The Official Spider-Man 3 Discussion Thread!

[The Curmudgeon]

Well, it is NOW upon us, and I've gotta say..... I have a slightly bad feeling. I've read a few (usually reliable) reviews and they've not been too kind. Well, they've all said it's GOOD just not.. great.

Anyway... your thoughts. Have you seen it? Will you see it? Good, bad, could have been better....?

Let's hear it.

[The Curmudgeon]

Well, I suppose that's what happens when you start a website and don't give anyone the details just yet - you end up being the first to comment on your own threads.

So, saw Spider-Man 3 today (just a day late) and here's the scoop. I won't give away plot details (who lives, who dies or whatever), and if anyone else is going to do, please write what I'm about to here...

SPOILERS

For a start, I've read people complaining that its too long, but for me this is a good thing. The film doesn't just treat Sandman as A Bad Guy, he gets a full backstory and the whole love triangle between Peter, MJ and Harry is given good mileage too. The main fault lies in the entire films selling point - Venom.

I always thought Sandman would be the one to get shoddy treatment, but it's actually Eddie Brock's screaming monster who comes off looking bad. He's not given nearly enough time and isn't the all-powerful threat you would expect - Sandman is. People ignorant to the comics won't even know he's CALLED Venom (he's never named) and when he talks he doesn't refer to himself as "We" or "Us", a MAJOR character flaw. It's a really frustrating point, but Venom comes off as something of an after-thought.

That being said, it's still easily better than 99% of other comic book adaptations, and some of the fight scenes are breathtaking. Tobey Maguire gives a superb performance as the sleazy, corrupted Peter (check out those dance moves) but the whole film is merely good, not great. Disappointing, given that everything about the first two films was so RIGHT, to have the third have a host of things that are wrong.

Still go and see it, though.

END SPOILERS

So there you have it. Not the superb swan-song we were all hoping for, but - hey - it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

[trashcanman]

I've been looking for a place worthy of my rantings about this film for days now. Spidey goes emo? Dear God, how can this be so? The symbiote changes Peter Parker into Jared Leto, Venom spends most of his pitifully short screen time with Eric Foreman from "That 70's Show"'s face (real scary ) Scenes straight out of "The Mask" and "Saturday Night Fever", and what was up with that cookie scene? There is a difference between a film being funny and a film being a joke. Raimi has always been able to tread that line nicely, but he's just stepped over it in a big way. After producing "Boogeyman" and two god-awful "Grudge" remakes this was the last straw for me. Sam Raimi is now on my shitlist. After the credits rolled at the end of "Spidey 3"'s midnight showing I was hoping that I'd fallen asleep at the start and the movie itself had been a nightmare. Then I read the reviews and I knew it was all true. The effects were awesome to behold but I feel like everything else was just wrong. The Nu Goblin suit and "Back to the Future 2" hoverboard were lame, the acting on all sides was either hammier than Bruce Campbell's cameo or so overwrought (with the hugging, and the crying, and the I love you, and the oy glaven!) I began to pray for the death of the characters I loved in the two previous entries. I know I'm being hyper-critical, but I really thought this film was going to be the best thing ever. Not just the best movie, either: the best. Thing. Ever. It's not entirely wretched, but the problems with the film are so huge they overwhelm even the amazing action sequences. My biggest fear has come true: this film will make insane $$$ but people will leave extremely unhappy, not enough people will go see #4, the studio will cut the budget, #5 will be "Batman & Robin" quality, and nobody will touch the Spiderman property for a decade. I love this character and franchise so much it pains me to see them messed up this badly right at what should have been it's greatest triumph. There is no reason this movie shouldn't have rocked our worlds, it had everything in the world going for it and Raimi and Arad dropped the ball big time. On the upside, the villains for #4 have been announced and it's Carnage and the long-awaited Lizard. Please let this next one be all it can be and prove me wrong.