Spider-Man 3 (Sony) triples the villains, cuts back on the laborious introspection and allows Maguire to play Parker as the uber-nerd he really is. The movie is a little long at 2 hours 20 minutes, but the effects are spectacular, and it's easily the most fun of the three Sam Raimi-directed chapters.

Peter and MJ (Kirsten Dunst) are now officially an item as the story begins, and, in one of the more ridiculous subplots, MJ is opening in a musical on Broadway. Harry (James Franco) still believes that Spider-Man killed his father (Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin in the 2002 original), and he knows that his former best friend, Peter, is Spidey -- and wants revenge.

The morning after Mary Jane's warbling Broadway debut, there's a runaway crane construction mishap in Manhattan, and Spider-Man saves the life of the beautiful police chief's daughter, Gwen Stacy, played by Bryce Dallas Howard (recovering nicely from Lady In the Water). Suddenly, Spider-Man is getting more positive press than Angelina Jolie after one of her foreign baby adoptions, and he is being awarded the key to the city.

Simultaneously, MJ is getting blistering reviews, and in a so-dumb-it's-funny scene she arrives at the theater for work as the producers are auditioning her replacement. If you know how the Great White Way works, you know that this, of course, happens all the time. Bad review after opening night means that you hold auditions for a new star the following morning. (I strongly believe, by the way, that if Dunst herself auditioned for a Broadway musical, she wouldn't even get a call-back, but this is a fantasy film.)

All of a sudden, Peter is as cool as a nerd can be, and Mary Jane is just another unemployed actress, so their relationship hits the skids, and this is where the fun begins. First, you've got Thomas Haden Church (Sideways, TV's Wings) as The Sandman, who we learn had a hand in Uncle Ben's death. Plus, Harry embraces his inner Goblin in order to avenge Dad's death, and Topher Grace (In Good Company,  TV's That 70's Show) is a morally-bankrupt shutterbug who ultimately becomes a nasty dude called Venom. And, through it all, Spider-Man and Peter Parker are wrestling with some black outer space jelly that brings out the worst in them.

Spidey's new black suit is very cool (black is the new red and blue), and the black goo makes him more powerful and agile, but even more entertaining is what happens to Pete. Suddenly, he thinks he's the most happenin' dude on the planet. He's cruising for tail and, at one point, he's doing a full-on Tony Manero strut through midtown Manhattan. Bad Peter is a little like some dorky goth kid who plays too much Dungeons and Dragons and didn't get the memo about how un-cool he is.

These sequences are Maguire at his best. It's odd that he is the star of the most successful superhero franchise of all-time. He's really a very quirky, engaging character actor with solid work on his resume like Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys, Lasse Hallstrom's Cider House Rules and the Oscar-nominated Seabiscuit. He hams up these "Bad Peter" interludes with great gusto, and he delivers some of the most entertaining moments in the movie.

Although it takes 140 minutes, Sam Raimi manages to tie up every loose end that I can think of, though some of the extraneous scenes are clearly for the fanboys. Marvel honcho Stan Lee has a cameo, which is fine, but an extended sequence in a restaurant with Bruce Campbell (from Raimi's Evil Dead movies) as a snotty French waiter feels long and unnecessary. In the end though, Spider-Man 3 is what summer blockbusters are all about. It's big and fun and exciting and loud with great effects and some laughs, and, if this is the end of the franchise, it's a fitting, satisfying conclusion. Spidey proves that no matter how big a nerd any of us might be, we're all just a red-and-blue suit away from being able to save the world.

FantasyMoguls.com Lowdown on Spider-Man 3
Original FantasyMoguls.com Projections for Spider-Man 3 were for a 7.5 IMDb User Rating, $350 million in total domestic box office, 15 Top 5 points and 7 PTA points. Steve Mason's revised projections based on seeing the film and reviewing its tracking and updated release plan are as follows:

Box Office -- $360 million
IMDb User Rating -- 7.8
Top 5 -- 17 points
PTA -- 8 points