Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Exactly What Spiderman Should Be

I'll open by saying I love this movie.

I'll continue by adding that I don't understand why some complain about "too many villains" when that alone captures the very essence of your friendly neighborhood spider-man - he's just a busy guy!

All the aspects of the story were powerful and compelling, and I didn't lose interest for one single moment. I loved every minute of "Spider-man 3" and I'm glad that the finished production turned out the way it did.

The Blu-ray presentation of "Spider-man 3" is fantastic, both visually and acoustically.

It's easily a favorite! November 27, 2008

busy, but fun

At the beginning of the movie, Spidey/Peter has it made. School's going well; the city loves Spider-Man; Mary Jane has a part on Broadway; and Peter's planning on asking Mary Jane to marry him. But you know that can't last.

And it doesn't.

Mary Jane's show closes after one performance. Peter's former friend Harry Osborne is out for revenge, as the New Goblin, influenced by his father's spirit. The Bugle has a new photographer who's out for Peter's job, and who has a great success plan: prove Spider-Man is a bad guy. An alien symbiote bonds Peter to his suit, turning it black, amplifying his powers, and changing his personality. One of Peter's classmates, Gwen, is getting his attention and driving a wedge between him and Mary Jane. And as if that's not enough, Uncle Ben's real killer, who's only stealing money for his little girl, gets changed into the Sandman, a creature made of (what else?) sand. Oh, yes. Peter gets away from the symbiote, but it attaches to the ambitious photographer, who enjoys the power and becomes Venom.

Did I leave anything out?

That's really the whole/only problem I had with Spider-Man 3--it was just way too busy. Even at almost 2.5 hours, it still felt too rushed. Plenty of people have written opinions of which parts should have been cut or left out, but I'm not that picky--just get rid of one of the villains and one of the personal-life problems, and I'd be a happy camper.

Other than that, it was a fun movie, and pretty much what I expected. Lots of web-swinging and action, plenty of emotional depth and consequences, and really cool special effects. The Sandman in particular had impressive effects--in fact, if it weren't for those effects and the difficulty Spidey had in fighting a creature who can re-form itself, I'd have said the movie could have done without that story line.

One thing I do want to mention, because I saw a few reviews criticizing this: when Spidey is influenced by the symbiote, he becomes all arrogant, reminding me of Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor. But what I just loved (and this is apparently not a majority opinion) is that, unlike Buddy Love, Peter Parker's alter-ego is not irresistible to women. He's still just as inept and clumsy, and the arrogance does not endear him to people. I thought it was a nice bit of characterization, actually--the symbiote merely amplifying traits (like the suit's power) rather than actually changing those traits. November 19, 2008

Effective and exciting, but not quite up to SPIDEY 2. . .

Hopes were very high for the third installment of the tremendously successful SPIDER-MAN franchise. Almost all of the team which created the first two films were back, and the promise of Venom (a fan favorite) made it a guaranteed opening weekend smash.

As to the film itself--

SPIDER-MAN 3 succeeds on most levels. Scripting is tight, considering the myriad plot threads introduced, ported over from previous films, and newly introduced. Sam Raimi helms the unwieldy ship like an old pro, and the actors bring their camaraderie back to help it along. The main thing that nagged at me (and, after seeing it several times, continues to nag) is that the poetry of Alvin Sargent's SPIDEY 2 screenplay is all but gone. In its place are exchanges that, while serviceable and advance the plot, don't really touch the heart except in a couple of places. Now, let's be fair: SPIDEY 2 was pretty much a perfect movie, and that is impossible to duplicate. To me, the screenplay was too much Sam and Ivan Raimi, and not enough Alvin Sargent. Of course, Sargent may have touched all the bases he wished to with the previous film, and had nothing really new to interject. Sam and Ivan's story is sturdy and moves just fine, rarely taking a breath. Maybe that's the problem.

Now, that may sound like I didn't like the film: on the contrary, I did. Just not in the same way that I loved SPIDEY 2. Things I like: 1) using the sound effect from the 1978 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS for the breathing of the Venom parasite. Nice touch. 2) More Curt Connors in this film--the Lizard in SPIDEY 4? 3) Harry gets a chance to be the old Harry again for awhile until his memory floods back, and, later, his character arc gives him a chance at redemption. 4) Bruce Campbell (with a staggeringly bad French accent) and Smilin' Stan Lee both have cameos again. 5) Christopher Young does a great job of adapting the Danny Elfman themes, and adds some nice new ones of his own. Excellent orchestration. 6) A couple of great fights between Peter and Harry, with minimal costuming. This allows for the fighting to be not just people bangin' at each other, but the kind of fighting old friends who have known each other for years do. It's emotional, and feels very real. 7) Introducing Gwen Stacy. 8) Peter, under the Venom influence, stepping out down a Manhattan street a la John Travolta in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. He thinks he is sooooooo cool now, but, even with a new suit, the looks he gets from passersby confirm that he's still the nerd. 9) The fantastic CGI work on Sandman.

And that leads me to the best part of SPIDEY 3: Sandman. Thomas Haden Church (SIDEWAYS, IDEOCRACY, and who can forget his voice work in CHARLOTTE'S WEB and OVER THE HEDGE?) brings intensity and deep sadness to Flint Marko, often without words. The man has never had a break in his life, and the only things he has left are his adored daughter and his estranged wife. Marko is not a villain, but has done very bad things. I hope that Sandman comes back, perhaps this time as an ally.

And, of course, if you do want to add SPIDEY 3 to your DVD library, make sure to get the Two-Disc Special Widescreen Edition. On DVD One you'll get the Widescreen (2:40 to 1) movie and two commentary tracks (the first with Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard and Topher Grace, the second with producers Avi Arad, Grant Curtis and Laura Ziskin, editor Bob Murawski and visual effects head Scott Stokdyk--John Dykstra didn't do SPIDEY 3). Also on Disc One you'll get bloopers, a music video and photo galleries. On DVD Two we have trailers, TV spots, a fistful of short documentaries and featurettes and so on.

One thing: yes, it IS Kirsten Dunst singing.

So, overall, SPIDER-MAN 3 is not as excellent as 2, but nothing could be. It's on a par with 1, in my opinion, and still well worth owning. Besides, you can find it easily at a reasonable price right here on Amazon. Now what could be better than that?
November 15, 2008

WE ARE VENOM?

toby kristen and topher + not to well. in the punisher reboot with tom jane there was a giant russian who would have been perfect to play VENOM not that 70s show. who the hell are these people trying to kid? this movie is worese than daredevil and elekrta and batman and robin/forever COMBINED!!!! things in this film you will hate : 1. peter wighs out and becomes a ladys man. not. the frek even dances like in one of those bollywood movies lame super lame. is so bad this is where my review ends venom is in teh film for 13 min. lame lame lame stay away u have been warned. lame November 14, 2008

Great Film

This movie gets a lot of hate, which it does NOT deserve. Sure it did not live up to the hype, but nothing could ever match the expectations set for this film.

However, it was still very entertaining, it had great special effects, great story, great acting and fits perfectly with the first two.
Everytime I'm sick and stay home from work, I watch all three back to back and love every minute of each film.
There are many comic book films out there that trully deserve a lot of hate, Catwoman for example, but Spidey 3 is not one of them! The people bashing it are simple and narrow minded or like to complain about everything. It is important to keep in mind that Spider-man's main audience is made up of kids under 13, so making the film dark (like the new batman movies) would be stupid. Sure there are many real problems that each character has to face, and some themes are trully grusome, like the murder of Uncle Ben, but at the end, the movie leaves you with a better attitude and improves your day and may be even your entire personality.
November 11, 2008

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