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A rollercoaster ride in both a good way and a bad way, the third installment in the Spidey film franchise brings viewers to the highs of some well-developed conflict and the lows of forced melodrama and silly spoofy jokes. Though there are only a few bad parts and one awful part, many of the good pieces don’t fit together completely, forced together by contrivances. I wouldn’t say it’s a mess, but it’s an untidy entertainment that satisfies on its own merits, but disappoints in comparison to the far superior second installment.

Peter Parker (Toby Maguire, ICE STORM) is flying high — he’s about to ask Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst, MARIE ATOINETTE) to marry him, he’s doing well in school and Spider-Man is the champion of the city. It seems to be the same for Mary Jane — she’s starring in a new Broadway musical and is madly in love. But things start to break apart between them on various fronts. Peter’s best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco, TV’s JAMES DEAN) attacks him, seeking revenge for his father’s death in the first film, and is injured. Mary Jane becomes hurt by Peter’s fame and inattentiveness, especially when his pretty lab partner Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard, THE VILLAGE) comes into the picture. Peter develops a rivalry with fellow photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace, TV’s THAT 70S SHOW), who is dating Gwen. And then Peter and his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris, 1999’s SUNSHINE) learn that the real killer Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church, SIDEWAYS) has escaped from prison and has been accidentally transformed into the Sandman, a creature who can expand into a giant sand beast. However, this thief has noble goals for his actions, trying to save his sick daughter. Oh, yeah, and then this alien black goo falls on Peter, increasing his aggression and cockiness and later turns Brock into the evil Venom.

If you’re thinking there’s a lot of plot to deal with in this long 140-minute feature, you’re right. However, director Sam Raimi, along with co-writers Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent, find ways to weave all the plot elements into the central theme of Peter becoming drunk with his power. Another key theme is dealing with one’s deepest demons. Spidey vs. Sandman brings in Peter’s issues with his uncle’s death. Spidey vs. Harry/New Goblin brings in the issues surrounding the death of Harry’s father, the original Green Goblin. Spidey vs. Brock/Venom/Black Goo brings in his conflict with using his power responsibly. In addition, Mary Jane’s failure on Broadway taps into her demons, coming from a mentally abusive home and her desire for public recognition, especially in light of Spider-Man/Peter’s new stardom.

These issues are nicely addressed for the most part, but some of the execution is really forced. Devices like amnesia and forcing someone to do actions against their will when there isn’t really anything at stake are too conveniently used throughout the film. Outside of the tacked on motivation that Sandman killed Uncle Ben, he seems to be extraneous, especially when his participation in the final conflict flip-flops for no reason. It does add in some nice duality between Harry and Peter’s conflicts, but it’s how it comes about that’s clunky. The themes and conflicts are solid, but at times it seems like they’re held together with Scotch tape… and not the invisible kind.

In comparison to BATMAN BEGINS, which also had multiple bad guys, this film feels like pieces from different puzzles are being forces together — we can still make out the overall picture, but it’s not smooth. Additionally, with so much going on, Aunt May is relegated to just give pep talks. Likewise, Harry gets a key pep talk from a character who should have spoken up a long time ago, creating another forced moment. In trying to nicely wrap up all the conflicts from the first two films, SPIDER-MAN 3 bites off a bit too much at times.

A perfect example of the mish mash of successes and missteps would be to compare the dinner scene at the French restaurant and Peter’s pimp strut down the street when the black goo is influencing him. The restaurant scene combines humor with conflict brilliantly. The strut scene is groan inducing in its corniness while sucking the conflict from the moment instead of building more. It also undermines the next scene at the jazz club, which is similar in nature humor-wise, but also makes for great drama. The strut scene is so bad that it’s like telling a really bad version of a joke and then trying to get a laugh out of the better version right after.

In the end, though many conflicts are forced, the results are worth the contrivances at times. Sandman seems like he could have been dumped, but he is a nice character and the sand visual effects are the best in the film. The many conflicts end with nice dramatic power, which gives a satisfying sense of closure. The difference between this one and the second is that the tighter plot in #2 allowed for more emotional resonance and melodrama drives too much of the third film. Ambition is the film’s only sin. As a close to the first trilogy of SPIDER-MAN films, it works. It gives us everything we could want per se, but sometimes studios need to realize that giving fans too much of what they want can be a bad thing in the long run. It’s a fun ride and we get to revisit familiar faces, but how many times can we care about Mary Jane being kidnapped and put in mortal peril? Threes a charm I suppose.