Back In (The) Black: The Spider-Man 3 Review
For making $49 million on opening weekend -- partially thanks to schmucks like me who took in the midnight show Thursday night -- this movie is catching all sorts of flack. So I thought I'd chime in.
The online slagging of Spider-Man 3 makes me think the stigma that used to surround sequels has officially been passed on to third installments. I wonder if people would be more forgiving of this film if it had instead been Spider-Man 2.
Indeed, 2 is still the superior movie, but 3 isn't a bad - if somewhat shoe-horned and rushed - wrap-up to the series. And make no mistake, this was filmed to wrap up the series, which is a shame, because Sam Raimi and Co. Had at least two more stories they could have gotten out of this ensemble. Well, most of it.
From the beginning, the film and its' protagonist, Peter Parker, are shot with more confidence and less introspection than its' predecessors. While the first two installments covered Peter dealing with his powers and the stress they placed upon his personal life, when we first see him here, he's comfortable in both his skin and his red-and-blue leotard. In his first battle with friend/enemy Harry Osborn, Peter displays confidence and competence with his abilities.
That confidence is fed, in large part, by his (apparently) newfound status as Public Hero No. 1 with his fellow New Yawkers, including fawning commentaries by TV newscasters and adoring headlines in most of the local papers. This is an interesting theme for the film and this hero, in particular, to tackle; part of his ongoing troubles in the comic world has been his status as a pariah, fueled by J. Jonah Jameson and The Daily Bugle. Like another Everyman hero, Arthur Dent, Spider-Man has always been more differed from as differing. And in their world, most Marvel heroes, aside from the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, have enjoyed lukewarm relationships at best with the general public.
And it's that confidence, and its' ensuing spill into hubris, which makes him easy pickings for the alien Symbiote, as much its' own CGI character as Gollum before it, though much more silent and as we come to find out, a lot harder on the eyes. Where Gollum was a crackhead, the Symbiote is a drug itself, "amplifying" the anger or pride of its' users. In both Peter and his (assumed) evil mirror image, Eddie Brock, it finds two juicy, geeky targets.
The results, however, work much better for Topher Grace's turn as the bitter Brock than Tobey Maguire's take on a darker Parker. And here the script doesn’t do Maguire any favors, as it interprets Peter Gone Wild as an emo kid with Peter Petrelli's hair and Ron Burgundy's jazz hands. After doing Sin City, Elijah Wood had to have been laughing with the rest of us. Grace, meanwhile, steps out of his nice-boy oevure with a spring and a ready sneer, especially after Brock gets Jayson Blair-ed out of a staff photog spot at the Bugle by a vengeful Peter. When he finally becomes Venom, the CGI gives him fangs, but Grace gives the role teeth, which should have been saved for a fourth movie, a one-on-one battle with Spider-Man. Wasting the blow-off to what should have been these two young mens’ personal war is this film’s biggest missed opportunity.
The other was loading this film with two extra villains -- Grace and Thomas Hayden Church’s Sandman -- when the stage had been so perfectly set for the final battle between Spidey and Harry, who we last saw completely crossed over to the Dafoe side. Instead, after taking one too many bumps on the head, Harry goes from righteous avenger to kindly amnesiac, then to sly villain and finally to redeemed friend. Poor James Franco: what started out as a great character arc turned into a bumper-car ride for his character.
The odd man out -- literally -- in all this pathos is Sandman, who we've been ret-conned into believing he was the man who shot and killed Peter’s uncle Ben. Ignoring the fact that Sandman is a Grade-C thug in the comics world, this twist is too cutesy to work for the existing film continuity. Especially considering the guy is further presented as someone pursuing a life of crime only because his daughter is "really sick" (we don’t know what's wrong with the little girl, but hey, she's got crutches, so it must be bad!). Sometimes a thug has to just be a thug, y'know? And compared to Venom and the New Goblin, the man of sand comes off as a wet blanket.
As badly as the boys’ characters go, however, they fare well compared to our leading ladies. Kirsten Dunst, in playing the continually and chronically this series’ whiny-ass take on Mary Jane Watson, may emerge as the lamest fandom female lead this side of Queen Amidala. Peter/Spidey’s rise in the public eye coincides with a bad review and subsequent sacking from her latest show. Either she forgot that she was in Seemingly Modern Millie as recently as the last movie or she forgot that she's an actress, 'cause she sure doesn’t handle things well, choosing to canoodle with Kindly Amnesiac Harry at the first hint of trouble in the relationship.
That hint is named Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), who kisses Spider-Man at a rally in his honor, and goes to school with Peter but otherwise knows nothing and adds nothing more to the plot than a McGuffin in pumps. What’s interesting in these cases is, in the books, it's Gwen who’s the homebody and Mary Jane who’s the swinging model. Perhaps giving their two characters development in the movies would have padded the thing into Lord Of The Rings territory, but in neither case do you get the sense that Plain Old Peter Parker is lucky that either of them is on his jock. At least his landlord’s daughter makes him cookies.
While seeing all these characters bounce off each other emotionally passes the time decently for a 150-minute movie, it's only during the fight sequences -- the best in the series -- that the movie comes alive. Which is a shame in one sense, given that the first two films balanced heart-tugging and neck-wringing relatively well. But in another, it shouldn’t always be Bogie & Bacall, y'know? Sometimes Spider-Man needs to kick somebody’s ass. And he gets more chances to do so here. It's just a shame the docket was so crammed this time around, because there were at least two more battles we could have gotten out of this series.
So, is this a good movie? Yes, surprisingly enough. Is it "the definitive" Spidey-story? No. But given that this is a series and a character saddled with pretty arbitrary demands -- when was the last time anybody wanted character development from that preening jackass Jack Sparrow? -- it closed about as well as Hollywood and its' own hubristic ambitions would allow. Call it a 7.5 out of ten. And hope for a Venom spin-off.
The online slagging of Spider-Man 3 makes me think the stigma that used to surround sequels has officially been passed on to third installments. I wonder if people would be more forgiving of this film if it had instead been Spider-Man 2.
Indeed, 2 is still the superior movie, but 3 isn't a bad - if somewhat shoe-horned and rushed - wrap-up to the series. And make no mistake, this was filmed to wrap up the series, which is a shame, because Sam Raimi and Co. Had at least two more stories they could have gotten out of this ensemble. Well, most of it.
From the beginning, the film and its' protagonist, Peter Parker, are shot with more confidence and less introspection than its' predecessors. While the first two installments covered Peter dealing with his powers and the stress they placed upon his personal life, when we first see him here, he's comfortable in both his skin and his red-and-blue leotard. In his first battle with friend/enemy Harry Osborn, Peter displays confidence and competence with his abilities.
That confidence is fed, in large part, by his (apparently) newfound status as Public Hero No. 1 with his fellow New Yawkers, including fawning commentaries by TV newscasters and adoring headlines in most of the local papers. This is an interesting theme for the film and this hero, in particular, to tackle; part of his ongoing troubles in the comic world has been his status as a pariah, fueled by J. Jonah Jameson and The Daily Bugle. Like another Everyman hero, Arthur Dent, Spider-Man has always been more differed from as differing. And in their world, most Marvel heroes, aside from the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, have enjoyed lukewarm relationships at best with the general public.
And it's that confidence, and its' ensuing spill into hubris, which makes him easy pickings for the alien Symbiote, as much its' own CGI character as Gollum before it, though much more silent and as we come to find out, a lot harder on the eyes. Where Gollum was a crackhead, the Symbiote is a drug itself, "amplifying" the anger or pride of its' users. In both Peter and his (assumed) evil mirror image, Eddie Brock, it finds two juicy, geeky targets.
The results, however, work much better for Topher Grace's turn as the bitter Brock than Tobey Maguire's take on a darker Parker. And here the script doesn’t do Maguire any favors, as it interprets Peter Gone Wild as an emo kid with Peter Petrelli's hair and Ron Burgundy's jazz hands. After doing Sin City, Elijah Wood had to have been laughing with the rest of us. Grace, meanwhile, steps out of his nice-boy oevure with a spring and a ready sneer, especially after Brock gets Jayson Blair-ed out of a staff photog spot at the Bugle by a vengeful Peter. When he finally becomes Venom, the CGI gives him fangs, but Grace gives the role teeth, which should have been saved for a fourth movie, a one-on-one battle with Spider-Man. Wasting the blow-off to what should have been these two young mens’ personal war is this film’s biggest missed opportunity.
The other was loading this film with two extra villains -- Grace and Thomas Hayden Church’s Sandman -- when the stage had been so perfectly set for the final battle between Spidey and Harry, who we last saw completely crossed over to the Dafoe side. Instead, after taking one too many bumps on the head, Harry goes from righteous avenger to kindly amnesiac, then to sly villain and finally to redeemed friend. Poor James Franco: what started out as a great character arc turned into a bumper-car ride for his character.
The odd man out -- literally -- in all this pathos is Sandman, who we've been ret-conned into believing he was the man who shot and killed Peter’s uncle Ben. Ignoring the fact that Sandman is a Grade-C thug in the comics world, this twist is too cutesy to work for the existing film continuity. Especially considering the guy is further presented as someone pursuing a life of crime only because his daughter is "really sick" (we don’t know what's wrong with the little girl, but hey, she's got crutches, so it must be bad!). Sometimes a thug has to just be a thug, y'know? And compared to Venom and the New Goblin, the man of sand comes off as a wet blanket.
As badly as the boys’ characters go, however, they fare well compared to our leading ladies. Kirsten Dunst, in playing the continually and chronically this series’ whiny-ass take on Mary Jane Watson, may emerge as the lamest fandom female lead this side of Queen Amidala. Peter/Spidey’s rise in the public eye coincides with a bad review and subsequent sacking from her latest show. Either she forgot that she was in Seemingly Modern Millie as recently as the last movie or she forgot that she's an actress, 'cause she sure doesn’t handle things well, choosing to canoodle with Kindly Amnesiac Harry at the first hint of trouble in the relationship.
That hint is named Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), who kisses Spider-Man at a rally in his honor, and goes to school with Peter but otherwise knows nothing and adds nothing more to the plot than a McGuffin in pumps. What’s interesting in these cases is, in the books, it's Gwen who’s the homebody and Mary Jane who’s the swinging model. Perhaps giving their two characters development in the movies would have padded the thing into Lord Of The Rings territory, but in neither case do you get the sense that Plain Old Peter Parker is lucky that either of them is on his jock. At least his landlord’s daughter makes him cookies.
While seeing all these characters bounce off each other emotionally passes the time decently for a 150-minute movie, it's only during the fight sequences -- the best in the series -- that the movie comes alive. Which is a shame in one sense, given that the first two films balanced heart-tugging and neck-wringing relatively well. But in another, it shouldn’t always be Bogie & Bacall, y'know? Sometimes Spider-Man needs to kick somebody’s ass. And he gets more chances to do so here. It's just a shame the docket was so crammed this time around, because there were at least two more battles we could have gotten out of this series.
So, is this a good movie? Yes, surprisingly enough. Is it "the definitive" Spidey-story? No. But given that this is a series and a character saddled with pretty arbitrary demands -- when was the last time anybody wanted character development from that preening jackass Jack Sparrow? -- it closed about as well as Hollywood and its' own hubristic ambitions would allow. Call it a 7.5 out of ten. And hope for a Venom spin-off.