Spider-Man 3 Release Date: May 7, 2007 Studio: Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment Screenplay by: Alvin Sargent, Ivan Raimi and Sam Raimi Directed by: Sam Raimi Music by: Christopher Young, Danny Elfman Starring: Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man,
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, James Franco as Harry Osborn/New Goblin, Topher Grace as Eddie Brock. Jr/Venom, Thomas Hayden Church as The Sandman/Flint Marko, Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacey, James Cromwell as Captain Stacry, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson,
Rosemary Harris as Aunt May, Cliff Robertson as Uncle Ben,
Bill Nunn as Robbie Robertson
Description: In Spider-Man 2, the latest installment in the blockbuster Spider-Man series, based on the classic Marvel Comics hero, Tobey Maguire returns as the mild-mannered Peter Parker, who is juggling the delicate balance of his dual life as college student and a superhuman crime fighter. Peter's life becomes even more complicated when he confronts a new nemesis, the brilliant Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) who has been reincarnated as the maniacal and multi-tentacled "Doc Ock." When Doc Ock kidnaps MJ (Kirsten Dunst), Spider-Man must swing back into action as the adventure reaches new heights of unprecedented excitement.
Spider-Man 3 Review and Media Stu and Jim Harvey
After a cruel three year wait, Spider-Man returned to the big screen in May 2007 in a movie which could claim to the most Marvellous of all the Marvel movies to date – three villains, a series of complex love triangles and the lead character fighting his own dark side. Being a massive fan of the two previous Spider-Man movies, to say I was looking forward to this one would be a massive understatement.
With the majority of the cast and crew returning, I wasn't too worried about the quality of this one, even if the villains were casting a small shadow of doubt for me. Sandman has always just been a thug, Harry as The Green Goblin has always been a little messy (though it was all worth it for The Spectacular Spider-Man #200) and Venom has proven to a nut most difficult to crack. Very few writers have ever provided us with an interesting take on Venom, especially after the character blew up in popularity, and both his visuals and back-story could prove too troublesome to translate to a movie. I can now admit most my worries were needless ... but not all.
It’s good to see them sticking to the key ingredient that makes these films so great – this is still Peter Parker's movie. Just because he's fighting more foes this time around doesn't mean he's pushed aside – he is still in the centre spotlight here and he remains the most interesting character in the movie. In a drastic change from the continuing torture he was forced to endure in Spider-Man 2, things are going well for Spidey. He's got his girl, he's top of his class and the city finally appreciates his efforts as Spider-Man and worships the walls he crawls on. Everything is going swimmingly and it's starting to get to his head ... even before the symbiote drives it out of control.
If you're reading this, you're probably aware I was a massive fan of "The Alien Costume" saga from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which created the idea that the symbiote effected his emotions and specifically, amplifies his aggression . This was the one thing I was really looking forward to seeing on the big screen. I was surprised that they played more on Peter with the symbiote than Spider-Man, but it works. I think the best scene in the movie comes after he beats up Harry and lets his ego gets the better of him. I especially loved the "I'm gonna put some dirt in your eye" line when he realises Eddie Brock has framed Spider-Man with forged photos. Then the James Brown song as he strutted his stuff in New York? I absolutely loved it. I know it's a little cheesy and that a lot of people hated it but I don't care. This is how Peter should be – he might think he's cool now that he's shown everyone who's boss, but he's still just a geek who doesn’t have the slightest clue how to be cool. And of course, Maguire is brilliant throughout, as always.
But enough about Peter for now – the main criticism of the film are the villains, and rightfully so. To start on the bright spot, Harry Osborn proves to be much more entertaining than ever before as The New Goblin – he's not just a cheap knock off of his father, but this has all been building since Spider-Man. Speaking of his new costume, I liked it. This too got some bashing online (what doesn't these days?) but it's a lot more practical and looks far less ridiculous than the original Green Goblin costume worn by Willem Dafoe. The amnesia plot is a little ... dumb, but it works in the context of the film. I usually have very little time for Harry, but the movies did a good job with him.
Moving onto Flinto Marko, aka The Sandman – not so good. The CG is incredible, but it's not the effects that hindered the character. The Sandman just isn't developed enough. They tried, certainly, but his actions don't really match what he is doing. He's robbing banks in order to fund his sick daughter's medical treatments for her unspecified illness, but he spends most of the film as a pure supervillain. We learn that he never meant to kill Uncle Ben and it was an accident done in the heat of the moment, but if that's true, why does he seem completely unopposed to killing Spider-Man when Venom offers him the opportunity to team up and defeat him? I thought the whole thing could've been done slightly better, I didn't really feel any sympathy for him like I did Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2. I actually liked the video game storyline idea better, where Sandman only agrees to help kill Spider-Man because Venom has taken his daughter hostage, which would've worked a lot better in the context of the story rather than just the somewhat clichéd team up.
And at last we get to the film's last major foe - Eddie Brock, aka Venom. I remember thinking there's no way that Topher Grace could be Venom – the kid from That 70’s Show? He does pull it off – in fact, he's great as Eddie Brock, the jerk that Peter Parker never was. He doesn't have too much screentime, but he does a good job with what he is given. Venom looks great here, though – they even got his troublesome jaw on the big screen. Still, cool visuals can't help how absolutely one-note Brock becomes when he joins with the symbiote. You can see parts of a his story here and there, but they never really come together or form a coherent character. Once Brock becomes Venom, he immediatly stops being this interesting, creepy, sort-of Bizarro Peter Parker.
But Spider-Man films aren't just him laying the smack down on the best villains in comics are they? Nope, Mary Jane is back and, like Peter, she starts the film on top of her respective world. Her Broadway career has taken off and she has the man of her dreams, but things quickly fall apart and she finds herself struggling and becoming jealous of Peter. Reality hits Mary Jane hard and it's interesting to see how it has a ripple effect that ultimately ends up with her in mortal danger and Spider-Man needing to rescue her. I did like the various romance triangles going on though – Peter, MJ and Gwen, Peter, MJ and Harry, Peter, Gwen and Brock – there's still a lot going on with Peter's romantic life.
However, as you can tell, there's just too much crammed in Spider-Man 3, but none of it can really be cut. If anything, this movie may have needed to be two parts in order to rightfully give everyone the screentime they need. They couldn't not use Harry here after building him up wonderfully for two films. The symbiote was required to freshen things up slightly and allow Peter to show his dark side, and you couldn,t really tease us with the symbiote and not show Venom, could you? It would've been great to have the story spread across two films.They could've gotten rid of Sandman and his assorted subplots, but then what would Peter do with his new found black suit? Show us where he learned those funky dance moves?
The question this film raises is actually the film's tagline – "How long can one man face the darkness before he finds it in himself?" We see Peter go through troubled times before he bonds with the symbiote – his anger at Captain Stacy (oh, he and Gwen Stacy are in the movie and desperately need more screen time) when he learns that Marko is the man who killed his Uncle Ben, and later when he ignores Mary Jane as she offers her help in him dealing with the revelation. I especially liked the scene in which his frustration starts getting to him as he listens to see where Marko is on the police scanner. And we see the other characters go through similar beats. Sandman is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he murdered an innocent man. Harry has obviously given in to his dark side, deciding to take the performance enhancing formula that turned Norman into the Green Goblin, and Brock? He really doesn't care – he gladly acted like a jerk before the symbiote attached itself to him and then freely admits he likes being bad. Of course, none of their story arcs are quite as good as Peter's but it's a nice little touch and sells the film's theme. As said above, there's a little too much crammed in here, but overall, this is a film I greatly enjoyed.
Also enjoyable are the excellent special effects. The CG in Spider-Man 3 is very good – once again they’ve nailed the web slinging scenes. There's the odd dodgy shot (the scene where Peter leaves his apartment to save Gwen from an out of control crane looks laughably cartoon-ish) but there's some incredible stuff here too – the one that sticks out in my mind (beyond Venom, of course) is the scene in which Peter stares in amazement at his own reflection when he first discovers the black suit (which is also a cool nod to Spider-Man: The Animated Series). Clearly lots of money was poured into the movie, and so many scenes look amazing, but the odd weak shot is a reminder of how much of a crunch it was to get this film together. And speaking of disappointing, Danny Elfman not returning to score is upsetting. Christopher Young steps in and does good work, but his work is often too loud and distracting. The best parts of the score include Elfman's themes from the previous movies, which helps keep continuity.
Overall, despite its issues, Spider-Man 3 is a fun film, even if it doesn't live up to the previous ones. It still moves out characters forward, despite a few odd choices, and the action is really well done. It doesn't go too far in mocking the character the previous two films have built up, but it doesn’t take itself so seriously. As arguably the best series among all those superhero franchises out there we’ve been treated to recently, it’s good to see that Spidey still swings out on top!
Media:
Check out much more at The World's Finest.
Spider-Man, the Character: TM & copyright Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Contact us.
