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Spider-Man 3: An entertaining disappointment
Hey there, there goes Spider-Man’s streak of great movies.
Don’t misunderstand me - Spider-Man 3 is a a good film. However, It is not a great film, coming up well short of its significantly superior predecessors.
Like the old theme song also said, “Wherever there’s a hang-up, you’ll find a Spider-Man.” Unfortunately, Spider-Man 3 gives our hero too many hang-ups. The film is overstuffed. By trying too hard to do too much, the movie ends up not doing enough.
Things do start off well for our hero. Most of the city loves him, he’s about to ask the girl of his dreams to marry him, and he’s a candidate for a full-time photographer at the Daily Bugle. This being Spider-Man, however, life doesn’t stay hunky-dory for too long.
He has to contend with not one, not two, not three, but four villains: the shape-shifting Sandman (Thomas Haden Church); a new Goblin, created by Peter’s former best friend Harry (James Franco), who swears revenge for his father; a creepy sort-of Spider-Man double called Venom (Topher Grace), and finally, himself, when his new black costume turns out to be an alien life form that brings out the worst in Peter Parker.
Having made the best live action superhero movie of all time with Spider-Man 2, director Sam Raimi makes the mistake of trying to top himself, rather than letting the story develop naturally.The characters sometimes behave not in ways that make sense, but in ways that seem arbitrary. I kept asking myself, “Why is so-and-so doing such-and-such,” which kept taking me out of the film.
The best movies never feel like they’re trying for effect, they simply get the job done. In Spider-Man 3, Raimi can’t stay out of his own way, constantly straining for a “Watch this” moment, making the picture feel forced.
There is plenty of material that works. The complicated love triangle between Peter, Harry and Mary Jane is still compelling, with Franco, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst turning in their usual solid performances. Maguire in particular has a lot of fun showing off Peter’s seamy side when the black Spidey suit brings out his Mr. Hyde.
Unfortunately, most of the good scenes in Spider-Man 3 are extensions of what the previous films had already set up. Of the brand new material, only Venom and the black Spidey suit are full-on successes. Other new additions are not explored enough or are pale retreads.
The fetching Bryce Dallas Howard plays a fun new love interest for Peter, Gwen Stacy, but she’s woefully underused. By contrast, the Sandman gets too much screen time. Raimi and his cowriters, brother Ted Raimi and Alvin Sargent, want the Sandman to be another Spidey villain that doesn’t set out to be evil but is tortured by his own demons.
However, the writers make the major mistake of having him be the real killer of Peter’s beloved Uncle Ben, which was not the case in the comics. Church does his best with the part, but the character simply can’t compare to the more thoughtfully written Doctor Octopus.
As it is, the Sandman bogs down the already overplotted story. Three (or four) villains are simply too many. I would have dropped the Sandman completely. The evil suit and the love triangle would have sufficed.
I probably sound more critical of Spider-Man 3 than I actually am, but I can’t help but feel disappointed at how the series has lowered the bar, having set it so high previously. Even the effects occasionally slip. Some are outstanding, especially the Venom scenes, while others are all too obviously computer generated, diluting some otherwise great action scenes.
Of course, I have no illusions that anything I write here is going to keep anyone from seeing this movie, but that’s not my aim anyway. I only mean to call Spider-Man 3 as I see it. Do I recommend the movie? Absolutely. Is it as good as it should be? Absolutely not. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
GRADE: B
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Reviews
Comments
By R. Jones
May 11, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
Your review hits the mark…this movie left me cold…action and special effects were excellent but the character moments just didn’t work for me, probably because of poor writing and stale actors.By Allie D.
May 4, 2007 11:04 AM | Link to this
It appears that my instincts that this movie was not going to be all it as cracked up to be are proving to have some substance. I didn’t think it possible to top Spiderman 2. Sure, I’ll still see the movie, but I don’t think I’ll be in a huge hurry.