“Spider-Man 3” is entertaining for the whole family. The special effects that Scott Stokdyk and his 200-man crew created are amazing. They built programs that didn’t even exist before “Spider-Man 3.” Some of the fight scenes are breath-taking, especially the ones with Sandman.

Although the movie is generally entertaining, several scenes are wretched and should have been redone or cut. For example, the movie begins with Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spiderman (Tobey Maguire), and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) on a web talking and watching shooting stars. Suddenly a meteor lands nearby, which they don’t notice. As they leave, a small black alien symbiote crawls out of the spot where the meteor landed and gets on Peter’s motorbike. The entire first scene is absurd and should have been rewritten.

Later, the symbiote attaches to Peter’s suit and changes his personality and look so that he wears only black clothing and makeup that makes him look like indie singer Conor Oberst. For the next 20 minutes, he struts down the street winking at girls. The scene is supposed to be entertaining but is unnecessary. In the worst scene, he dances with his new girlfriend at the nightclub as Mary Jane sings. This scene is so bad and cheesy, I would have paid not to have seen it.

The villains, Venom, Sandman, and New Goblin, are also poorly done. They are cool characters only because the effects crew did a great job, but none get enough screen time, and you feel as if director Sam Raimi is rushing the movie.

In spite of these flaws, if you’re looking for a fun time, it’s worth renting.