"Spider got tangled in the black web that he spun."—Willis Alan Ramsey
There are some fast and furious special effects in this movie, and they will serve to satisfy Spidey's fans the first weekend or two of this movie's release; but, as a whole, the movie fails for getting too caught up in itself and the franchise is wheezing out of steam.
Spiderman 3 could have been more appropriately entitled Weepyman 3 and no one is more to blame for that than Christopher Young and his (allegedly) "original" music. Audiences aren't allowed to experience even one authentic moment of emotion as Young manipulates reactions to every scene in the film with coldhearted determination and numbing efficacy.
At last night's capacity WOM screening at San Francisco's Metreon IMAX theater, the applause was so tepid it sounded like a few wet fish flopping around on shore. The shouted jeers were much more pronounced and the disappointment palpable. Further, the film's blatant moral—"The greatest battle lies within"—clung persistently like the meteoric parasite that converts Spiderman's costume from red to black. I felt like I was scratching at it furiously trying to get it off me before I turned into … something else. And what would that something else be? A venomous critic? A pablum-fed audience who accepts that immoral behavior can be turned around as simply as changing one's wardrobe? Or crying buckets of tears because it's so hard to do the right thing? Am I the only one who felt that depicting Peter Parker's "bad" side as something of a ghetto pimp was just this side of racist if it weren't so stupid first?
Sam Raimi's best work here is in the comic asides. Brief cameos by Stan Lee and Bruce Campbell earned applause. Campbell, in fact, steals the show as a maître d'. Topher Grace follows closely behind with his obsequious Eddie Brock and his power-addicted Venom.
Yes, the aerial battle sequences between Spiderman and the Green Goblin were a hundred times more spectacular than similar sequences in the first Spiderman, although admittedly much more violent and visceral, literally bonecrunching. I look forward to watching this film again on dvd where I can turn the mute on and fast forward to the action sequences. Yes, the Sandman reminded me of The Mummy all over again right down to the howling sandstorm sequences. Yes, Venom needs a dentist. Yes, Kirsten Dunst should not sing and Bryce Dallas Howard should sing, "Do you know the way to Mandalay?" Yes, objects like wedding rings and lockets are hopelessly fetishized. And Tobey Maguire? There comes that sad moment when an actor caricatures his own portrayal of a character; a sure sign to move on before getting caught in the web of Spiderman 4.
More from Spider-Man 3:
- Reviews: Spider-Man 3 REVIEW
More from Spider-Man 3:
- Reviews: Spider-Man 3 REVIEW
Man that's harsh. My friend saw it the other day and he liked it, but then again he's in the business of selling toys from these films so I don't know if I completely trust him. But I will be seeing this when it's released over here in a few weeks.
I agree wholeheartedly with this review. Saw it last night and I can barely remember what happened in it. Personally, I didn't even like the first Harry/Peter fight. I found it very dark and difficult to guage what was going on. Who's flying where and what angle am I looking at the action at again?
I agree about the quality of the CGI, except maybe for the effects of the black oil symbiote when it's crawling around or attaching itself to someone.
Once my wife and I left the theater and started talking about it, we realized just how many aspects of the movie made us say, "Why did person A do that? Why didn't person B do this? What was the point of person C's role?" Just too many headscratching moments that made you say, "What were the filmmakers thinking?" I especially agree about the butler scene, but the scene with Peter taking the piece of the symbiote to Dr. Conner is also a kind of a headscratcher, too. Like it was just shoved into the movie for a, "I don't think the audience will understand what is going on, so we better just have a scientist explain it to them."
Personally, I didn't even feel that invested in the Sandman's character arc, though I probably felt the MOST invested in that one than any of the other characters.
Spiderman 3 is just a big, big mess overall. Soulless and overly calculated, a product of a marketing machine more than of a filmmaker who loves his subject.
Thank god some reviewers are finally being honest as to what basically amounts to a sad start of the summer for me, and there are 4 more pt.3's this summer. What makes this all the more heartbreaking is that while X3 was trash from people who make trash (Ratner), this is from the people who made 2 great films before.
This is disappointing. I've also read similar lukewarm reviews elsewhere and there seems to be a general consensus. I knew there had to be another reason for Sony/Columbia's decision to release the film abroad first (aside from trying to get the U.S. film premier into Tribeca). It will probably still rake in a lot of business/money this weekend. This isn't looking good for the upcoming "Transformers" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" movies which may not be any better.
Worst movie I've seen in 2007. I've published my review over at my site if you'll allow for a little self promotion here on Twitch. But the gist of the artcle is: don't pay money to see this.
Great Review, Canfield!
I haven't seen it yet (plan to do so tomorrow), but now I know what exactly to expect out of it :)
total disapoinment, i hope the rest of the season improves a bit or else i would never see another franchise in my life
Thanks for the heads-up. How could this movie be anything but bad? The whole superhero concept was juvenile to start with and is played out.
I actually thought it was pretty good. Sure, it was quirky, awkward and a little silly at moments, and sure there was a couple of plot holes, but it was still good. I'm not emo. I'm not mad. This movie actually was good. People interpret things differently. I liked it.
It was a fairly good film, but nowhere near good enough to warrant its astronomical budget.
as T.S. Eliot wrote..."What happens when a new work of art is created is something that happens simultaneously to all the works that preceded it. The existing monuments create an ideal order among themselves, which is modified by the introduction of the new(the really new) workof art among them....Whoever has approved this idea of order will not find it preposterous that the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past."
i doubt your enjoyably scathing review would be so passionate had we not been given Spider-Man 2...
tangent...i have unlimited hate for the insultingly stupid X-Men movies after watching the X-Men Animated Series of the 90's
> i doubt your enjoyably scathing review would be so passionate had we not been given Spider-Man 2... Spiderman 2 and am sure my disappointment stemmed from that.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Peter's EMO power when he went "Evil". That was the funniest thing, that entire scene was so ambarasing I could hardly stand to watch. Good thing laughing makes it hard to concentrate.
whats wrong with you all?!!! I loved it. Sure, it was silly at times, and a bit stupid, but all movies have their flaws. It was great. I reckon it was the best of all three so far and I really hope there will be a number four.
Bring on Spiderman 4 !!!!
Spiderman 3 was a great dissapointment. Going into the movie im sure every viewer expect it to be great or even better then 1 and 2 but this was not so. Its lame plot and somewhat overly cheezy parts make for a flop. In the movie MJ's singing carrier is short lived and hard for the audience to listen to, was this some foreshadowing for the audience that the movie would do exactly that? Near the end of the film everyone in the theater stood up to leave and the movie started again...was it just me or was the movie much to long? The highlight had to be spiderman sporting his hardcoar emo hair do after being takin over by venom...now that spells scarry! Through the fast paced chase scenes to the fact that every character in this movie broke into tears at one point or another shows that the facts are clear, this movie ruined spideys image. As all of the people in the theater got up at the end, humming about how they wasted their night and money while rubbing their bottoms because they had gone numb from sitting to long the sucess of the movie was blatently clear; what a waste!
I'm really happy to know movie goers and critics alike can see how Spider-Man 3 falls way short of the previous installments. Movie Execs have to understand that the audience isn't going to enjoy a meal, just because it cost an arm and a leg to prepare. We just want a good well thought out movie.
I'm hoping word of mouth kills this movie at the box office in the coming weeks. We need to send a message. We are tired of execs ruining movies!!!
So I saw it. Like a train wreck, I just couldn't look away. Parts of it I liked. Other parts made me cringe and groan in a very negative way. But, as far as I'm concerned, the movie redeems itself with Stan Lee's cameo. It brought tears to my eyes. And Venom looked cool. Not as good as the first two, but superior to X-men 3 (which suffered from the same problem: too much story to tell) and Superman Returns (barf).
All I can say is that Spider Man 3 managed to destroy the great image of Spider Man. We need it be rescued as was done with Batman in "Batman Beginsthis movie" Tobey and Kirsten should have never been considered, they just suck in every possible way. Don't waste a dime on this movie. The makers of this movie should never be permitted to make any gains. Spiderman 3 is an insult to anyone's intelligence.
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Animation work in spiderman-3 is superb.....[:)]
making of sandman is great....
i like spiderman-3 very much.
i am waiting for spiderman-4
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