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"Spidey is Too
Concerned About Looks
This Time Around..." |
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Directed by Sam Raimi -
Written by Alvin Sargent
Starring Tobey Maguire,
Kirsten Dunst, James
Franco, Rosemary Harris
J.K. Simmons, Thomas
Haden Church, Topher
Grace, Bryce Dallas
Howard
Ted Raimi, Theresa
Russell, James Cromwell,
Elizabeth Banks, Steve
Valentine
Distributed by Columbia
Pictures -
2007 - 140m - Rated PG13 |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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C+ |
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Jack Sparrow would be so proud. |
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With "Spider-Man 3,"
writer/director Sam Raimi has tossed away the charm, intelligence
and sensitivity that made "Spider-Man 2" the rare sequel to actually
be superior to its original. Instead, Raimi seems intent on
following "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" helmer Gore Verbinski in
choosing style over substance and special effects over storyline.
Fans who favored the first "Spider-Man," are likely to find
themselves happy again as "Spider-Man 3" offers up three times the
villains, $258 million worth of special effects, twice the women for
Peter Parker to swoon over and, yes, the already revealed Spidey
journey to the dark side.
"Spider-Man 3" picks up, to a certain degree, where "Spider-Man 2"
left off. Spidey (Tobey Maguire) is accepting his responsibilities
as a superhero, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) has discovered Spidey's
identity and Spidey's long time friend Harry (James Franco) is still
ticked off about the whole killing of his father thing.
It's difficult to review a film like "Spider-Man 3." As a fan of
"Spider-Man 2," I quickly realized that there was virtually no way a
film such as this one could ever hope to garner a 4-star or "A"
range rating. At its absolute best, "Spider-Man 3" is simply a
marvelous, escapist popcorn flick.
There's nothing wrong with being a popcorn flick and, while
"Spider-Man 3" falls short of the wonderfully balanced, entertaining
and eye-popping "Spider-Man 2," it still is an entertaining,
exhilarating and visually arresting film.
The simple problem is that "Spider-Man 2" was so much more.
"Spider-Man 3" feels, despite its $258 million in special effects,
incredibly devoid of the soul and heart that we've come to expect
from Spidey films.
Don't get me wrong. There are emotions in "Spider-Man 3." Lots of
them, in fact.
Kirsten Dunst? Boy, can she cry.
Bryce Dallas Howard, showing up here as new love interest Gwen
Stacey? Yep, she cries too.
Heck, even Peter Parker seems to cry a lot. Of course, that really
doesn't surprise any of us as much, now does it?
Yet, through all these alligator tears it seems something is
missing. Whereas the first two films, especially the latter, allowed
the audience to build a connection to Peter Parker and Spidey,
"Spider-Man 3" seems content to razzle and dazzle the audience with
special effects and visual imagery.
In "Spider-Man 3," even the villains seem a little less villainish.
Spidey takes on Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), who becomes
Sandman, along with Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) who later becomes
Venom and, of course, Harry Osborn, who will become the NEW (not
necessarily improved) Green Goblin. Haden Church, in particular,
offers a multi-layered, complex take on Flint/Sandman that is both
sympathetic and yet never takes the attention away from Spidey.
The special effects for "Spider-Man 3" are frequently awesome, a
reassuring fact given the somewhat cartoonish feel of the film's
trailers and, simultaneously, the opening scenes that, while
exciting and fast-paced, somehow seem less captivating than those in
the previous film. Other times, however, the visuals are nothing
short of spectacular...though, I will confess that more than once I
found myself thinking "Where did the $258 million really go?"
Raimi's script, which he co-penned with his brother Ivan and
"Spider-Man 2" collaborator Alvin Sargent, tries too hard, involves
too many storylines and, yes, leaves it just a bit too obvious that
a fourth Spidey film may very well be in the works.
Performances? Not that "Spider-Man 3" is even remotely about acting,
but Maguire and the rest of the core cast continues doing here what
they've done in the other two Spidey films...with, of course, the
exception of the seemingly endless amount of tears flowing
throughout "Spider-Man 3." Grace, too, despite being new to the
"Spider-Man" series, doesn't have to stretch himself much for this
role. Likewise, Howard isn't really called upon to do much...sure to
be a disappointment for those who've so loved Howard's recent work
in the likes of "Lady in the Water" snd "The Village."
Much like Gore Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel,
"Spider-Man 3" runs about 20-30 minutes too long and, at times,
falls victim to its visual and action excesses. Also like
Verbinski's film, "Spider-Man 3" is about as close as 2007 is going
to get to a critic proof film.
The simple fact is you don't really care what I say, though I'm sure
my only slight recommendation is likely to attract at least one or
two nasty letters or e-mails. Spidey's fanboys or simply long
adoring fans will likely find nothing here to change their minds,
however, it's equally unlikely that "Spider-Man 3" offers anything
to attract new fans to the series.
Action galore, Peter Parker and Mary Jane and even more villains all
add up to one thing...despite falling short of its predecessor,
"Spider-Man 3" likely still has what it takes to be 2007's
box-office champ. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
TC Candler's Comment
20 Things I Learned From
Spider-Man 3...
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Spider-Man is a pussy.
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Mary Jane
will dump you for no good reason.
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All
villains are really good at heart.
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Guys with
hair covering their foreheads are evil.
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Bryce
Dallas Howard is even more gorgeous than I
thought.
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Kirsten
Dunst is a boy.
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Tobey
Maguire is a better poker player than an
actor.
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He's not
funny either.
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Sam Raimi
misfires when blending humor with drama.
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Crowds
will happily stand underneath a precarious
disaster.
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Special
effects are not improving as fast as I would
have imagined.
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Repeatedly using the same image of Spidey
swinging in NYC traffic is dull.
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Kids say
stupid things like "Awesome" & "Wicked Cool"
in reference to Spider-Man.
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When
Capt. Stacy sees Gwen about to die, he is
more concerned with who she's dating.
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This
movie is more boring than C-Span.
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It is not
Hollywood that lacks imagination and
originality, but the public who don't demand
it.
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Topher
Grace only plays that one character from
That 70's Show.
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Thomas
Haden Church can make something out of
nothing.
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Overt
cameos are irritating.
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Superhero
movies remain, by definition, infantile.
Jacob Hall's
Comment
“Spider-Man 3” has been receiving some truly
nasty thrashings all over the internet and I
consider it my civic duty as a movie fan to tell
you that it’s not that bad. Seriously.
Is it as good as “Spider-Man 2”? No. Is it as
good as the first one? Yeah. I’d say so.
The familiar elements work: Tobey Maguire is
still the ideal Spidey. Kirsten Dunst is stilly
pretty adequate. James Franco actually does his
best “Spiderman” work yet here. Of course,
Rosemary Harris does her Aunt May thing and the
massively talented JK Simmons nearly steals the
movie…again.
Once again, the effects are astounding, the
action is exciting and so forth and so forth.
It’s a “Spider-Man Movie.” It cost a reported
half-billion dollars. Of course it looks nice. I
really don’t think anyone could complain too
much about the technical craft here.
The two major complaints I’ve been hearing kinda’
baffle me, to be completely honest. The first
being that “theres nt enough action! lolz.”
Well, look at the first two. There’s easily 2/3
of talk and 1/3 of colorful characters punching
each other in those. The second complaint being
that “the part where spidey dances is sooo
stooopid.” Did anyone watch the first two? I
love them, but they’re filled to the brim with
camp. When you hire Sam Raimi, you also get Sam
Raimi’s quirks, especially his penchant for
goofy humor and melodrama. If you called this on
the first two, fine, but for those who loved the
first two to suddenly say this is a
detractor…then you need to revisit those
completely dead-serious previous entries in the
series.
If you hated the first two, this one certainly
isn’t going to change your mind. However, if you
liked the first two and are man (or woman)
enough to admit that 1 and 2 were goofy as all
get-out in addition to being good, then you will
find a lot to savor here. A lot of it is more of
the same, but we also get Thomas Hayden Church
as one of the best comic book villains yet,
Topher Grace as the most overrated comic book
villains ever, Bryce Dallas Howard in one of the
most underused roles you’ll find this summer and
James Cromwell doing a whole lot of nothing.
We also get some pretty darn cool action, some
light, usually effective, often awkward
(exposition butler, anyone?) drama, the perfect
dosage of comedy (most coming from JK Simmons)
and cameos from Ted Raimi (funny) and Bruce
Campbell (funnier).
And yes, Spider-Man does dance. Twice. And he
plays piano. And he wears his hair over his face
and looks like a member of My Chemical Romance.
And all of this is because his costume has been
taken over by an alien symbiote that turns him
into a complete and total badass (at least I
thought so).
If you can buy that, then why are you knocking
it?
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