Spider-Man: A Mediocre Ending to A Monumental Series
After finally seeing Spider-Man 3 tonight, I understood the mixed reviews I had been hearing from people. Parts of it were amazing, like the ending fight scene between Sandman and Venom and Spider-Man and the New Green Goblin, but overall the film lacked the focus and punch of the first two.
First, the plot. There were several concurrent story lines: the origins of Sandman and the Venom, Peter's relationship with Mary Jane, and the return of the Green Goblin. Any of these alone could have fueled the movie, and two at most were needed. The details of each plot line, while interesting and not overly complicated, detracted attention from the theme of the movie: revenge and forgiveness. In order to emphasize this theme, the movie resorted to cheesy dialogue between the characters that was unbelievable and overly formal.
That is not to say that the characters themselves were lackluster. I enjoyed Peter's character development throughout the film. The emo hair flip was interestingly juxtaposed with the cocky hip-thrusts in Parker's darker persona. Mary Jane took a new, independent turn, experiencing her own troubles and dilemmas in addition to the ones caused by Peter. Other characters, however, were less satisfactorily developed. Aunt Mae was pigeon-holed as the moralist of the story, and Harry (Goblin) and Frank's (Sandman) switches from trying to destroy Spider-Man to being a friend and ally and an understanding fellow-sufferer, respectively, were a little unbelievable.
Where this movie really shone was in the special effects. Of course, we've all seen digital animation before, but there's still something cool about the way the sand forms itself into a human, and how the venom creepily takes over Peter's body. While it wasn't high quality cinema, and by no means lived up to the standards of the first two, this movie won't disappoint fans looking for some exciting action and intense fight scenes. Overall, it was a movie I enjoyed, and wouldn't mind seeing again.
p.s.
The song "They Say It's Wonderful" from Annie Get Your Gun featured prominently in the movie. That made me laugh.
p.p.s.
I saw a preview for another summer threequel: Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker go to Paris in Rush Hour 3
First, the plot. There were several concurrent story lines: the origins of Sandman and the Venom, Peter's relationship with Mary Jane, and the return of the Green Goblin. Any of these alone could have fueled the movie, and two at most were needed. The details of each plot line, while interesting and not overly complicated, detracted attention from the theme of the movie: revenge and forgiveness. In order to emphasize this theme, the movie resorted to cheesy dialogue between the characters that was unbelievable and overly formal.
That is not to say that the characters themselves were lackluster. I enjoyed Peter's character development throughout the film. The emo hair flip was interestingly juxtaposed with the cocky hip-thrusts in Parker's darker persona. Mary Jane took a new, independent turn, experiencing her own troubles and dilemmas in addition to the ones caused by Peter. Other characters, however, were less satisfactorily developed. Aunt Mae was pigeon-holed as the moralist of the story, and Harry (Goblin) and Frank's (Sandman) switches from trying to destroy Spider-Man to being a friend and ally and an understanding fellow-sufferer, respectively, were a little unbelievable.
Where this movie really shone was in the special effects. Of course, we've all seen digital animation before, but there's still something cool about the way the sand forms itself into a human, and how the venom creepily takes over Peter's body. While it wasn't high quality cinema, and by no means lived up to the standards of the first two, this movie won't disappoint fans looking for some exciting action and intense fight scenes. Overall, it was a movie I enjoyed, and wouldn't mind seeing again.
p.s.
The song "They Say It's Wonderful" from Annie Get Your Gun featured prominently in the movie. That made me laugh.
p.p.s.
I saw a preview for another summer threequel: Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker go to Paris in Rush Hour 3