I took my 5 year old to see Spiderman 3 today. It turned out to be quite a bit different from the last 2 in the series. There was a lot of drama in this one. In fact, I would almost say it was pretty slow. It was slow enough that it could not hold the attention of my Sprite and Sourpatch candy charged 5 year old for more than a few minutes.
In this movie we end up with Good Spidey, Bad Spidey, the Sandman and the Goblin. Peter becomes infected by an alien entity which alters his integrity, ethics and priorities. Bad Spidey is displayed in an all black Spidey suit. Peter eventually figures out what is going on and gets rid of the alien entity (black spidey suit).
Peter tries to propose to MJ, but she is having issues of her own and everything falls through.
The evil Spidey suit ends up finding its way to a Daily Herald Photographer with some personality issues, and an axe to grind with Spiderman. Evil Spidey and the Sandman team up to try and off Spiderman, but the Goblin (Peter’s High School buddy) comes to the aid of Spiderman, and together they are able to take out Evil Spidey. The Goblin ends up getting killed.
The Sandman turns out to be the killer of Uncle Ben, escaped from prison, but they end up sort of making up in the end. Not a bad movie, but not great either. At 2.5 hours with mediocre effects, it feels a little long. I would say that there is a bit too much drama and that most fans going to see this movie would expect more action.