter-ego causes one to lose their identity, and it's something Peter has to grapple with, such as in the scene where he didn't know if it was him kissing Gwen Stacy or if it was Spider-Man.

So to get that identity back, you must define yourself through your actions. In the hilariously awesome Emo-Spidey sequence, the film makes fun of emo kids (with the Bright Eyes hair and dark clothes) who are really pretenders and poseurs. This is Peter about as far away from the person he used to be as possible. But it's who he is in the moment because his actions have defined it. (The meteor that falls from the sky and the black goop which comes out of it is one giant honking metaphor for this all, and it's so comic book that I didn't have a problem with it).

Peter eventually comes around by re-forging a relationship with his best friend (who makes his own heroic choice to define himself differently from his father) and shaking his revenge motives -- ultimately forgiving the man who shot his uncle because the villain was trying to re-define himself as a loving father. (I absolutely loved Thomas Hayden Church's entrance, as this creepy dude who sneaks into some girl's bedroom and reaches ominously into his coat, only to bring out loving letters he had written to his daughter and places them under her sleeping pillow).

Also, the movie has some political subtext, something about how America has started believing its own hype and gotten too aggressive, trying to get revenge in places it doesn't belong and pissing everyone off in the process.