 Today I present to you a debate that's definitely needed to happen, which film starring the alien's symbiote is better? It's Spider-Man 3 vs. Venom on Movie Feud. I argue this is an unfair match-up as we're already three deep in the Sam Raimi trilogy, so characters have already been established. That's true, although that can also work against the film too, as many people hate what three did to the characters they loved. Some don't look back fondly on Tobes, emo dancing down the streets, or Kirsten Dunst singing an entire album's worth of music. In one movie. Even Franco's Osborn gets pretty goofy at times. Hey, I enjoy a good baking montage as much as the next guy, just felt out of place here. There's a lot of star power on display in this final chapter. JK Simmons still owns the role as J. Jonah Jameson to me. No one else can play that part. They're not even gonna try. Rosemary Harris pops up here and there and try as they might. They couldn't top that. I believe there's a hero in all of us line. They came up with something, but it was terrible. Thomas Hayden Church plays Sandman, one of three villains in the picture. You might be thinking to yourself, three villains in one story? How do they possibly juggle all that? Not well. Not well at all. Franco eventually follows in his father's footsteps as the Green Goblin 2.0. Last and certainly least, we have that 70s show star Tofer Grace as Eddie Brock, a spunky new photographer who's willing to play a little dirty to get what he wants. He also becomes Venom for like eight minutes. Bruce Campbell makes his obligatory cameo and Elizabeth Banks rivals Evangeline, Lily and Ant-Man for the worst hairstyle ever award. If you enjoyed Bryce Dallas Howard's performance in Fallen Kingdom as Lady with Nice Breasts, you're in luck. You can see him here too in all their PG-13 glory. Venom is not without its A-list stars. Michelle Williams was for some reason forced to do this film. She must owe someone money somewhere. She plays generic lawyer girlfriend. Riz Ahmed doesn't fare much better as an Elon Musk-like billionaire who will stop at nothing to make bad choices for his company. Jenny Slate has a pretty large role as a turncoat scientist. She's come a long way since Elvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked, which will always be Mona Lisa to me. Shout out to the Parks and Rec fans out there. Last and possibly least here as well is Eddie Brock, aka Venom, aka Tom Hardy. I'm not sure what to even think about Tom Hardy at this point. He's best when his beautiful face is covered up. Dunkirk, face covered, Mad Max, face covered, Bane, come on. Venom is kind of cool too, but Brock is just a disaster of a character. I have no idea who this dude even is after two hours of a movie. Topher was pretty cut and dry. He's a douche rocking the same hairstyle I thought I was pulling off in high school. Spoiler, I was. Venom is all over the place, sometimes having a bizarre accent and never consistent in his personality, even before the symbiote takes over. I know Venom himself is more comic accurate this time and the Purists will probably hate what I have to say next, but I like Sam Raimi's version better. Yeah. It seems more alien-like, unless like a guy trying to pick a fight at the park in a lot of Achilles at 1am on a Thursday night. Oddly specific. That's not to say he's a complete knockout. Whenever Tofer's face pops out of the black goo, it's just horrible. It's head over to round two. Bad. Just all around bad. Spider-Man 3 already had a really tough fight ahead of it. Raimi is coming off of Spider-Man 2, a film many still consider top tier superhero material. The pressure was on both mentally and internally from Sony, who's notorious for ruining a good thing. There is plenty that works, but the overall final product doesn't. Things start out on the wrong foot when we learn that Peter didn't actually get the guy who killed his Uncle Ben. Retconning your own story's a bold move, Cotton. Turns out the killer was a more sympathetic dude named Flint Marco who just can't seem to make the right choices in life. He eventually becomes Sandman after wandering into one of the most unsecure facilities ever created ever. Meanwhile, Peter's best friend Harry is losing his mind after the death of his father and vows revenge against Spider-Man. This threat isn't too shabby with a lot of standout moments such as a ring chase and a truly awesome confrontation at his mansion. Parker web slinging a bomb back at his once best friend has all sorts of emotion and it's just a fantastic scene to watch. 2018's Venom has no emotion, not a drop, not no emotion to be found. You're just watching something play out for two hours. I guess there is a laugh or two to be had, some intentional from the writers, others not so much. It just feels like this lifeless, joyless, awkward thing rolling down the street like a turd in the wind. Eddie Brock is an extreme reporter with his own TV show. He seemingly has it all. An excellent job, a hot fiance, and one killer bike. Unfortunately, he put his career ahead of his future wife when he snoops in her computer and finds some confidential information to exploit. She leaves him faster than Universal left their dark universe behind. Remember the dark universe kids? That was cool. The mummy and maybe some the Dracula thing. Turns out it wasn't worth it either as he loses his job shortly after. Brock is having himself a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. That all changes when scientist lady calls him up with a hot scoop. This leads to his discovery of a testing lab where he finds himself the host of an alien entity. This forces Brock to take on some pretty poor eating habits but that temple needs fueling. Elon Musk, bad guy, becomes the host of a symbiote too because apparently this movie was written in 2004. It's not a complicated story yet. It still manages to be completely incompetent. That said, I barely scratched the surface on the other 40 plots that take place in Spider-Man 3. Peter's suit is infected with the alien goo which somehow dies it perfectly. It's a pretty sweet looking suit. Oh, and it makes Peter evil. He has girl troubles, financial troubles, some odd sexual tension with the landlord's daughter. The new love interest springs up for a few scenes. Mary J. Watson has a whole stage performance thing going on for some reason. There's enough material here for two or three more movies. Help Peter Jackson would have taken this very same material, made himself a nice five part 20 hour saga, plus director cuts for each. So on one hand, we have a bloated at times bizarre final act that I do believe manages to end on an excellent note. On the other hand, we have a dumb, poorly executed origin story. It seems like a tough decision, but at the end of the day, it's actually quite simple for me. But before we go there, let's talk production. Spider-Man 3 is a total mess, albeit a pretty one. Sam Raimi continues to move the camera around like it's strapped right behind our hero. Outside of Spider-Man 2's train fight, 3 has the best offerings around. Multiple brushes with Sandman and a fantastic end battle with all three villains justify a watch or two. I'm honestly at a loss as to what people enjoyed about Venom's action scenes. They range from passable to downright awful. The nighttime bike chase is not only ugly, it feels rushed. Like Hardy had a day to shoot, so they just threw him on a bike in front of a green screen and slapped it all together. The Venom vs. Riot ending is filmed like a cartoon cat chasing a bird around a house. Can't make heads or tails of any of it. Constant movement at terrible angles. It's like a POV porno if the camera was directly behind the man's balls the entire time. It's just not good to look at. Okay, who you are. If you would have told me that this was from the same director as the wonderfully shot Zombieland, I wouldn't have believed you for a second. Now if you said this is from the same guy that did Gangster Squad, okay, now I hear you. Turns out Robin Feischer did both and took what he didn't learn from either and applied it here. Music is a complete embarrassment when you compare it to the Danny Elfman score from the Spider-Man trilogy. Christopher Young did the bulk of the lifting for 3 with Elfman helping out in the wings. It was a rousing success as not only was the theme expanded, each villain got their own unique composition. If Sony's twisted goal was for me to look back on Spider-Man 3 fondly, mission accomplished. You did the unthinkable. I commend you for that. Something is happening in Hollywood right now that I don't particularly like. They're making me enjoy movies I previously hated when comparing them to what they're making today. I don't think I hated a movie more than X-Men 3 for the longest time. Much like Spider-Man 3, it felt insulting to the characters and the stories that came before. Now I see some of these newer ones and I can't help but miss the original cast and the quaint or tales they were telling. Question is, are you able to forgive Spider-Man 3 like myself? Maybe you were already a fan. Why don't you leave a comment, vote for your winner and remember, this is more than just reviews, this is Movie Feuds. One thing is certain though, until my dying breath, I will never like the Star Wars prequels no matter how hard Disney tries to make me.