Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Starring cast: Toby Maguire (Peter Parker/Spiderman)
Supporting cast: Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborne/New Goblin), Thomas Haden Church (Flint Marco/Sandman), Topher Grace (Eddie Brock/Venom)
What’s it rated?: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence (I’d add sensual themes and language)
Genre: Action, Super Hero, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Romance
Synopsis: Spiderman’s image is just starting to clear up. People are finally seeing him as a hero and not a freak and Peter Parker is beginning to feel invincible. But soon the evil he has fought for so long is discovered in himself when a black oozing organism from another world attaches itself to his Spiderman suit.
My take: OK, here’s the thing, any time a director makes the main character say “You want forgiveness? get religion” and the bad guy ask God to kill somebody inside a Catholic church, I start asking questions. Am I the only one not OK with this? I know that Catholicism and Christianity are very different, but not everybody recognizes that.
Anyway, on with the rest of this… film. The story is OK, but not incredible. There are a lot of spots where you know what’s going to happen and guess what, it does! Surprise, surprise, surprise! Also, there a lot of “Nuke the fridge” moments. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a term taken from the recent Indiana Jones film when Indy climbs inside a lead-lined fridge to be protected from a nuclear test nearby. It’s a moment that is sooooooo unrealistic that it throws you out of the film entirely. Anytime that something happens in movie is incredibly ridiculous it’s now called a “Nuke the fridge” moment. So anyway, I can’t give away any spoilers here but be advised, Spiderman 3 houses a lot of these moments that get a little annoying.
Really the only thing Spiderman 3 has going for it is the humor and action, and the action isn’t that great either. Bad guy throws some punches, Spiderman falls down. Spiderman gets up, throws some punches, bad guy falls down. Bad guy gets up… etc., etc., etc. Toss in some acrobatics, spider webs, and exploding cars and hey, you’ve got a Spiderman action sequence!
The humor is great though, with the editor of the Bugle, JJ Jamison providing a lot of much needed comic relief with his grouchy attitude and quick temper.
One more thing though, the CG. The graphics were actually rather disappointing for a film released in ‘07. I mean, it’s not like Spiderman movies are known for great costumes or good CG, but they did a better job on Doc Oc’s mechanical arms in Spidey 2 than they did with Venom’s mouth in Spidey 3.
in conclusion, it’s an OK one-time see, I might watch the action sequences again just for the acrobatics, they’re cool… so are the exploding cars come to think of it :-)
Story: 5 out of 10
Humor: 7 out of 10
Action/Suspense: 7 out of 10
Overall: 6 out of 10
2 comments:
Wow, hey, easy on the Spidie.
I didn't think the movie was THAT bad. Not quite up to par with the second one, but definitely a good film all around.
Personally, I have only two big complaints. One, that they made us sympathize with the Sandman too much, and two, that they tried to cram WAY too much into the story. They could have easily put, say, the Sandman and the New Goblin in one film and then made like a Pirates of the Caribbean-esque ending and had it lead into an entire film with Venom as the bad guy.
Why Sam Rami dosen't hire me as his story consultant I'll never know...
yeah, it was a bit packed, but I think they were trying to escape from the "that's-such-a-boring-plot-it's-way-too-predictable" kind of story that plagues so many films these days.
As for the Sandman, I do concur. They make you feel like you're an insensitive jerk if you don't sympathize with him, but like I said, I agree with you completely.
Except on the "good film all around" part. It was cool, but not something I'd throw on my favorite movie's list.
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