
But you know what? These appalling aberrations cannot hold back the unbridled energy, the swirling synthesis of spectacle and drama, and the gliding force behind the powers that activate such wondrous battles between good and evil.
Interestingly, good and evil are often contained within the same characters. Spider-Man gets into a black suit, acquires a randy swagger and becomes naughty in the second-half. Cute, but representative of man and the moral choices he must exercise.


Watch out for the big fights. The first major outburst happens when Parker battles Osborn for Mary Jane's wedding ring. The soundtrack shrieks and the visuals soar and roar like winged lions.
The technical team creates optical fireworks with no room for pauses and breathing spaces. The drama of good and evil is, by its very definition, larger-than-life.

The streets of New York are filled with over-sized goblins and gigantic comic-book villains who seem to pay a tribute to all our favourite comic book characters from "Superman" to "King Kong".

Ironically, it's poor Spidey who, for a while, gets confounded about the good and the bad. By the time he finds his level, so does the plot.
Bulging with enormous swings and strides, Spider-Man 3 is both endearing and exasperating - endearing for its devious blend of bustle and burlesque and exasperating, because at the end of the long elaborate homage to computer-induced hi-jinks you know you were being taken for a ride.

This film by Sam Raimi, epic in every proportion, sweeps us into a domain of the devastatingly dishy.