Fun, But Crammed And Thin

Rating: 6/10 (28 September 2008)

The strengths of the first two "Spider-Man" films are what you'd expect from Sam Raimi - insane action with moments (and many of them) of characterization. With all of the action, you never feel rushed or short-changed, which made his films sorta the "thinking man's action movies." The same could be said for Tim Burton's take on Batman in his first go-around with the character. Unfortunately, he fell on his face cramming two brilliant villains in one movie making for a much malaigned hurried pace that ruined what could've been two good movies. The lesson here is obvious - too many things can simply add up to too many things. I had to think long and hard, obviously, about "Spider-Man 3." (It took me THIS long to fairly write a review!) Because there's a lot to like - I'm not being sarcastic here - yet there's simply too much jammed into the movie. I'm stating the obvious, seeing what other people wrote, but when you really want to love a movie and see it just coming in slightly above average, one hopes the criticisms will add up, thus keeping producers, studio heads, et.al., from being too "commercially ambitious." Attacking the thinness and rushed pace is easy. Mentioning that it's a disappointment when you expected more is a given. Instead, let's look at what makes us love this movie, warts and all. There are still moments of characterization here that makes it more deep than a simple summer popcorn movie. For example, the complicated relationship between Peter (Tobey Maguire) and the important people in his life. Harry (James Franco, much underrated) and MJ (Kirsten Dunst, more than just a pretty face) get a lot of screen time here and none of it is wasted. Harry blaming Peter for Norman's death isn't repetitive, it's refreshed anew by bringing in the traumatic amnesia that plagued the Goblin characters in the comic book (a good, not overstated, nod to comic continuity). Harry's ultimate fate has that much more poignancy when it's played out because of this. The shoe being on the other foot in Peter's relationship with MJ was also a tad interesting, because it complicates things and that's always good for a romance that will be played out in a franchise. It also tends to display how different Peter and MJ are - when Peter's life is going down the tubes, he internalizes it. MJ however lashes out at Peter whan she loses her role on Broadway. Thus the issue arises - IS MJ "perfect?" Nope. She can be self-centered too. A conflicted villain is also interesting, which is why I rather liked Thomas Hayden Church's Flint Marko/Sandman. We see a guy just trying to make money to save his daughter. Being made into a silicon-based lifeform adds just enough of the spice to make him tough and tender. He may be a crook, but he's being a crook (now) for the right reasons. That they didn't split up the villains for two movies - giving both of them their due - is more of the shame looking at Church's take on Sandman. Topher Grace also deserved more as he was giving a good sociopathic charm to Eddie Brock BEFORE he became Venom. At first, he's merely Peter's cheerfully obnoxious rival at the Daily Bugle. However, we see hints of his delusional nature with how he inflates a "coffee" with Gwen Stacy (sorry I can't remember the actress' name right now, and that's another issue with too much in here - the new people don't have much time to shine) into a "fantastic night." But the problem here is HIS story is a bit too rushed. Wasn't it possible to have just the Symbiotic Thing that Venom becomes with Eddie play an (interestingly) understated villain in making Peter "bad" in this movie, paving the way for an expanded, and thus much better, fourth movie? Ah, but I'm being drawn into the negatives again. While we're on that subject, I certainly hope there wasn't a real effort to rewrite Uncle Ben's death. I hope not - Flint's flashback of the evening is left, I think deliberately vague, - because it'd be really too weak. The point overall is that "Spider-Man 3" is rather entertaining and really worth the buying. But oh, what could've been.....