The painfully disappointing follow-up to one of my favorite superhero flicks ever. Maybe it was a result of studio or fanboy pressure (as seen with the unnecessary inclusion of Venom), but this one fails on many levels. Spidey's campy, I understand t...(read more)hat, but the form of camp here (Emo Parker, ftl) betrays the tone set up by the last two films and would even seem out of place in the ultra-campy '60s Batman series (apart from the awesome Batusi). Then you've got the obnoxious performances by Maguire and Dunst, who play everything with such melodrama and pomp that it's hard to take anything seriously. Now this could be tied back to the poor screenplay, which tries to weave as many plot threads into the story as humanly possible, not leaving enough space for character development. Harry's vendetta against Peter is undercut by his "Harrison Ford in 'Regarding Henry'"-level mental retardation which has to battle for space against the Gwen/MJ/Peter, Harry/MJ/Peter, and Eddie/Gwen/Peter love triangles, Sandman/Uncle Ben storyline, and Symbiote/Emo Peter/Venom storylines. Some of these elements worked (Sandman, Harry/Peter/MJ, and parts of the Symbiote storyline), while the others fell flat - it's a mixed bag.
Ultimately, what would be a great collection of ideas to stretch into 2 or more films is derailed by jamming them all into one sloppy 2-hour package, leaving the series with little choice but to change directions. Currently, Spidey 4 and 5 are being developed by Raimi and Zodiac scriptwriter James Vanderbilt, but no one's sure if Raimi will pull out of directing like Tim Burton did after 'Batman Returns' and serve as producer or if the full cast will return. With the competition coming from the new series of films being developed by Marvel Studios, Nolan's 'Batman' series, and Snyder's 'Watchmen' adaptation, the 'Spidey' series would need to do something fast to reclaim its title as the premier superhero franchise of the 21st century.