Spider-Man 3

Post Reply
VanHelsing
Assistant
Posts: 745
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 1:24 am
Contact:

Post by VanHelsing »

If they showed MORE of Venom & LESS of MJ, then it'll be so fine.
With a Southern accent...
"Don't you dare lie to me!" and...
"You threaten my congeniality, you threaten me!"

-------

"You shouldn't be doing what you're doing. The truth is enough!"
"Are you and Perry?" ... "Please, Nelle."
Sabin
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10747
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:52 am
Contact:

Post by Sabin »

Lucas is delusional. I don't like 'Spider-Man 3' but it's better than all three of his inept prequels.
"How's the despair?"
User avatar
OscarGuy
Site Admin
Posts: 13668
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 12:22 am
Location: Springfield, MO
Contact:

Post by OscarGuy »

I read that and thought it was ludicrous for Lucas to say something that applies just as generally to him. Matter of fact, I'd say that Sam Raimi's a better scriptwriter than Lucas.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
FilmFan720
Emeritus
Posts: 3650
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 3:57 pm
Location: Illinois

Post by FilmFan720 »

I haven't seen it yet, but no matter how ridiculous, this man has no right calling down other people's sequels.

'Spider-Man 3' Is "Silly," Says Lucas
George Lucas has joined the major newspaper critics in their negative appraisal of Spider-Man 3. In an interview with FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman, Lucas said, "It's a silly movie. ... There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?" Over the weekend, Spider-Man 3 surged ahead of Lucas's Star Wars' episode Revenge of the Sith to take the record for the biggest weekend box-office record. Star Wars was also criticized as being "silly," Lucas noted. "But it wasn't." He also disclosed that he is working on at least two other Star Wars movies for television. "But they won't have members of the Skywalker family as characters. They will be other people of that milieu."
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
User avatar
rolotomasi99
Professor
Posts: 2108
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2003 4:13 pm
Location: n/a
Contact:

Post by rolotomasi99 »

i am not one to say an adaptation has to be a carbon-copy of its source material or anything, particularly when that source material is a huge comic book franchise.
however, i do not understand why raimi refused to utilize spider-man's spider sense. i think it is such a cool feature of the character, and yet in each subsequent film it seemed to disappear. in the first film it was only there when he was first understanding his powers, and then at the end when it saved his life. the second one only used it once to save him and mary jane from a flying car thrown by doc ock (though it has been a while since i saw it so maybe there was another time).
in this most recent one, there was not a single time it was used. most of the time the film avoided him needing to use it. however, the most glaring omission was when harry first swoops down and attacks peter on his little scooter. his spider sense should have alerted him to that. some may try to say he was concentrating too hard on thinking about mj or something, but the spider sense always over-rid all other thoughts.
i know i am focusing way too much on this, but it just seems weird to ignore something integral to the character. it would be like forgetting superman has x-ray vision.
"When it comes to the subject of torture, I trust a woman who was married to James Cameron for three years."
-- Amy Poehler in praise of Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow
Franz Ferdinand
Adjunct
Posts: 1457
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 3:22 pm
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Contact:

Post by Franz Ferdinand »

I think it goes to show how the rest of the film dragged when I say that I liked the Emo-Spidey part. I have to agree with MovieWes's review: too many villains with no involvement, some disappear and reappear way too late. What are they going to do for Spider-Mans 4, 5 and 6 now? Sandman and Venom could have carried a movie of their own, but it was all blown onto the screen for no real reason. The more I think about the potential for a "second trilogy" of Spidey movies, the more disappointing and underwhelming this one seems.
Sabin
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10747
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:52 am
Contact:

Post by Sabin »

Oh, Emo-Spidey is bad but at least it's funny in a goofy, retarded kind of way. It brings life into the film, not good life, but something that the rest of the movie just lacks. I liked that stuff (no matter how visibly bad it is) more than the proceedings.

The best performance in the film is by Mageina Tovah as Ursula, Spidey's landlord's daughter who is so taken by Peter Parker that she bakes him cookies and so excitedly informs him that Mary Jane just called. There is a lifetime behind her characterization and she's delightful.
"How's the despair?"
User avatar
OscarGuy
Site Admin
Posts: 13668
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 12:22 am
Location: Springfield, MO
Contact:

Post by OscarGuy »

I think the best word to describe the film is jumbled. It's a hodge podge of plot elements woven together in a clunky narrative that relies too much on one-dimensional entities and never fully reaches the humanity of Spider-Man 2. Way too many villains and they just appear and disappear at random.

I thought the singing and dancing was awful. It wasn't only chessy, but just plain bad. It was groan-inducing. I literally cringed through every minute of the Saturday Night Fever-styled scenes...

Whereas Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst actually got my praise for the second film, here they get nothing but jeers. Super hero movie acting isn't always the best, but this is Ghost Rider/Elektra bad.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
User avatar
MovieWes
Professor
Posts: 2019
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 12:33 pm
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Contact:

Post by MovieWes »

Caution: minor spoilers

I was disappointed by it as well. I really liked the second film a lot and the first film, which I initially despised, has kind of grown on me. There’s a lot of good stuff in it -- some scenes are amongst the best in the series -- but Raimi and Co. were obviously so intent to blow their load that the film just buckled under its own weight. I would’ve relegated it to only one villain and let Harry work on his master plan to destroy Spider-Man throughout the film and become Green Goblin II at the end, setting up the fourth movie. Sandman was an interesting enough villain to carry the load himself, but he disappears half-way through the second act and doesn’t return until the finale. They should’ve also left Venom for another film. Venom is one of the most enduring villains in all of comic books and he didn’t even show up until the end of the second act. Unfortunately, the bulk of the entire second act consists of nothing but a crappy love story straight out of a soap opera. And another thing I would’ve axed is all the singing and dancing. It’s by far the goofiest entry in the series to date, which is saying something considering all the campy dialogue that plagued the first movie.

In all, I give the film a weak ** 1/2.
"Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution." -- Alec Guinness (Lawrence of Arabia)
The Original BJ
Emeritus
Posts: 4312
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2003 8:49 pm

Post by The Original BJ »

Count me as disappointed as well. Now, I would never go so far as to say I love either of the Spider-Man films (I thought some of those 'A' grades for the sequel took things a little too far), but I like both of them well enough: they're stylishly made, plenty of fun, and don't take themselves too seriously at all. I didn't think this one was SO bad, but I did think it made some major missteps, most of which have been clearly articulated in the reviews.

For starters, I think the nearly two-and-a-half hour running time is absolutely unnecessary. I happen to like my popcorn movies short and sweet, and a good half hour should have been shaved off for sure. And it's beyond overstuffed. Two villains would have been pushing it in my book; this film has Spidey battling Sandman, Venom, sometimes Harry, and that alien goo stuff, far too many conflicts for the film to handle. Add in a completely pointless romantic subplot with Bryce Dallas Howard (who, to be fair, is quite charming) and unnecessary bit roles (like Ursula The Quirky Landlord's Daughter) and you've got a sequel that doesn't deepen the strengths of the earlier films (as I'd argue 2 did) so much as attempt to multiply them. In this film, (as in Pirates 2), MORE felt like a lot less.

That doesn't mean there's nothing good here. I found a lot of the new effects, especially the Sandman, impressive. Topher Grace is a hoot, as is J.K. Simmons, and Rosemary Harris is lovely as always. And some of the action sequences are indeed exhilirating. But the film's over-plotting really drags it down. I'd argue that what separated this franchise from the rest of the big budget pack was its spark, its sense of fun. That has gone now, and we're merely left with another lumbering superhero pic that just isn't very exciting.

Random question: exactly WHAT kind of musical is Kirsten Dunst's character supposed to be in? A revue? A book musical based on old material? I know this is a comic book movie and these kind of criticisms are beyond picky, but I did not believe for five seconds that this would be the opening number of a musical on Broadway, particularly a Tony-Award-winning Best Musical. That is all.
User avatar
Eric
Tenured
Posts: 2749
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2003 11:18 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Contact:

Post by Eric »

I remember liking Spiderman 2 reasonably well enough, all things considered (i.e. I don't like superhero movies), but Batman Begins (and, specifically, its mystifying critical and popular success) was enough to kill all my residual interest the format.
Sabin
Laureate Emeritus
Posts: 10747
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 12:52 am
Contact:

Post by Sabin »

Just to give us enough room to grieve.

What a bummer this was! My word! I love 'Spider-Man 2' and the first half of 'Spider-Man' the first is one of my favorite movies (I maintain the original is quite underrated), but this movie is so disheartening I almost couldn't look at the screen at times.

So bummed...
"How's the despair?"
Post Reply

Return to “2000 - 2007”