REVIEW - SPIDERMAN 3

There are a lot of things that would have made sense about Spiderman 3. The need to do something bigger and better, the need to not repeat the last two films (oops on that score though), keeping the franchise moving forward blah, blah, blah. Does that excuse the jumbled kinetic excitement of the third installment?

For me the answer is no.

Sam Raimi put so much on the screen, so many new characters and sub plots, that as I look back I can't help but wonder how many things in this movie could have been sacrificed for the benefit of a more cohesive, kickass, finished product. There were times while I was watching the movie that I wondered why even bother? I was waiting for the meat of the story to arrive but all I got were accoutrements. This is a recipe for tedium to say the least.

The filmmakers made Sandman troubled and complicated in the vein of Dr. Octopus in the second film, but insisted on doing it in only a fraction of the time. If you don't believe me, ask yourself how many times a guy has to look at a locket to remind EVERYONE that he "didn't ask for this," and that he's "not a bad guy." It would have been interesting to see a real commitment to making it a little more genuine. For me, the the Flint Marko storyline was as close as I got to Alvin Sargent's voice coming through the mess of a screenplay. Too bad it felt a bit (sarcasm) truncated for the sake of two other villains and a bunch of other crap that I really didn't care about in the end.

Venom had potential but the scene where he "teams up" with Sandman in order to kill Spiderman was the straw that broke the camel's back for this viewer. It felt forced and pathetic--coming across like some really bad fan fic. Most likely they took that road to avoid the movie potentially being another 20 or 30 minutes. Whether that was the case or not it was a cop out of the worst ilk. But what gets cut from the movie if they do it right? Something has to go as there is too much time spent on MJ's angst, Harry's revenge, Parker's ego, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard get away from me already) the relationship friction and breakup, evil Peter (you can tell he's bad when he wears his bangs down) and on and on and on. AND why, oh why Sammy, did you open the movie with a musical number? If I want song and dance I'll see West Side Story (I own the DVD). Spiderman 3 had not one, not two, but three musical numbers if you count emo Peter's jazz dancing at the club. When the action finally starts, it's Peter getting knocked off his wannabe-Vespa which I'd seen already but I have to admit it always makes me chuckle seeing someone with superpowers cruising around town on something that Arnold Schwarzenegger could use to pick his teeth.

This all bothers me so much because this franchise couldn't be in more capable hands. I'm left wondering if this really was a film directed by Sam Raimi with a screenplay by Alvin Sargent. These are two guys who know better. They have respectively made and written great movies and this doesn't feel like their best. If Paul WS Anderson or Bret Ratner had made this movie it would easily be the best movie they had ever made. Hell, most of Hollywood will never make a movie this good, but the bar had been set high enough by the previous installments that this ultimately feels like a real disappointment.

Now that I got all that off my chest, I can get to what's good.

Effects were pretty good, especially the sandstorms. The picture looked good. Performances were on the ball especially James Franco, who really shined this time around even though I could never stop staring at his teeth (is it me or are they unnaturally straight?) I dug that James Cromwell was in this movie, but it's too bad he didn't have more to do because he rules. Stan Lee finally gets a line! And god help me, I actually dug the part where Peter Parker was going around town doing his emo John Travolta shtick. One word: hysterical. Useless, but hysterical. And don't forget Bruce Campbell, who proves once again why he makes every movie he's in a little better. Another bit that stuck out was J Jonah getting shafted by the girl with the camera. Too bad he was only on screen for maybe 2 minutes.

This is a movie with a lot of ambition. Your best bet is to not over-think it as I have. Check your brain at the door, dive into your popcorn with both hands, and say "ooh aah" at the appropriate times and you'll be just fine. If you can do that, you'll get why this movie rates a "Just Decent" on the Mr. Blunderson scale.