Spiderman 3: A Review
In a word, disgusted. That word symbolizes how I feel about the following: disgusted to have spent $11 to see the film, disgusted to have spent 2 and a half hours of my life to see the film, and disgusted that Sam Raimi and company took one of the most well-done superhero franchises and destroyed it, ala Joel Schumaker (not this this film, even in its badness, is anywhere near some of his work.) Even with my tempered expectations resulting from many negative reviews that I read, Spiderman is nothing more than a collasal dissapontment.
In fact, the only positive thing I can say leads right into one of my first complaints. The character of Flint Marko, who later turns into Sandman, definitely interested me. He was only a thief to get money for his daughter, and was portrayed in a very human sympathetic way. Which leads me right into a criticism: they only glossed over his story, which could have made the film much more compelling if it was given more focus. In fact, Raimi never even took the time to explain what illness his daughter had. The emotional payoff of the redemption of his character would have had much more reasonance if his story had time to breath.
The character of Venom was completely wasted in this film. He should have been left to a fourth and final film, even if Spiderman 3 led directly into it. He wasn't neccesary, and taking him out could have completely pared down an overlong film. Not too mention, Topher Grace, as much of a fan of his as I am, was copletely miscast.
The long list of contrivances in the film include: the mysterious (and apparently conscious?) venom goo falling from outer space and just happening to land right near Peter Parker, Flint Marko running through a field that just happens to contain a "demolecularization" going on, and Harry'sbutler, who never mentioned anything before, finally finding it relevant to say that Harry's father took his own life.
What would have done? Well, for one, take Venom out of this film. Two, I would ot have connected Marko to Uncle Ben's death: seems like overkill to me, ala Burton conencting Joker to the Wayne's death in the completely overrated 1989 Batman. Three, I would have had Harry find out much sooner Peter wasn't responsible, and then have Sandman accidentally kill him. This would have added to his guilt complex and provided Peter with the neccesary emotional anger to fight him. Also, Peter's conversion, however brief, to the darkside would have been more powerful if it wasn't brought on by some stupid goo. Finally, add more backstory for Marko, including his marriage and domestic situation, which seemed tense and interesting in the brief time it had.
In fact, the only positive thing I can say leads right into one of my first complaints. The character of Flint Marko, who later turns into Sandman, definitely interested me. He was only a thief to get money for his daughter, and was portrayed in a very human sympathetic way. Which leads me right into a criticism: they only glossed over his story, which could have made the film much more compelling if it was given more focus. In fact, Raimi never even took the time to explain what illness his daughter had. The emotional payoff of the redemption of his character would have had much more reasonance if his story had time to breath.
The character of Venom was completely wasted in this film. He should have been left to a fourth and final film, even if Spiderman 3 led directly into it. He wasn't neccesary, and taking him out could have completely pared down an overlong film. Not too mention, Topher Grace, as much of a fan of his as I am, was copletely miscast.
The long list of contrivances in the film include: the mysterious (and apparently conscious?) venom goo falling from outer space and just happening to land right near Peter Parker, Flint Marko running through a field that just happens to contain a "demolecularization" going on, and Harry'sbutler, who never mentioned anything before, finally finding it relevant to say that Harry's father took his own life.
What would have done? Well, for one, take Venom out of this film. Two, I would ot have connected Marko to Uncle Ben's death: seems like overkill to me, ala Burton conencting Joker to the Wayne's death in the completely overrated 1989 Batman. Three, I would have had Harry find out much sooner Peter wasn't responsible, and then have Sandman accidentally kill him. This would have added to his guilt complex and provided Peter with the neccesary emotional anger to fight him. Also, Peter's conversion, however brief, to the darkside would have been more powerful if it wasn't brought on by some stupid goo. Finally, add more backstory for Marko, including his marriage and domestic situation, which seemed tense and interesting in the brief time it had.