| Spider-Man 3 (2007) | |
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Rating: 6.3/10 (636,696 votes) Director: Sam Raimi Writer: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sargent Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace Runtime: 139 min Rated: PG-13 Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Released: 04 May 2007 |
| Plot: A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge. | |
Following in the footsteps of Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 was never going to be easy. The first film set up the basic nature of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), who finds himself blessed and cursed with powers of a spider after. The death of his Uncle Ben sets him on the path of righteousness, following the teachings that, “With great power comes great responsibility.” His villain in that film was the Green Goblin, aka Norman Osbourne (Willem Dafoe), the father of Peter’s best friend, Harry (James Franco). A manic battle ended with Osbourne being killed by his own glider. However Harry misunderstands and believes that Spider-Man was the killer. The film had flaws (the CGI was a bit too experimental at times), but the heart and spirit of the comic was present. The second film built on the story, with Peter and Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) coming together, whilst Harry finds his father’s lair. The new villain of choice was Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), a well fleshed out character who, after an accident in the lab, becomes bonded to his metallic arms. Harry finds out that Peter is Spider-Man, as does Mary Jane.
So, enter film number 3, and the story moves on again. Peter has become obsessed with his fame as Spider-Man, reveling in the attention it brings him. Meanwhile MJ is discovering the negative side of fame with critics of her stage talents dragging her down. Harry has taken over his father’s work totally, and is ready to strike as a new Goblin. In addition a new photographer, Eddie Brock, is determined to beat Peter to a job. Spider-Man saves Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), the daughter of Captain Stacy (James Cromwell) from an accident and gets more attention and publicity. Whilst all this is going on a small-time crook named Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) escapes prison and (thanks to an experiment gone wrong) becomes Sandman, a man whose body is like sand, and in addition he can manipulate sand itself. News that Marko was the real killer of Peter’s Uncle sets Peter off on a revenge streak. Oh, and a meteorite plops to earth and attaches itself to Spidey, hence black suit – but it slowly changes him and makes him moodier, and darker in nature too.
Phew! So much going on, how can director Sam Raimi hold it all together? The answer is badly! The film is the weakest of the series, and shows the strain of too much happening in the 2 hours and 20 minutes of running time. The stories are patched together badly, leaving a very episodic feel to the proceedings. All of the events that take place have their specific chunk of film to play in, and never feel like they are occurring together. The symbiote from the meteorite seems to do nothing for most of the film, despite being in Peter’s apartment for a while. No sense that any of the events correlate is felt, and it all feels a bit messy. Some chunks of the film, such as the first fight with the Goblin, could have been taken out completely without damaging the rest of the film. The time saved could have then been put to good use to develop Sandman, or even Gwen Stacy, or Brock. Stacy herself could have been taken out the film completely and you wouldn’t notice. Now, consider this for a moment. Gwen Stacy, Peter’s first true love, who died in his arms in the comic, who MJ was simply a replacement for – reduced to a minor character with nothing more than a walk-on part! The lack of screen time she offers means that the jealousy that MJ shows towards her is ridiculous!
Raimi stated in early interviews on the first film that there were so many villains he liked personally. However, when asked about the fan-boy favorite Venom, he stated his reluctance to use the character as he wasn’t a fan and didn’t really feel that he was a strong enough role. Seeing how poorly Eddie Brock is portrayed in the film, and how dubious the CGI on Venom himself actually is, you can see that Raimi wasn’t all that happy with having to give the ‘fans’ what they wanted. Sadly the time wasted on Venom takes away from the much stronger, and deeper, Sandman. Not that Sandman is a total loss. Some of the heart of the character is intact, but it is all too fleeting toward the end of the film. As for the new Goblin, well it almost works but plays out in a poor, and unnecessary, direction toward the early half of the film.
Fans of the comic books will be the most disappointed here, as they will know what potential each of these tales had, and given a film each to play out in, well they could have been three amazing films! All three in one means that, sadly, it is too much and not enough at the same time. The general public, who don’t read the comics will get the most out of this as it is a popcorn movie throughout. The CGI is even better than before (aside from Venom), and the action sequences are truly amazing throughout! The realization of Sandman works so well, much better than the dubious Venom rendition. Aside from a few cornier elements, particularly during Peter’s dark phase (which includes a dance routine in a jazz club – and when did he learn the piano?), this is simple entertainment, and should please the masses.
Kind of ironic that the film in which Raimi gives the fans what they want is also the film that the fans will be most upset with. Even the obligatory Stan Lee cameo, or Bruce Campbell screen hogging does nothing to distract from the fact that this is a seriously missed opportunity. Batman & Robin it ain’t, but it certainly isn’t what we expect from Raimi
