Let it Die

Rating: 1/10 (6 May 2007)

Borrowing Lucas' ability to develop a character, cues from The Blair Witch Project for camera work, and a daring refusal to fully develop the plot, Sam Raimi's work with Spiderman 3 hearkens to a 12-year old child, who, asked to do the dishes, does such a poor job he aims never to be asked again. Overall, Spiderman 3 is an amazingly disappointing end to a previously entertaining series. Remarkably, Raimi chose to dispense with adequate character and plot development and chose instead to focus on poorly performed character interactions that, aside from open, mocking laughter, failed to move the audience. The most devastating choice made by Raimi was casting Topher Grace as Venom. While Grace's obvious enthusiasm is laudable, his knowledge of comic lore should have included that Eddie Brock is on Olympian level, a huge man in both size and persona. Grace's whining voice escaping from the pencil-thin glob that only adequately resembled the symbiote wrecked an image that even animated children's shows managed to maintain. Aside from that, Grace's performance stands as a rare example of decent acting in the movie. Tobey Maguire proved that actors have no need of self-respect or dignity. His attempts to cry brought the house to tears of laughtereach and every time the feeble script overused the weak Peter Parker image. The drawn out Pimp Parker montage wasted time that could have been used to illustrate the abilities granted by bonding or show how Venom was immune to spidey-sense. An omission that left our hero open to attacks Daredevil would see coming and failed to highlight a major advantage Venom has always had over Spidey. Thomas Hayden Church, good actor, bad role, next time try for continuity. Bryce Dallas Howard, very pretty and good acting, but like much of this movie she was simply not needed and served as little more than a glorified extra. Kirsten Dunst held no dire urge to know or fill the role of her character, but developed a character that was distinctly dissimilar to Mary Jane Watson. And finally, you have James Franco. Filling a role more suited to daytime television, he was more useless to the story than the mysterious forensic pathologist working as Harry Osborn's butler or the single appearance of the Sandman's daughter suffering from some nameless tragic disease. At least at the end of the movie, it's arguable that you could take out Sandman or Venom and possibly have a decent movie, but the Goblin's role so lacked importance that the audience sustained their own form of amnesia and forgot him before they left the theater. Moreover, the Goblin's fight scenes were some of the worst shot scenes in the film, inspiring more squint-eyed nausea than suspense. This movie ranked with The Nice Guy and Queen of the Damned as titles to actively avoid. This level of shameless self-destruction should be followed by seppuku, or at least by a public apology. Save your money, time, and any warm feelings you may have had for the Spiderman series: Stay home.