Movie Review: Spider-Man 3

A review of "Spider-Man 3" by Jeanne Aufmuth

Stars: ** 1/2

Rating: PG-13 for intensity and violence

Run Time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

Despite an overwhelming sensation of been-there, done-that Tobey Maguire and company inject enough fresh material into Spider-Man's third outing to keep both fans and converts happy. Or happy enough.

Its business as usual for Peter Parker (Maguire) and lady love Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). The duo is in a good space –Parker with plans of popping the question and Mary Jane finally nailing down her thespian dream job. Even the city is happily enjoying a newfound crackdown on crime thanks to their favorite arachnid superhero.

That's all the goodwill to be had before the inevitable onset of doom and gloom. A beautiful star-gazing evening for Parker and Mary Jane turns "War of the Worlds" when a flashy meteor smashes to earth and oozes a slithery black slime that's clearly up to no good.

Across town the hardened criminal who murdered Parker's uncle (Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko) escapes from prison and, in one of the film's more arresting set pieces, has an unfortunate run-in with a scientific de-molecularizer that renders him rather, um, granular. Goodbye Mr. Marko, hello Sandman!

On a more personal note, Parker's best buddy Harry Osborn (James Franco) has a beef of his own, still hanging on to the belief that Parker was responsible for his father's death. A bump on the head, courtesy a dumbed-down superhero conflict (with Harry doubling as the New Goblin), erases Harry's memory and turns him into an amnesiac pussycat who's nothing but sunshine and light.

Like all comic films worth their salt Parker gets a brand-new nemesis in hotshot Daily Bugle photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) whose fall from grace at Parker's hands means revenge is just a special effects unit away.

There are moments, in particular those involving the aforementioned black slime (actually an evil symbiote that bonds to a host for survival), that work like a charm. Parker gets up close and personal with the sticky stuff which produces an unnaturally aggressive Spider-Man and Parker as an egocentric chick-magnet with Saturday Night Fever swagger. The effect is priceless, offering Maguire a chance to strut his stuff both literally and figuratively.

Dunst isn't so blessed, stuck with a one-note role that she phones in with little pizzazz and a surplus of female anxiety.

How far to go to ensure that "Spider-Man" can hang onto its blockbuster cache yet retain its core values and keep the diehard fan boys happy? That's the predicament facing "3" – an overly-ambitious mishmash of styles and concepts that ebb and flow and try – too hard -- to please everyone.

Yet the concept of dark-side duality is well-crafted, both the Parker/Spider-Man struggle and Parker's tangled relationships with friends and family. This very human element is critical in offsetting some silly superhero battles and an over-the-top finale that leaves lingering languor in its wake. Oh what a tangled web we weave…

www.aufmuth.com

A swing and a prayer

Against the odds, superhero franchise manages the three-peat

Comic book aficionados can be forgiven for wishing that Hollywood filmmakers had a bit more vision and a lot more patience.

When it was first decided that Spider-Man would be brought to the screen in an expensive summer blockbuster, even the key grip on the set could predict that one or two (or more) sequels would soon be in the pipeline, since astronomical grosses were all but assured. So imagine how the series might have progressed -- and deepened -- had Peter Parker's original true love in the Marvel comic book, the demure Gwen Stacy, been his girlfriend in the first couple of Spider-Man flicks, with Mary Jane Parker just the friend flitting around the perimeters. And since the death of Gwen Stacy back in the 1970s sent shockwaves through the comic industry, imagine how stunned movie audiences (at least those not familiar with S-M history) would be to see her killed off in an unexpected manner in Spider-Man 3. Instead, Columbia Pictures skipped the Peter-Gwen coupling and went straight to the Peter-Mary Jane bond, only now dragging in poor Gwen as an insignificant character played by a woefully miscast Bryce Dallas Howard (Lady in the Water). It's enough to drive the Marvel faithful bonkers.

But fortunately for Columbia, the appeal of Spider-Man has always reached far beyond the comic crowd: Over the decades, he's become an icon of enormous proportions, a larger-than-life figure who, in the superhero genre, is matched perhaps only by Superman and Batman. With this in mind, director Sam Raimi and his various scripters have fashioned three Spider-Man flicks that all manage to remain true to the spirit -- if not always the letter -- of the series created in print by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. What's even more notable is that the three pictures they've created have been remarkably even-keeled in quality and ambition: None have reached the giddy heights of, say, 1978's Superman or 2005's Batman Begins, but they have all achieved what they set out to do: provide solid entertainment for the summer movie crowd.

With a script by Raimi, his brother Ivan, and Oscar winner Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People), this third installment is packed to the rafters with activity and excitement. On the domestic front, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finally decides that he'll pop the question to Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), but his timing in marital matters apparently isn't as sharply honed as his "Spidey Sense," since Mary Jane is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her future as a stage actress may be over before it really began (she's fired from a Broadway production after one night and a slew of negative reviews). Add to this the fact that her boyfriend's never-say-die cluelessness has started to irk her (along with his alter ego's massive popularity), and it's no wonder that she starts to drift toward former boyfriend Harry Osborn (James Franco).

For his part, Harry has suffered a short-term memory loss that has allowed him to forget the fact that he's the son of the Green Goblin and that he blames Spider-Man for his father's death. Not that Spidey needs Harry around to provide the requisite villainy: An escaped convict named Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), who sports a critical link to Peter's past, finds himself trapped in the middle of a scientific experiment and emerges as the Sandman. Spider-Man also finds an enemy lurking within, after a malevolent outer space entity takes over his personality and turns him into a black-clad -- and often black-souled -- superbeing. And waiting in the wings for the third-act showdown is amoral photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who eventually transforms into the vicious Venom.

With so many spandex hijinks going on, it's a wonder that the movie isn't wall to wall with pounding action. But with a generous running time of 140 minutes, Raimi is able to slow down the pace and allow more introspective moments to take center stage. The first two movies' mantra of "With great power comes great responsibility" likewise applies here, although equal lip service is provided to the notion that vengeance only sours the human soul -- this is reflected in the Parker-Marko plotline, as well as in the Green Goblin saga that weaves its way through the film. Maguire and Dunst remain appealing as their characters struggle to mend their relationship, and even the often stiff Franco finds some chances to show a softer side. And while Grace's Eddie Brock/Venom gets to represent pure evil in this outing, Flint Marko is presented as a conflicted villain, thereby allowing Church an opportunity to display some of his range.

The visual effects work employed in the Spider-Man trilogy has surpassed that in most other CGI-driven endeavors; that's especially evidenced here in the webslinger's battles with the Sandman. And while there are admittedly some shots where Spidey looks more like a video game blip than a silver screen protagonist, the illusion is still miles ahead of, say, Hulk, during which I actually felt like I had to keep feeding quarters into the seat's cupholder if I wanted to continue watching the film.

Bruce Campbell, a Raimi regular since The Evil Dead, appears in an amusing interlude as a maitre d', yet it's the cameo appearance by Marvel guru Stan Lee that will delight the fans. Lee often turns up in these Marvel adaptations, yet here he's actually given an important line to utter. "It's amazing how much difference one man can make," he tells Peter as they watch a large-screen video image of Spider-Man. As the visionary who opened the eyes and imaginations of the young (and young at heart) for generations, he would know.

SPIDER-MAN 3

***

DIRECTED BY Sam Raimi
STARS Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst

charlotte.creativeloafing.com

Spider-Man 3

[AllPosters.com> Buy posters from this movie
by Erik Childress

"Which Suit Was Raimi Wearing While Making This One?"

3 stars

It would be sad if this was the last in the Spider-Man series. And by series, I mean with Sam Raimi at the helm. Sony studios may have plans to get out a parts four, five and six, but it will likely come with a different director, maybe even different stars and we all know how great that was for Batman in the '90s. Raimi was an inspired choice for the webbed superhero, a longtime fan of the comic who could do honor to it having cut his teeth on one of the great comic book films ever (Darkman) even if it was never a graphic novel or any other pseudonym of the paneled stories with word balloons. After his first entry, the $400 million-plus record breaker that was one of the better origin stories if not overall comic-based films, Raimi had carte blanche to make the second chapter distinctly his. And the result is unarguably one of the best comic adventures ever captured on film. It was so much to live up to, that for number three Raimi and his collaborators have fallen into the same traps that have ensnared both the Batman and X-Men franchises. Too much often resulting in not enough.

When we last left Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) he had finally won the heart of his longtime love, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). His former best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), had discovered his secret identity and was ready to follow in the footsteps of his Green Goblin father whose death he has always blamed on Spider-Man. That gives him one villain to contend with until a convenient knock on the noggin gives Harry amnesia long enough for another foe to take center stage. That would be Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), an escaped convict who, thanks to a dip into some experimental reactor, bonds with the tiny rocks in the pit and becomes the Sandman. The birth of his newfound identity is the most impressive and beautifully rendered of all the film's special effects.

Parker is finally beginning to enjoy his non-nerd status as a superhero adored by the public; a trait that runs counter to Mary Jane's failures as a broadway actress. Peter's blinded optimism begins to cause a strife in their relationship, further complicated by a crush on his alter-ego by Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), the girlfriend of Pete's photog rival at the Daily Bugle, Eddie Brock (Topher Grace). Causing a further riff in Parker's befuddled feelings is an alien symbiote that attachs itself to his suit, feeding into a darker side that enjoys the additional power and hunger for revenge against Marko, who is now revealed to have been responsible for his uncle's death.

Thus, the themes of chapter three emerge like a death penalty rally chanting the Lord's Creed about "trespassing" outside a firing range. Somehow I doubt Spidey fans being as accepting of a finale that is more about weepy apologies and forgiveness than kick-@#$%& retribution. This has been a minor complaint I've heard heralded at the first two films. Villains with consciences and good sides instead of flat-out evil @#$%&. Both Norman Osborn and Otto "Doc Ock" Octavius had the good fortune of being rounded out enough as Spidey's singular adversaries which provided their last-minute hopes at redemption poignancy. By contrast, Goblin Jr. is the benefit of a revelation from his (new) butler (character) that makes you wonder why such a loyal family servant would withhold such info for so long while Harry carried such pain and hatred. Worse is the handling of Marko, whose sick mother from the comics has been replaced by a sick child. Sympathetic from the get-go, screenwriters Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent then have to make him a viable antagonist by inventing Marko's connection to the Parkers. Then it's twisted up again in a finale that may as well have had the Sandman providing an exonerating DNA sample.

Devoting halves to Harry's obsessive vengeance and the misunderstood Sandman's on-again, off-again sympathetic nature would have been enough to balance the scales of justice if not weighing in for the audience's lust for twisted villainy. But a third villain will emerge; one Spidey fans have been salivating for and finally get, ironically, thanks to the ringing of a large bell. Venom, the evil amalgamation of the oozing symbiote and Spidey's powers, finally makes an appearance – in the LAST HALF HOUR of the movie. While this is liable to irk die-hards even more than the liberties with the characters, the Venom chapter is more akin to the final act of Mike Nichols' Wolf than a natural progression to a trilogy's end. He's a sidenote, an after-thought who barely gets enough scream time to justify his introduction. Either save him for a future entry or bring him into the game earlier to provide the ultimate showdown between battling personalities, both exterior and interior.

Because the action bits are basically mid-air battles with the opponents narrowing squeezing between one crevice tinier than the next (the best is actually a sans costume mano-a-mano with Peter & Harry in his penthouse), it falls to the more human drama to carry the load. The introduction of Gwen Stacy isn't much more than a TV series device to complicate the primary love story; one handled with such unrequited grace and sensitivity in the first two. Peter & Mary Jane's issues feel false and just add one more subplot to a film that already can't balance all of its own issues. That leaves us with many of the film's best scenes which aren't rooted in dramatic or action-filled theatrics, but in comedy. J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson has a great interplay with his watchful secretary (Elizabeth Banks). Bruce Campbell had great cameos thrwarting Peter Parker's efforts in one and two, but he outdoes himself here in an extended sequence that's almost as hilarious as Peter's symbiotic transformation into a cocky hipster. Countering the splendid "Raindrops Are Falling On My Head" montage from part two, Maguire and Raimi show a flair for comedy so genuinely instinctive that its almost enough to fill-in and forgive the flaws inherent in number three's structure; most notably that its three best scenes shouldn't be moments of comedy.

I'll be amused at Spider comic fans who embrace this film after all the continued hubabaloo over Ang Lee's changes to the Hulk, one of the most unfairly maligned of all films in recent years; superhero or otherwise. I can't deny enjoying good chunks of Spider-Man 3, but as the longest of the features at 139 mins it still needed another 45 (at the very least) to flesh out more storylines than Magnolia or replace 45 with a greater concentration on just one of them. Like the digression of the (original, not Christopher Nolan's) Batman series, an increase in bad guys becomes overkill and as learned in Brett Ratner's X-Men entry, you can't wrap up all the loose ends of a 50-year comic entity in under two hours. As it ended on an image that suggests future struggles for Peter's psyche rather than the sort of grandiose fade out of a Star Wars, I hope Raimi and company will be back for a four, five and six. Maybe then the indecisiveness of the third will give way to an endurance that gives him the freedom to do one story at a time. Cause to part ways on this one would be a sad day indeed.

www.efilmcritic.com

Spider-Man 3

Year Released: 2007
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, James Franco, James Cromwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dylan Baker, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons
(PG-13, 140 min.)

Ever since 2004's Spider-Man 2 became one of the rare sequels that bested its predecessor in terms of narrative originality and visual audacity, expectations have run high for this third entry in the series. Having defied the odds once, perhaps it was unrealistic to hope for a threepeat. Sadly, Spider-Man 3 in no way (except budget) surpasses the movie that came before it; like Icarus of myth, Spider-Man 3 may have attempted to soar too close to the sun and melted some of its infrastructure in the process. The movie still thrills and captivates, but is overstuffed with story fragments and earthbound dramas that have been inserted but then treated like second-tier guests at the film's real party: its gravity-defying heroics. The numerous chases and rescues that bob and weave through the skyscrapered air space of Manhattan have been stunningly rendered by director Raimi and cinematographer Bill Pope.

However, screenwriter Raimi (who co-authored with his brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent) is not on such sure footing when it comes to the pedestrian dramas of Spider-Man's human counterpart Peter Parker. Maguire as Parker/Spider-Man has an atypical modernist moment in his opening voiceover. He stands outside a movie theatre that's showing a Spider-Man film and assures us that things in his life are peachy: He's famous (despite remaining incognito), still at the top of his class, and in love with the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane (Dunst). In short order, his love life becomes complicated when Mary Jane is fired from the Broadway show she's supposed to open in (this hitch in her career doesn't forestall the movie from slowing down a couple times to hear her warble a tune) and Parker is too wrapped up in Spidey's adventures to notice. For comfort, she turns to their old pal Harry (Franco), who also has a second identity as the New Goblin – an adversary of Spider-Man until amnesia makes him conveniently forget the feud. Amnesia?! But there are many more adversaries for Spider-Man to battle. There's Sandman (Church), whose molecular processes are a wonder of movie magic; the lingering injustice of who killed Uncle Ben; the new upstart photographer at the newspaper (Grace), who also comes into contact with the goop from outer space which, of all the moving vehicles in the world, attaches itself to Parker's motorbike and turns humans it comes into contact with to the dark side. Instead of his red-torsoed spider suit, Parker soon wears a black-chested one, and the space goop turns the human Parker into a jerk in a dramatically primitive sequence that has Parker strutting down the avenue Saturday Night Fever style, snapping his fingers at the babes, and combing his hair forward in a downbeat emo mode. This is the dark side? In short, there are way too many storylines here, especially for a movie that turns stiff whenever it's on the ground. When cascading through the cityscape, Spider-Man 3 still makes us gasp with delight, but on Earth those gasps come solely in reaction to the cynical dreariness of the script.

Marjorie Baumgarten [2007-05-04>

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By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spider-Man 3

Directed by Sam Raimi
Columbia Pictures 05/07 Feature Film
PG-13 - sequences of intense action violence

"Making right choices requires keeping our heads on straight, thinking clearly, getting the facts, resorting to rules, calculating consequences, being responsible. It is important to keep our heads clear precisely because life can be so zany. But a clear head isn't everything. Don't rule out alternative roads — roads that take us beyond reason to the right choice," writes Lewis B. Smedes in Choices: Making Right Decisions in a Complex World. In the third Spider-Man movie, the superhero learns that this is so true.

As the movie opens, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is flying high and everything is going great. "People like me," he says in a voiceover. New York City is safe and sound thanks to his heroic efforts, he in love with the girl of his dreams, and he is doing well at college. But then things begin to crack and change a little bit here and a little bit there until Peter is surrounded by chaos that threatens all that he thought he was.

The challenges begin when a mysterious black substance attaches itself to Peter's Spider-Man suit; he discovers that wearing the black suit he has more strength and agility. But at the same time, it draws out his need for power and control over others, making him full of pride and more aggressive. Still, Peter likes this new feeling and begins wearing the black suit under his street clothes.

This yielding to his shadow side intrudes upon his relationship with M.J. (Kirsten Dunst), who faces a major disappointment when her debut on Broadway is dubbed a failure and she loses her job. He is not there when she needs him; instead he capitulates to the fame game when he is given the keys to the city after saving Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), a college classmate and the daughter of the NYPD Captain (James Cromwell). During the ceremony, he kisses Gwen, breaking M.J.'s heart.

Then Peter and his Aunt Mae (Rosemary Harris) learn from the police that a recently escaped convict, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), is the man who shot and killed his uncle years ago. This fellow is convinced that he is not a bad person but just someone who has had bad luck. He might be right. Running from the police, he stumbles into a molecular fusion experiment that turns him into a "sandman" able to change his shape and size at will. When Spider-Man finds out who Sandman really is, all his submerged feelings of vengeance resurface. Thank goodness Aunt Mae is on hand with some wise advice: "Uncle Ben wouldn't want us living with revenge in our heart. It can overtake us and turn us into something ugly."

Ugly is the word that describes Peter Parker's disintegrating relationship with his one-time best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), which also becomes tinged with hatred and revenge. A final spiritual teacher is Eddie Brook (Topher Grace), an amoral and self-centered photographer who gives our hero a glimpse of his own capacity to choose the wrong path.

Spider-Man 3, overseen by director Sam Raimi, has all the requisite special-effects thrills than come with the territory. But the thing that holds our interest is the character development. We can identify with Peter Parker and the choices he must make to retain and deepen his humanity. In the name of love, he has to learn to put M.J. first and to set his own ego needs aside. In the name of friendship, he has to learn to what it means to stand by a person in tough times as well as in good times. For the sake of his own growth, he has to recognize his shadow side and forgive himself for his mistakes. For the sake of others, he has to accept that forgiveness is the hard but right path to take since all of us are vulnerable and sometimes make the wrong choices.

Being a winner in Spider-Man 3 means making choices from the heart, and that is a message that we need to hear again and again, given all the movies that proclaim the satisfactions of an eye for an eye. Three cheers for Spider-Man, the superhero with a heart!

www.spiritualityandpractice.com

Spider-Man 3 3 stars

(2007) 140 min. D: Sam Raimi. Columbia Pictures.

The comic-book movie has experienced a slow redefinition in recent years, from nouveau pop art to serious-minded action drama. Filmmakers like Ang Lee, Bryan Singer, and Christopher Nolan have brought weighty themes, contemporary issues, gravitas, and even—heaven forbid—verisimilitude to the "superhero" narrative. But Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films, even at their most thoughtful, put children of all ages first. And if his latest sandbox (actual sand included!), Spider-Man 3, strains against the chaotic, roughhousing abandon of its inhabitants, it nevertheless delivers on its promise of hours of fun.

With all eyes on the enormously popular franchise, Spider-Man 3 is go-for-broke pop entertainment (literally, with a budget said to be the highest of all time). Taking stylistic risks might not seem the wisest course of action to an investor, but the choice powers this eccentric third entry, which finds Raimi at his friskiest. This Spider-Man has more action, more humor, and more nastiness than either previous installment, often in loopy combinations.

The sentiment also returns in full bloom, with Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker plagued once again by romantic trouble with eternal flame Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, annoyingly angsty). The sodden contrivances around their falling out are the picture's least satisfying element, but the picture runs much more on energy and creative invention than it does on plot sense. As Spider-Man, Parker must contend with at least three villains (depending on your accounting), including the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Venom, an alien substance that forces Peter and his photojournalist nemesis Edward Brock Jr. (Topher Grace) to battle their own dark sides.

Some audiences may not be up for traipsing all over the map, but those who are will get their eye-popping money's worth. Raimi approaches the transformation of desperate ex-con Flint Marko into the Sandman as a moment of lyrical transcendence, dark and womdrous (composer Danny Elfman absconded to other films, but Christopher Young fills in nicely). Such moments live side-by-side with strokes of fifties science-fiction, goofy gags, and kinetic action. Take, for example, the scene in which Peter and Mary Jane watch the stars in Central Park, from the cradle of a web—Raimi pans over from their pillow talk to reveal a small meteor crashing to earth just yards away and emitting the black goo known as Venom.

Raimi not only allows for such preposterous coincidence in the name of expeditious plotting, but he embraces it—nay, gives it a bear hug. He does so with such a knowing smile that it's difficult to stay angry at him (or co-screenwriters Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent). One character—Bernard, the butler to Peter's on-again/off-again buddy Harry Osborne (James Franco)—gets so absurdly paid off that you know Raimi is behind the camera laughing, shrugging, and saying, "Look, either you're gonna roll with this, or there's the EXIT." Or how about the scene where Marko runs past a sign reading, "DANGER: Particle Physics Test Facility"? Surely, it is to laugh. [Taking a page from the Superman films, Raimi continues to provide New York flavor and awkward patriotism. This time, the laziness of the latter is glaring: a gratuitous shot of Spidey landing in front of a rippling flag, followed by a reaction shot of an NYPD firefighter.]

So on it leaps and swings and drops and screams, setting new records for shattered glass on screen. The plentiful action has its ups and downs, literally and figuratively. Unfortunately, Raimi has allowed these scenes to be defined by impossible camera moves, letting the "wow factor cart" go before the "excitement horse." But if you don't like one effects shot, dozens more come at you: resistance is futile. Besides, it's the nutty, whiplash plot turns (MJ sings! Peter dances!) that make or break the picture, with Venom capitalizing on Spidey's swelled celebrity head. The dark-side storyline may be corny, but the archetypal "choose good, not evil" comic-book lesson feels a bit subversive as acted out by a Hollywood star, and it's a relevant variation on "With great power comes great responsibility."

A game Maguire effectively anchors the film, and his playful sensibility is infectious. The strapping, adenoidal Church proves ideally cast as force-of-nature Sandman, and Grace makes a convincing silver-tongued devil. J.K. Simmons has a hilarious (though nonsensical bit) in his Daily Bugle office, and, oddly, James Cromwell and Theresa Russell flit by in roles less notable than the obligatory Bruce Campbell "cameo." The busy plot means that no one character, excepting our hero, fully gets his or her due, a reminder that the movies shouldn't be so overeager to crowd out story in favor of trying to accomodate every fanboy's favorite character. Despite Spider-Man 3's lack of discipline, no one can accuse Raimi of leaving out the kitchen sink

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