Movie Review-Spideman 3

I am going to try not to spoil the plot in case you haven't seen it, but I cannot make any guarantees so be forewarned...

Okay so here are my thoughts on the new Spiderman movie. If nothing else, it is a big screen must see because I just don't think it will carry the same weight on the small screen. With that said, let me put out my opinion. I LOVED IT! There have been all kinds of reviews out there some good some bad, but I have to say as a movie itself it was great for a comic book junkie like me. So let me break it down by category for you-I know I am a geek...

The movie-As a movie, it was a little slower than I would have liked, but I can appreciate that for two reasons. The first is the character development-there seemed to be a lot of it with the rise of characters such as Eddie Brock/Venom and the Sandman. It was also good to see the continuing tension between Peter/MJ/Harry that is common in the comic book. All in all a great story with some of my favorite characters from the Marvel universe. The second reason is the message with the movie with teachable moments which I will share about later.

The characters-I was thrilled that they were going to bring the Eddie Brock/Venom character into the movie. I thought they handled the character of Venom very well, but I would have passed on Topher Grace as Eddie Brock. He just didn't sell it for me, but hey I am no Hollywood, evidently he is eye candy and works for them. I was also impressed the the Flint Marko/Sandman character. While this has never been one of my favorite Spiderman villains (s0rry Mr. Lee) I thought Thomas Hayden Church played the character well and I can appreciate the hero confusion that he feels throughout the movie. As for The Harry Osborne/New Goblin storyline I liked the story, but I really wish they would have stuck with bringing him back as Goblin 2 and not "new Goblin." Honestly the costume and glider were lame as far as I was concerned.

The comic-I can't really say whether the movie was true to the comic or not as I am more of an X-Men junkie than a Spider-fan but what I do know about the Marvel Universe tells me that there was some liberty from the comic book storyline. Truth be told, you have to do that most of the time to make the movies great and you'll always hack off some comic book nerd somewhere (a-la me when Transformers comes out I am sure) and you have to do what you have to do. Good story whether it was true to the comic or not.

The message-I would say that this movie definitely has some teachable moments for youth pastors with their teens. Some may disagree with me about this, but I think it would be a good trip with your teens. Most of them will see it anyway, why not make a night of it with discussion afterwards. I do not want to say much for fear of spoiling the plot, but the movie does a great job of pointing out that we have choices to make and those choices effect us daily. And there is at least one great quote a la "With great power..." There are definitely some moments that you can use to strike up some spiritual discussions.

Family friendly-I am going to have to say no on this one if you have younger kids. Even if your seven year old is running around in his Spiderman Underoos (do they even still make those?) flinging yarn like it is a web I would say don't take the younger ones to see it as it might still be a little scary for them. Venom can be a little spooky and the darkness is heavy sometimes. Plus there are a couple of "gotcha" moments that will catch you if you aren't careful. Older kids maybe, but use your discretion.

Well that does it for me...thoughts? I give it 3 stars since it could have been better, but all in all it is a big screener for me, not a rental. Go pay your money and give it a view!