`Spider-Man 3'

Sooner or later, every movie version of a comic-book superhero feels compelled to display the Jerk Within. One would think that would be enough to make this long-awaited blockbuster sequel more interesting than it turns out to be. Not that "Spidey Trois" in any way skimps on the crowd-pleasing razzle dazzle that helped its two predecessors absorb hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

The set pieces alone are worth the price of admission -- especially a mid-air battle between Spidey (in his Peter Parker civvies) and his onetime best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) who has become a new version of his late father's high-flying alter-ego, the Green Goblin. There's also a breathtaking rescue scene involving a runaway construction crane, a ripped-open skyscraper and a beautiful blonde named Gwen (Bryce Dallas Howard) who almost falls to her death before being snatched by Spider-Man. Both these events are pivotal to new complications in Peter Parker's already complicated life.

The blonde is a college classmate of Peter's, whose presence in his life is one of the many things his best girl, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), thinks he's been withholding from her. That his once-beautiful romance with M.J.

is growing thorns just as Peter's about to propose marriage isn't even the worst of his problems. For one thing, there's this black goo that slid off a meteorite and has followed Peter home, seeping into his soul, turning both it and his costume pitch black. The personality change gives Maguire a chance to act out a nerd's idea of Being a Rat, an amusing bit that wears a little thin after a while.

Eventually, the goo finds a new host in a pushy shutterbug named Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who's already salty at Parker for exposing him as a fraud. Brock morphs into a fanged, homicidal doppelganger of Spider-Man and enlists the help of an escaped convict named Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) aka The Sandman, whose molecules have been zapped with the power to morph into a sandstorm that can turn lethal in many ways. Oh, and by the way, he's probably the guy who killed Peter's Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) in the first movie.

There's something to be said for the way director Sam Raimi and his co-screenwriters, Alvin Sargent and the director's brother Ivan, managed to crowd as much stuff into the movie's two-hours-and-change. Though hardly a letdown in three-ring showmanship, "Spider-Man 3" isn't much of an advance in terms of inventiveness and grandeur. One gets the sense of a mighty franchise in wheel-spinning mode.

You'd like to think it's catching a second wind for an even mightier return. But you also wonder how much further it can go from here. The breathtaking fight sequences are still worth the price of admission and there are intermittent stretches of humor and grace.

Nevertheless, this latest blockbuster about Your Friendly Neighborhood Web-Slinger is pressing its luck by piling on the soapsuds and heartstrings. Tobey Maguire's callow superhero gets wrapped up in dark goo that makes him his own worst enemy. Kirsten Dunst's still his best girl and James Franco still wants him dead.

With Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace as new bad guys. Directed by Sam Raimi. 2:19.

Intense, mostly non-bloody violence. Opening May 4 at area theaters. to the Hartford Courant today and receive up to 50% off!

Post your opinion on a movie you've seen recently. Be sure to use the name of the movie in your comments.

" She's just been on the hood of a car for 20 minutes and she laughs it off. Derails the movie. Boo!

BLADES OF GLORY: Will Ferrell is ridiculous and hilarious! Loved the cameos by real skaters, too.