The comics blogiverse is an increasingly diverse network of comics pundits, fans and fanatics — not to mention professional creators themselves — where one can find a variety of fascinating and/or obnoxious opinions to suit any taste, or lack thereof. Every Saturday (or not!), I’ll offer up excerpts from five of the more interesting, thought-provoking posts I’ve come across over the past week, for better or worse. Enjoy!

REVIEW: A Spider-Man is Born
The Beat

The main problem with SPIDER-MAN 3 is that there just weren’t enough musical numbers. Mary Jane has a few scenes, and Maguire performs a humorous song and dance reminiscent of Christopher Walken’s classic number in PENNIES FROM HEAVEN. For reasons unknown, Raimi decides to substitute CGI fight scenes between Peter in his Spider-Man outfit and the Sandman, Harry Osborn and, later on, a character named Venom. These fight scenes, while well executed, do nothing to move the story forward and just slow down the denouement of whether Peter will be able to win MJ’s love back. Raimi should have just stuck with his original plan to make a musical — it could even have ended with a great take off on A STAR IS BORN with MJ getting up on stage and saying, “Ladies and Gentleman, my name is Mrs. Peter Parker.”

Instead, by throwing in all those action scenes, Raimi just makes a puzzling blend of melodrama and heroics. Call it “Imitation of Strife”*…if you want to do Douglas Sirk, just do Douglas Sirk!

Despite our reservations, the rather piquant and vibrant scenes in SPIDER-MAN may make it a cult favorite among action movie enthusiasts, and we predict this film will make a lot of money.

MATT RAUB: Spider-Man 3 Review
ComicMix

Moving on to our leading lady, Kirsten Dunst, I have a whole different problem. In the first film, I was starting to get into the idea of having a non-supermodel quality Mary Jane Watson and by the end of the second film, I was completely sold, though she looked like she hadn’t eaten since Jumanji. And just then, as if it was her master plan to get us all to love her, and then crush us, in a press junket for Spider-Man 2, Dunst was quoted in saying that her ideal plot for another sequel would be where our webbed hero dies in the first act, and the rest of the film is about Mary Jane coping in the modern world with an unborn Spider-Baby as a single mother. Some of you remember this quote as “The Day We Started to Hate Kirsten Dunst.” I don’t know what it is about female actors and preaching their ideas when the majority of the audience paying attention to them are people who could care less about them. We go to superhero movies to see superheroes, not their girlfriends.

Review: “Spider-Man 3″
Dark Horizons

It’s more noticeable considering that Dunst, and more notably Franco, show distinct improvement in the way they handle their roles – in fact their scenes together ring with more genuine appeal than any of the tedious domestic squabbles that Maguire and Dunst’s scenes together devolve into. Neither are particularly strong actors, Dunst playing Mary Jane as somewhat petulant whilst Franco’s “I’m an evil guy now” scenes seem more fitting for soap opera than block buster territory.

Yet both work their personal stories better than Maguire. He is given the overused subplot of exploring his bad side (the red kryptonite in this case is the black suit). By a bad side though it means several scenes of rather cringe-inducing dancing on the street or in jazz clubs, a shorter temper and a 90’s alternate rock hairstyle (seems that bangs mean bad-ass).

Why, Oh Why Have the Spider-Man Gods Forsaken Us?!?
Comics2Film

Now, I’ll admit that I am not a fan of the Venom character and see him as a representation of the Dark Age of comic books that was the 1990s, with brooding heroes and dark, sinister villains. The 90s weren’t really a “fun” time for comic books, and this movie, unlike its predecessors, just isn’t fun. But it’s not Venom’s fault. The problem is that this is two movies forced into one that leaves no room for complete story arcs for any of the villains.

Had this film found a focus and built its story around a specific set of conflicts, it could have been great, but instead it suffers from Part 3 Syndrome and seems to want to cram in as much as possible, just in case there isn’t a fourth installment. So, instead the film relies on a series of coincidences to force conflict, and put all of our characters at odds. Harry is the only one of the villains who receives a decent arc, and in fact, steals every scene he’s in. James Franco plays Harry as vengeful, yet also playful after an incident leaves him with no short term memory. This, then, sets up a nice conclusion for the character, who is actually allowed to develop, unlike Sandman, Venom and even Gwen Stacy.

It’s all too much for me to take: A Spider-Man 3 review
Blog@Newsarama

But for every high point there’s a pointless scene that drags on for far too long. Why, for example and without giving anything away, even bother with the first act of Franco’s storyline if you’re going to completely negate it in the second? And what’s the point of employing talented actors like James Cromwell, Bill Duke, Theresa Russell and Bryce Dallas Howard if you’re just going to have them stand around and blend in with the scenery? Church especially seems wasted, given to looking grim for most of the film.

Yes, “Spider-Man 3” is fun at times, but it feels more like an overwrought amusement park ride than anything else. The first two movies were special. This is just another superhero flick.