Ramblings Spider-Man 3 Coverage: The Review

Well, here we go. As most if not all Spidey fans, I have waited with great anticipation for this film for the last three years.

The only place I can begin is by paraphrasing Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott: “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to put too many villains in a superhero movie.”

This is my main gripe with Spider-Man 3, an entry in a film series that had a very high bar set by its predecessor, Spider-Man 2. SM-2 is damn near perfect, as is the first Spider-Man film. They both have their flaws from comic book fan and movie making standpoints, but they’re excellent films.

Spider-Man 3 doesn’t reach the bar set for it. It’s close, but it just doesn’t make it.

Is Spider-Man 3 a bad movie? A lot of reviewers out there who don’t know the comic source material will say yes. Most reviewers I’ve read/heard are blasting the fact that one key character gets amnesia in the film. They call this “clichéd” and “soap operatic.” What they don’t realize is that this character got amnesia in virtually the same way he does in Spider-Man 3. So if this a person’s criteria for saying this movie’s bad, they need to do their research.

I bring this up to make an important point before I offer my grade of the film: Spider-Man 3, like the films that led up to it, is one of the most faithful comic book adaptations ever made. The spirit of the characters in the Spider-Man mythos, along with many solid plot elements and characters, are taken straight from the pages of Spider-Man comics. The Superman films can’t claim this, the original Batman films can’t claim this, no other series of comic films can claim this.

But the Spidey films can, and they can continue to be lauded as such with the addition of Spider-Man 3.

But to answer that earlier question: is Spider-Man 3 a bad movie? By no means.

But it isn’t a great movie, like the first two films were, despite their flaws.

And that’s what’s most disappointing. SM-3 is just good. And I have to say that as a fan who’s waited for three years for this movie, I wanted more than just good.

On to my review.

The Good

What does work in Spider-Man 3 is everything we’ve come to expect to work from the last two movies. The characterization of the central characters is top notch, as always. These characters are for the most part the characters they are in the comics the movies get their life from.

There’s a moral struggle for Peter Parker, our hero. He’s struggling not just with colorful villains but also with himself. He runs up against the darker side of his human nature in this film and is, like most of us, disgusted by what he sees and tries to overcome it. He struggles for his own redemption and is a means to the redemption of a few other characters. The strong moral aspect of the character and the films thus far are retained here and expanded upon.

Like the previous two films, this film’s got everything a moviegoer could want: action, adventure, romance, drama, thrills, chills, and spills.

The casting is spot on. There are a few new additions to the core cast established in the first film and they blend in seamlessly and are a perfect fit for the characters they play.

Finally, the theme of “with great power comes great responsibility,” which is central to the entire Spider-Man mythos and which is really about who we choose to be and the power of our choices, is explored in depth in new ways that build on the themes in the first two films.

The Bad

Alright, the bad. Since there’s another level below bad, bad isn’t terrible or horrid. It’s just not good.

The number one bad element of the film is its clutter. There are just too many villains, a fact many fans (myself included) have feared since the villain lineup was announced last year. We all remember how the Batman films began to go downhill by adding more than one villain, and we all wondered if this would be the case with SM-3. Sadly, it is. I’ve already discussed the comic back stories of the three villains in a previous entry. If you read that entry, you’ll recall that two of those villains, Harry Osborn as Green Goblin II and Venom, had a lot of history to them. So to try and put those two guys together with yet ANOTHER villain while also juggling the thematic elements of the previous two films is just too much. Spider-Man 3 is a bloated movie because of the villains, and all of them are great characters, but not one gets enough time to develop and grow because there just isn’t time in one movie. In my opinion, the solution would have been to remove Sandman, as much as I love him as a character, and keep the focus on Harry’s feud with Peter and the birth of Venom. The movie would have been much tighter and had a greater emotional impact.

The other bad thing about Spider-Man 3 is that the film is rushed in general. Director Sam Raimi spoiled us with the last two films, which took time to develop and explore characters. Here, new characters are tossed in who are extremely significant in the comics mythos, yet get maybe two or three minutes overall to appear. Even worse is the fact that our main characters don’t really get all the time they should because there’s just too much going on in the film. This fundamental flaw of the film’s pacing and story leads to the final aspect of this review…

The Ugly

Here we go. The first ugly thing about SM-3 is that way back before this film went into post-production, the studio went to Sam Raimi and said, “Hey Sam, the fans really love Venom, you’ve got to use him.” Sam’s initial response was “go away,” because Sam hates the character of Venom and prefers the original 60s villains. But he caved to the folks who cut his very sizable checks. Thus, we have the introduction of a character whose appearance was well-paced in the comic books but who just can’t be given the best treatment in one film.

As a result, too many things have to happen to bring Venom to life later on in the film. Something’s gotta happen so that Spidey can get his black costume, he’s got to loose his black costume, someone else has to find the black costume so they can become Venom. That’s enough for one movie, but probably would have been better stretched out across two. But here we have this entire storyline shoved into a film that’s already got threads to tie up from two other fairly story-heavy films. Because of this, both character and story suffer and in my eyes, that’s just unforgivable.

The last ugly thing about Spider-Man 3 is tied to the other points already brought up: the use of what we call in literature the “Deus ex machina” or “the god from the machine.” This refers to a plot device that is used when a writer has written their characters into a corner and doesn’t know how to get them out. In Greek dramas, a person dressed as a god of myth would be lowered onstage and use their powers to get the characters out of the tight spot they were in.

We see this used in Spider-Man 3 at least twice and it’s downright sickening, because this is not the kind of thing Sam Raimi does. He’s a high-caliber filmmaker and creator, and his last two films had logic and reason as the basis for character development. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see a very knowledgeable butler appear in the film with key knowledge he should’ve shared two movies ago and a TV newscast that is used to convey critical story points. The oldest rule of writing is “show, don’t tell,” and the scene in question breaks it.

There are also some downright cheesy, cringeworthy scenes in this film. Just stupid, poorly-acted, overwrought scenes, which thankfully come from extras in the film and not main characters. But they’re still awful and they succeed in taking you out of the film. The last two films were immersive experiences. You felt you were there with Peter Parker and his world in the last two films, but towards the end of SM-3, you feel a disconnect.

Final Grade

I have to give Spider-Man 3 a B+. I know that sounds like a generous grade given my negative comments, but the fact remains that this movie is a very good movie that could be great and that it continues the legacy of its predecessors as one of the most faithful comic book films of all time. And Spider-Man 3 is a fun and moving film that actually has substance and meaning, unlike a lot of the crap that fill theaters today. With a few changes, this would have been the epic film that the second movie raised the bar for.

So if you love Spider-Man and/or you loved the first two movies and want to enjoy a good movie that will move you and make you think, go see Spider-Man 3. It's a satisfying and worthy addition to the series. And like the last two films, it really does have everything you could want in a movie.

So as Stan Lee is famous for saying, both in the comics and in his cameo in Spider-Man 3, “Nuff said.”