lost opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (6 May 2007)

There are those kind of movies that you are bound to like,for whatever reason.SM3 was one of those movies for me.Even when last year I saw a sneak peak of the black suit and I thought it was a pity the original wasn't used.When I read the plot and found many key elements were changed.I thought to myself "don't be a fan boy,just enjoy this".Guess because I am a fan boy. Then there was the promising trailer,Raimi's passionate interviews(a fan himself) and the fact that I enjoyed the last two films immensely.Still (you can see it coming by now) I was indeed disappointed. Many of the first films' virtues are present as are some of their weaknesses.But while the former don't make the same impression the latter seem to be more tiring the third time around. Peter and MJ are constantly whining(unlike their comic counterparts)and new characters like sandman(who has a great beginning),Brock/Venom and Gwen, while they have rich history and potential are barely scratched(The use of Venom was "enforced" by the producers and Raimi having grown in the '60s/'70s was not familiar with the character).Also, the same plot twists are used again and the feeling of deja -vu is inevitable. The film greatly suffers by Raimi's struggle to fit too many plots and characters in the same movie and actually resolve everything before the end.After all, the multiple villain theme didn't work wonders on the Batman either.Each one of the sub-plots could easily support a movie on its own and give room to the characters to breathe.And why he infused the supposedly darkest chapter with such ridiculous light heartetness is a mystery. As I said though this is not a film without virtues.Raimi is still a magician with the camera and that shows at the action sequences that are manier than ever before.His love for the characters is a given so you get the feeling of an actual sequence unlike many similar films where everything is quite stale or radically changed.His talent also shows from the fact that New York is a co-star of this film (like before). Some will say it's a great film.Some will say it's the worst.I believe it was indeed a lost opportunity but if you manage to compromise with this fact you will actually have a good time.From a film like this though you expect a bit more.Like using the original black costume-(half)kidding...