Stoobie reviews... Spiderman 3
I have just felt what could be the final nail in the coffin for the Spider-man movie franchise. It was painful and I am disappointed.
Let me start with an explanation for my disappointment. When the first Spider-man movie was set to be released way back in 2002, I was excited. Having loved Spider-man since I was a kid I had high expectations as I was still only in my early teens, 14 years old if I recall correctly. An age where I should have been raving about girls and... well that's pretty much all that's going through the head of a typical teenage boy. But I digress. The 12A rating had been used for the first time ever with the film stirring controversy amongst parents, worried about their children playing witness to the fantasy violence within its shots. And to top that all off, the film had already been delayed by several months due to a last minute edit following the events of 9/11, in which a sequence of the film was removed where Spider-man catches a helicopter in a web between, you guessed it, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. Spider-man 2 came in 2004 bringing to the big screen the classic Spider-man villain, Doctor Octopus. The film was nominated for three Oscars, Best achievement in Sound Editing and Best achievement in Sound Mixing and picked up the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. It was also nominated for two BAFTAS, but did not win them. The film was met well by critics and fans alike and did very well in the box office. I too, enjoyed them immensely.
Thus the hype I have felt for the past few months of it's production. I have followed eagerly as each trailer came out. I have watched in awe as the images of Venom were leaked onto the Internet, dripping through the censor's fingers like some black fluidic - albeit paranormal - symbiote. I even had doubts that they were trying to cram too many villains into one movie, akin to the Batman Movies of the early 1990's. Rubber nipples? George Clooney playing Batman as gay?! Although he does look good with a moustache as we saw in the Oceans Thirteen trailer, he looks like Freddy Mercury of Queen fame. But today I sat down in the cinema with my mates from Uni and we watched.
The first half of the film seemed to go without a hitch. Spidey introduces himself to the audience with a bit of self-narration. New York loves him, Mary-Jane Watson loves him, and there is a chance for a wedding. But what's this? An old friend with a grudge and a new villain of sand with circumstance clouding his moral boundaries? This stuff is noticeably cliched, but works and can be forgiven - as it was in Spider-man 2. Spider-man acquires his new suit and with it comes great power and whoops, responsibility goes to the wind. Spider-man turns into a total twat. Sam Raimi needs a slap for what comes next. Cheese, cheese, cheese. Nothing but freakin' cheese. I won't reveal what occurs but suffice to say, it is totally freakin' hilarious. Funny, but not in a way that compliments the context at all. It spoils what could be a very good mood. In the comics (WARNING: GEEK OVERLOAD) Spiderman turns psycho. Not Emo! He even has a freakin' swept fringe. I could totally relate to Harry and Sandman at this point, even I wanted to hit Spider-man.
But, for all it's stories flaws, the film was visually stunning. The fight sequences were awesome to watch and their rendering of Venom was brilliant. From the look of the pictures leaked on the internet I was afraid they weren't going to pull Venom off, but they do and Topher Grace (see That 70's show) pulls off the character of Eddie Brock well and that of Venom better. If I were to have my way with this movie, I would remove the Sandman element, which in my opinion was totally unnecessary, and the film could have been just as good without a pointless enemy. The character of Venom/Eddie Brock needed far more expansion on and whilst the angle of focussing on the hero has genuinely been an improvement in the super-hero genre, such as the Spiderman movies before this and Batman Begins focussing on Batman, Spider-man 3 fails to tell us enough about the torments of Eddie Brock that would lead him to give up himself so totally to the Symbiote. That said, I am a huge fan of Spider-man and my views on the canon could conflict with those of someone who has merely enjoyed the movies without prior knowledge.
If you enjoyed the action of the last movies, this movie may test your patience. If you enjoyed the emotion of the last movies, you may find yourself cheated as they give the emotional chips a fine layer of melted cheese. But if you are a big enough Spider-man fan or haven't been so tightly gripped by the hype as myself, by all means go see this movie and make up your own mind and please, please tell me if I am wrong. I might just get where you're coming from.
Excelsior Spider-Fans!
Let me start with an explanation for my disappointment. When the first Spider-man movie was set to be released way back in 2002, I was excited. Having loved Spider-man since I was a kid I had high expectations as I was still only in my early teens, 14 years old if I recall correctly. An age where I should have been raving about girls and... well that's pretty much all that's going through the head of a typical teenage boy. But I digress. The 12A rating had been used for the first time ever with the film stirring controversy amongst parents, worried about their children playing witness to the fantasy violence within its shots. And to top that all off, the film had already been delayed by several months due to a last minute edit following the events of 9/11, in which a sequence of the film was removed where Spider-man catches a helicopter in a web between, you guessed it, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. Spider-man 2 came in 2004 bringing to the big screen the classic Spider-man villain, Doctor Octopus. The film was nominated for three Oscars, Best achievement in Sound Editing and Best achievement in Sound Mixing and picked up the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. It was also nominated for two BAFTAS, but did not win them. The film was met well by critics and fans alike and did very well in the box office. I too, enjoyed them immensely.
Thus the hype I have felt for the past few months of it's production. I have followed eagerly as each trailer came out. I have watched in awe as the images of Venom were leaked onto the Internet, dripping through the censor's fingers like some black fluidic - albeit paranormal - symbiote. I even had doubts that they were trying to cram too many villains into one movie, akin to the Batman Movies of the early 1990's. Rubber nipples? George Clooney playing Batman as gay?! Although he does look good with a moustache as we saw in the Oceans Thirteen trailer, he looks like Freddy Mercury of Queen fame. But today I sat down in the cinema with my mates from Uni and we watched.
The first half of the film seemed to go without a hitch. Spidey introduces himself to the audience with a bit of self-narration. New York loves him, Mary-Jane Watson loves him, and there is a chance for a wedding. But what's this? An old friend with a grudge and a new villain of sand with circumstance clouding his moral boundaries? This stuff is noticeably cliched, but works and can be forgiven - as it was in Spider-man 2. Spider-man acquires his new suit and with it comes great power and whoops, responsibility goes to the wind. Spider-man turns into a total twat. Sam Raimi needs a slap for what comes next. Cheese, cheese, cheese. Nothing but freakin' cheese. I won't reveal what occurs but suffice to say, it is totally freakin' hilarious. Funny, but not in a way that compliments the context at all. It spoils what could be a very good mood. In the comics (WARNING: GEEK OVERLOAD) Spiderman turns psycho. Not Emo! He even has a freakin' swept fringe. I could totally relate to Harry and Sandman at this point, even I wanted to hit Spider-man.
But, for all it's stories flaws, the film was visually stunning. The fight sequences were awesome to watch and their rendering of Venom was brilliant. From the look of the pictures leaked on the internet I was afraid they weren't going to pull Venom off, but they do and Topher Grace (see That 70's show) pulls off the character of Eddie Brock well and that of Venom better. If I were to have my way with this movie, I would remove the Sandman element, which in my opinion was totally unnecessary, and the film could have been just as good without a pointless enemy. The character of Venom/Eddie Brock needed far more expansion on and whilst the angle of focussing on the hero has genuinely been an improvement in the super-hero genre, such as the Spiderman movies before this and Batman Begins focussing on Batman, Spider-man 3 fails to tell us enough about the torments of Eddie Brock that would lead him to give up himself so totally to the Symbiote. That said, I am a huge fan of Spider-man and my views on the canon could conflict with those of someone who has merely enjoyed the movies without prior knowledge.
If you enjoyed the action of the last movies, this movie may test your patience. If you enjoyed the emotion of the last movies, you may find yourself cheated as they give the emotional chips a fine layer of melted cheese. But if you are a big enough Spider-man fan or haven't been so tightly gripped by the hype as myself, by all means go see this movie and make up your own mind and please, please tell me if I am wrong. I might just get where you're coming from.
Excelsior Spider-Fans!
posted by Stewart Paske at 11:33 pm
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