The two-hour running time flies past almost as rapidly as Spider-Man swings on his web through the skyscraper-lined streets of New York.

So it seems churlish to complain that the third Spider-Man movie is too much of a good thing: too many villains, too many heroines, too many sub-plots, too many superbly-executed action pieces.

It is very good, as you'd expect from a team led by director Sam Raimi. But less would have made it even more enjoyable.

Newspaper photographer Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is trying to balance his life between his true love, Mary Jane Wilson (Kirsten Dunst), and alter ego Spider-Man's heroic activities against the city's bad guys.

When his suit is infiltrated by a creeping black substance, Spider-Man turns to the dark side. He neglects his civic duties and addresses the demands of those around him.

Facing his personal demons proves his biggest fight yet as he battles a hat-trick of villains - Goblin (James Franco), Sandman (Haden Church) and Venom (Topher Grace).

They give the effects people plenty of work on, with admittedly spectacular results. They've not only perfected Spidey's web-flying since the first movie, but created a truly amazing phenomenon in Sandman, who has the ability to reform.

One minute he looks like a sand pit, the next he's like a very large, aggressive sandcastle shaped like a giant.

Maguire has fun finding Peter Parker's inner party guy, while Dunst screams convincingly as does Bryce Dallas Howard, as the romantic complication in Spidey's life.