"Spider got tangled in the black web that he spun."—Willis Alan Ramsey
There are some fast and furious special effects in this movie, and they will serve to satisfy Spidey's fans the first weekend or two of this movie's release; but, as a whole, the movie fails for getting too caught up in itself and the franchise is wheezing out of steam.
Spiderman 3 could have been more appropriately entitled Weepyman 3 and no one is more to blame for that than Christopher Young and his (allegedly) "original" music. Audiences aren't allowed to experience even one authentic moment of emotion as Young manipulates reactions to every scene in the film with coldhearted determination and numbing efficacy.
At last night's capacity WOM screening at San Francisco's Metreon IMAX theater, the applause was so tepid it sounded like a few wet fish flopping around on shore. The shouted jeers were much more pronounced and the disappointment palpable. Further, the film's blatant moral—"The greatest battle lies within"—clung persistently like the meteoric parasite that converts Spiderman's costume from red to black. I felt like I was scratching at it furiously trying to get it off me before I turned into … something else. And what would that something else be? A venomous critic? A pablum-fed audience who accepts that immoral behavior can be turned around as simply as changing one's wardrobe? Or crying buckets of tears because it's so hard to do the right thing? Am I the only one who felt that depicting Peter Parker's "bad" side as something of a ghetto pimp was just this side of racist if it weren't so stupid first?
Sam Raimi's best work here is in the comic asides. Brief cameos by Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell earned applause. Campbell, in fact, steals the show as a maître d'. Topher Grace follows closely behind with his obsequious Eddie Brock and his power-addicted Venom.
Yes, the aerial battle sequences between Spiderman and the Green Goblin were a hundred times more spectacular than similar sequences in the first Spiderman, although admittedly much more violent and visceral, literally bonecrunching. I look forward to watching this film again on dvd where I can turn the mute on and fast forward to the action sequences. Yes, the Sandman reminded me of The Mummy all over again right down to the howling sandstorm sequences. Yes, Venom needs a dentist. Yes, Kirsten Dunst should not sing and Bryce Dallas Howard should sing, "Do you know the way to Mandalay?" Yes, objects like wedding rings and lockets are hopelessly fetishized. And Tobey Maguire? There comes that sad moment when an actor caricatures his own portrayal of a character; a sure sign to move on before getting caught in the web of Spiderman 4.
Cross-published on The Evening Class.
Worst movie I've seen in 2007. I've published my review over at my site if you'll allow for a little self promotion here on Twitch. But the gist of the artcle is: don't pay money to see this.
total disapoinment, i hope the rest of the season improves a bit or else i would never see another franchise in my life
Thanks for the heads-up. How could this movie be anything but bad? The whole superhero concept was juvenile to start with and is played out.
I actually thought it was pretty good. Sure, it was quirky, awkward and a little silly at moments, and sure there was a couple of plot holes, but it was still good. I'm not emo. I'm not mad. This movie actually was good. People interpret things differently. I liked it.
It was a fairly good film, but nowhere near good enough to warrant its astronomical budget.
as T.S. Eliot wrote..."What happens when a new work of art is created is something that happens simultaneously to all the works that preceded it. The existing monuments create an ideal order among themselves, which is modified by the introduction of the new(the really new) workof art among them....Whoever has approved this idea of order will not find it preposterous that the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past."
i doubt your enjoyably scathing review would be so passionate had we not been given Spider-Man 2...
tangent...i have unlimited hate for the insultingly stupid X-Men movies after watching the X-Men Animated Series of the 90's
> i doubt your enjoyably scathing review would be so passionate had we not been given Spider-Man 2...
That's quite astute of you, Control, and spot on. I loved Spiderman 2 and am sure my disappointment stemmed from that.
whats wrong with you all?!!! I loved it. Sure, it was silly at times, and a bit stupid, but all movies have their flaws. It was great. I reckon it was the best of all three so far and I really hope there will be a number four.
Bring on Spiderman 4 !!!!
Spiderman 3 was a great dissapointment. Going into the movie im sure every viewer expect it to be great or even better then 1 and 2 but this was not so. Its lame plot and somewhat overly cheezy parts make for a flop. In the movie MJ's singing carrier is short lived and hard for the audience to listen to, was this some foreshadowing for the audience that the movie would do exactly that? Near the end of the film everyone in the theater stood up to leave and the movie started again...was it just me or was the movie much to long? The highlight had to be spiderman sporting his hardcoar emo hair do after being takin over by venom...now that spells scarry! Through the fast paced chase scenes to the fact that every character in this movie broke into tears at one point or another shows that the facts are clear, this movie ruined spideys image. As all of the people in the theater got up at the end, humming about how they wasted their night and money while rubbing their bottoms because they had gone numb from sitting to long the sucess of the movie was blatently clear; what a waste!
So I saw it. Like a train wreck, I just couldn't look away. Parts of it I liked. Other parts made me cringe and groan in a very negative way. But, as far as I'm concerned, the movie redeems itself with Stan Lee's cameo. It brought tears to my eyes. And Venom looked cool. Not as good as the first two, but superior to X-men 3 (which suffered from the same problem: too much story to tell) and Superman Returns (barf).
Animation work in spiderman-3 is superb.....[:)]
making of sandman is great....
i like spiderman-3 very much.
i am waiting for spiderman-4
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