I saw Spider-Man 3 Friday night with some folks, and in three words: I loved it. In one sentence: Corny and stupid in all the right places. (And I mean that in a good way. I really do.) It lived up to my expectations because I went in realizing this wasn't going to be Batman Begins and probably not even Spiderman 2. The X-Men series taught me that no comic book series can stay great forever, and when reviews came in that this third installment of Sam Raimi's adaptations wasn't so hot, I expected to be entertained, have a good time, and see some sweet Spidey action. Don't get me wrong, Tobey Maguire's great and he carries this series (and the movie) but Spidey has always been the sort of character that you don't totally take seriously. There's going to be bad dialogue and cheesy moments and the character "depth" will be rather shallow. And I know, too, that that makes comic fans upset. I am not a comic book fan, though I am a fan of comic book movies, and as far as comic book movies go, I say this was a good one.
Things I liked: Topher Grace made a cool villain and addition to the series. The movie tried to make you feel bad for all the bad guys (The Sandman and Harry Osborne, too) and that was some of the cheesiness and unnecessariness, but at least Venom and Sandman looked awesome. Tobey Maguire rocked as emo/punk Spidey (with black suit). As Jason Panella said, you completely expected Peter Parker to start taking mySpace pictures. Loved it. Bryce Dallas Howard was a pretty addition as Gwen Stacy. And Spidey and Mary Jane made out on a web. SO there was that.
In conclusion: Lots of crying. Lots of silliness. Great movie. Gwen Stacy:
Comments
The movie had some great qualities, namely how strongly the elements of forgiveness, redemption and taking responsibility for your actions shone through (especially compared to the first two films). Also, Sam Raimi's little tricks never get old (casting Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell, some of the Evil Dead-cam shots, et cetera). And Aunt May said some wise, moving things.
But boy, the entertainment value of the movie was pretty deflated. I've already forgotten the action sequences; after so many shots of Spidey-as-computer generated-Breakout ball, I zone out. There were so many subplots fighting for attention, the appearance of Venom at the end was almost an insult. (Raimi didn't want to add that storyline, but I hear the producers forced him.) And the actually narrative qualities were just lacking. Believe me, I have no problem with entertaining pictures; but there's such a thing as being so over-the-top that it's just goofy.
And man! What a waste of Gwen & Capt. Stacy as characters! So complex in the comic, but here they were just little twittering bits to keep the plot moving. Oh, and think about all of the plot points--the ENTIRE movie depends on 'coincidence.' Every scene.
It wasn't a horrible movie, but definitely the Batman & Robin of the franchise.
there were some ok moments, but nothing that made me think i would even want to see it again.
It was just all around lame. it was like jar-jar binks in episode II... only worse. Toby Maguire is a terrible actor. The action was cool, but too fake (see 300 for the new standard). Everything about it was fake and lame. It's not that I'm looking to see a deep thoughtful movie everytime I go to the theater, but I am looking to not get annoyed during the movie.
I hear there's nothing new under the sun, and there was certianly nothing new in spiderman III.