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BY MAGGIE SCOTT

Spidey’s back and Mary Jane’s got him. Until she has to hand him over to New Goblin, who passes him along to Sandman, who bounces him over to Venom. “Spider-Man 3,” a multi-opponent free-for-all, is a smashing, crashing bore in a lot of places and a jaw-dropping special effects spree in most of the others.

Director Sam Raimi has rounded up the usual suspects for the next film adaptation of the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko comic franchise and given them an angst-bloated script courtesy of Raimi, Raimi’s brother, Ivan, and Alvin Sargent. Everyone’s got issues.

Peter (Toby Maguire) still has not found closure in the death of his Uncle Ben and Mary Jane’s musical theatre career has been scuttled by mean-spirited critics. Harry Osborn (James Franco), Peter’s best friend (and former rival for Mary Jane), can’t shake the belief that Peter was responsible for the death of his father, Norman (a.k.a., the Green Goblin). Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), escaped felon, is determined that he’ll get the money he needs to help his daughter get well.

Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) wants to sabotage Peter’s good standing at the Daily Bugle and resents the attention he imagines his girl (Bryce Dallas Howard) Gwen is getting from Peter and pills. Pepto-popping Bugle editor J. J. Jameson (J.K. Simmons) can’t raise his voice in classic frazzled boss style without his enterprising secretary (Elizabeth Banks) giving his desk a warning shot of kidney-jarring, jaw-clapping shaking to “calm” him down (on orders of his wife).

Although Peter is feeling better than ever about being Spider-Man, because “people really like me,” and things are so great with him and Mary Jane that he’s eager to propose, a super hero can never let his guard down. About the time Spider-Man is being honored with a parade and the key to the city (for saving Gwen, the police chief’s daughter), Harry is hammering Peter into New York real estate and a new nemesis has blown into town.

Flint Marko got his atoms rearranged into super-sandman form and he’s using his slippery powers of transformation to take cash, no matter what gets in his way. Suddenly, everybody’s bad side is coming out: Mary Jane splits with Peter before she can find the engagement ring (once on Aunt May’s finger) in the champagne glass; shiny, squiggling goo from outer space puts a mean look on Peter’s face and new powers for revenge in his suddenly ebony black Spider-Man suit; and Eddie puts a lot more “teeth” into his vendetta against Peter when he’s changed into the “being-bad-makes me happy” Venom.

Fangman pairs up with Sandman to challenge Peter to a super showdown, with Mary Jane’s life literally hanging in the balance in a cab suspended 80 stories over the teeming street. Who dies, who lives to fight another day and who forgives whom ties up most of the loose ends in time for a lame moral about choice. But, there’s just enough left unsaid and undone for it to be a sure thing that Spider-Man will be swinging back into movie theatres in the future. A Marvel Studios/Laura Ziskin Production,

Columbia Pictures release, rated PG-13.
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