Posts
Spider-man 3: an embarrassment of riches
Peter: "Where do all these guys come from?"
This is one of those movies that I couldn't stop re-writing in my head in a vain attempt to fix it. Yes, it was visually stunning, a cinematic knock-out. There was an awful lot to like. So why couldn't I wait for it to be over?
Because it was just too much. There were too many elements to make up one coherent story, and too many story elements diminish the impact, no matter how good they are (and I'll admit they were very, very good). The Harry-centered was probably the strongest story element emotionally, and the climax should have brought me to tears. Why didn't it? Because it kept getting pushed aside.
Come on, guys. Give us Goblin II, or Venom, or Sandman, or Spider-man going dark. Maybe two, possibly three... but geez louise, not all four. Subplots about Mary Jane's failed Broadway career, or her jealousy of Gwen Stacy, or her re-involvement with Harry. Maybe two. Not all three. And so on.
Gwen Stacy, an important character in the comics, was introduced and pushed aside. James Cromwell was introduced and pushed aside. Uncle Ben's real murderer with his dying daughter, Harry's amnesia, Peter Parker going dark side (and we could tell because he was wearing eyeliner), office politics, multiple musical numbers, alien goop... for a moment, I thought they were even going to squeeze the Hunchback of Notre Dame in there. Why did the producers let this happen? Story, people. The story always has to come first.
Is this the best Spider-man movie, or the worst? Maybe both. Frankly, this was a fabulous Spider-man 3 and a fabulous Spider-Man 4, and I think they canceled each other out.
Two out of four stars,
Billie
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
SM3 sucks, we want guillermo del toro (pan's laberynth) for directing SM4
I likes it, even though I did think it went on a tad too long.
I was expecting the worse because they tried to do too much and with so many villains. I was expecting Venom to suck, and Sandman to be good, given Director Sam Raimi's penchant for classic villains.
To my surprise, I thought Venom came of a lot better than Sandman, who felt like another Doc Ock, what with the sentimentality and all. Unfortunately, they didn't quite pull it off. Sandman didn't really do much in the movie, IMHO.
All in all, I really like it, humour(which some people hated, i hear) and all. :)
The Venom and 'Dark Spiderman' storylines are really one in the same.
Anyways, I really liked it.
Post a Comment