Spider-Man 3

[D!]

admin said:

People are bitching about the flag part? Heh.

Yep. Nothin' like a little Ugly Canadianism to poison some people's experiences.

I mean, Spidey's outfit is red, white and blue. His freakin' costume is practically a flag, people.

[Ravager]

The flag was the least of my problems with the movie. The lack of comic continuity was the least of my problem with the movie.

Tobey Maguire walking through it with the look on his face of "Get this done with; get my paycheck; start doing real movies"

Kirsten Dunst looking like a zombie and acting just as well;

the dance sequence (both of them)

Those were my problems with the movie.

I didn't hate the movie as much as some of my friends did. But did this movie knock my socks off? Did it fill me with glee like part 2? Did it make me excited for the next installment?

No. Sam Raimi did not do his best work with this movie. I liked Thomas Hayden Church. Liked Topher Grace. Liked James Franco. Howard and Cromwell were wasted. JK Simmons was brilliant as always.

But the bottom line is I felt cheated. In terms of other movie franchises? This is the Return of the Jedi of the Spiderman Films. Not great, not a waste of my life, but not something that will be as enduring as the previous entries.

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

Wow, I actually liked MJ MORE in this one than either of the previous two installments. I thought Dunst and Maguire rocked it out in this one.

[KRENSHOV]

I thought the first half or so was great, and was waiting for it to even get better...but that certainly didn't happen. My major problem with the whole movie had more to do with the Goblin then anything.

*Spoilers*

How the hell does he get half his face blown off, heals and decides to become a good guy in a day? The other part that made the whole sequence feel awkward was Topher's voice remained the same inside the suit... it just was really weird. Then Sandman shows up at the end of everything and decides to be a good guy? Eh, I don't know guys. It just felt like they didn't know how to end it, but that's just my opininon.

[Scott [NAPW Staff]]

There were parts of the movie I liked, but overall it was a trainwreck. There were too, too many balls in the air and Sam Raimi is apparently not a good juggler. There were some very bad interactions between the characters, some of the acting was atrocious, the plot was completely scatterbrained, and the ending seemed rushed.

For pete's sake, there were several portions of the movie where the characters literally explained what was going in, just so the audience didn't get lost. The news report near the end was particularly bad (watch for the part where the on-the-spot lady is watching the fight up above, and then it cuts to the studio where she's looking directly into the camera. Brilliant.)

Because Diego is suggesting that I didn't like this movie because I'm a big Spider-Man purist (I'm not), I want to clarify. This wasn't just a bad Spider-Man movie, it was a bad movie.

Prepare for spoilers!
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From a comic book fan standpoint, I was pleased with some of the choices, but some of them left me unsatisfied. The crappy emo-look to characterize the angsty Peter Parker was ridiculous. Harry's bizarre extreme sports getup as the "New Goblin" made me laugh - he should have put on his dad's old digs, especially for the final battle. The poor story development around Venom also left me scratching my head, because the symbiont plays such a vital role in the movie. Also Gwen and Captain Stacy were totally unnecessary.

And the musical breaks for MJ, and the dance number for Peter? Superfluous and many.

I did like some of the choices. The final battle was excellent, if ultimately a little rushed. I loved a LOT of the stuff they did with Harry, even if I didn't care for his outfit. Topher Grace was spot-on, and I even came to the point where I was wishing he'd been cast as Spider-Man, because I was so underwhelmed by Tobey Maguire's performance. And the Sandman was the highlight of the movie, by far.

The moment in the movie I thought was totally genius?

Waitress: How's the pie?
Harry: It's so good.

Don't get me wrong, I got my geek out on this film. But I doubt it would stand up to a repeat viewing.

Ultimately, despite his super agility, Spider-Man fell flat on his face. It's not a 15 dollar, opening weekend worthy movie. Watch it in the dollar theatres.

[Brian Bruno]

My popcorn actually cost more than the ticket. True story.

[Stylin' Kyle Roberts [REBEL]]

Saw it with Stan and Dev tonight.

I'm going to say I liked it more than Stan, Dev, Scott, Allan, and Krenshov. I liked it less than Ro. Diego and I are probably on the same page. But then, we were for the second one as well.

I took it with a grain of salt. Stan was wondering why Peter was such an ass in the first part, not caring about Mary Jane. Hey, his life as Spidey was looking up, and he was genuinely excited to the point of it taking over his thoughts. "Why was Mary Jane such a bitch?" Well, she could have been using Peter as a scapegoat for her life not doing so well.

Things I loved? Thomas Haden Church. Topher Grace. Bruce Campbell's scene. Peter being a symbiote-influenced dick. J.K. Simmons. The action scenes. Yes, even the Spidey/Goblin team-up. Because, let's face it, when it comes to Marvel team-ups in movies? That's pretty much as good as you're gonna get.

Three things made me GROAN: The totally unnecessary retcon to show that Sandman was the man who killed Uncle Ben. (You mean to tell me that letting a man die in the first movie didn't release Pete's vengeance enough? Wait a sec, shouldn't Peter have had SOME kind of remorse about letting a guy fall to his death if it turns out that he wasn't the guy who killed Ben?) And, of course, the world's dumbest butler. (So, let me get this straight: You didn't tell Harry the truth for two years for what? Shits and giggles? Man, you think that that sort of misunderstanding would be kind of crucial to nip in the bud early on in Harry's career of killing Spider-Man... Also, that guy was a horribly cheesy actor.) Thirdly, completely forgetting his Spider-Sense? Come ON!

But, as I said, I enjoyed the movie regardless. It wasn't as good as number two, but it was a good summer flick. I didn't mind the dance and song sequences, although the emo hair thing could have been left out. Seriously, a cocky smirk and a five o'clock shadow does the trick enough. (Yup, take it from Kyle Roberts.) And thank you to the guy who yelled out, "No! Mary Jane! Don't do it!" during the date she had with Harry. That was pretty damn funny.

And to all the flag-groaners, you are aware that Spider-Man's got huge roots to New York City? He's more American than Super-Man is...

[Ca$h]

Already posted this on another board, but i don't care. it's going up again...

Alright, my "it's 5 in the morning, the day before finals, and i watched spidey 3 instead of studying" review of spidey 3.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!
You've been warned.

9/10

Seriously.

First off, the black suit. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS my favorite Spidey moment/storyline. They pulled it off flawlessly, especially the enhancement of Parker's behavior. Notice I said enhancement and not change. That's what Doc Connors talked about, the symbiote brings out all of the demons from the host's closet. Spidey becomes the mischeif machine, and Brock becomes the rage-filled Venom.

Secondly, the storyline with Sandman was perfectly executed. It didn't take away from the overall plot of the movie, it just added a semi-serious villian to the mix while Venom was "created" and introduced, something that would've seriously left the movie slowed without it. The redemption scene at the end was nice too, true to the comics if my memory serves.

Third, Venom was BEAUTIFUL. Let me say that again. B-E-A-UTIFUL. e's always been the best comic book villian ever in my eyes, and Raimi didn't disappoint. The scene where the symbiote shows its true self left the door wide open for the birth of Carnage in another chapter.

Fourth, I liked how they ended the Goblin storyline. Though a departure from the comics (in the comics, Harry traps Spidey and MJ (among others) in his house rigged to explode, changing his mind and saving them in time, but dying from the toxic chemicals that make him the Goblin), it was a good fit for the story they had used. Also a good thing that Raimi did his research and made Harry the "new" Goblin, not the Hobgoblin. Common misconception.

...Fifth? Fifth. Right. Fifth thing is...Where was I? Oh yeah. fifth thing is the next movie (and possibly Spidey 5). Personally, I'd like Connors to return and become Lizard. He was always my second favorite villian, behind Venom. Obviously Venom has to come back, so they can eventually bring Carnage into the fray in time for the 5th flick. No Spidey series can be complete without Venom and Carnage.

Some chronological errors that Sam Raimi either ignored or didn't know about:

• Gwen Stacy died before Norman Osborn. The Amazing Spider-Man #121.
  
• Marko was transformed into Sandman by an irradiated beach in Georgia, not a Particle Physics Testing Site in New York.
  
• Dr. Connors lost his arm in a war years before he met Peter. He was also Lizard before he met Peter, but as he was "cured" at one point, that may be what Raimi did with the character.
  
• Brock/Venom ALWAYS spoke in the first person plural in the comics. "We are", not "I am". Major slip-up by the writers, since that was a key point to the symbiote storyline.
  

Other than those issues, I loved it. One of the few movies worth seeing this year, and could end up being the best of 2007 when it's all said and done. That includes predicted smashes like Transformers, Saw 4, and Spawn 2.

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

cash said:

Some chronological errors that Sam Raimi either ignored or didn't know about:

• Gwen Stacy died before Norman Osborn. The Amazing Spider-Man #121.
  
• Marko was transformed into Sandman by an irradiated beach in Georgia, not a Particle Physics Testing Site in New York.
  
• Dr. Connors lost his arm in a war years before he met Peter. He was also Lizard before he met Peter, but as he was "cured" at one point, that may be what Raimi did with the character.
  
• Brock/Venom ALWAYS spoke in the first person plural in the comics. "We are", not "I am". Major slip-up by the writers, since that was a key point to the symbiote storyline.
  

Other than those issues, I loved it. One of the few movies worth seeing this year, and could end up being the best of 2007 when it's all said and done. That includes predicted smashes like Transformers, Saw 4, and Spawn 2.

Ah, but the movies are not making chronological errors to the comic book, since the movies exist in their own brand-new continuity. It's like Ultimate Spider-Man, a "reinvention" of the mythos. Doc Ock had a completely new origin in 2 as well, one that was in many ways better than his comic origin. If you remember, Gobby threw MJ off the bridge in Spider-Man 1 - only the love interest didn't die. Considering Gwen was only introduced in the third film, and only as a minor character, it's not like she needs to die. Although I was almost wondering if MJ would die instead of Gwen, reversing the roles of the two girls... but that was pre-seeing it, and killing MJ would have sucked. You can't really fault the film for doing a different take on a few things. Although now that you mention it, I did not note until you mentioned it that Venom did not speak in "we." Not necessary - possibly too confusing for the non-comic fan to throw in - but it would have been a nice touch.

What I have loved about the Spidey movies is simply that they did NOT shit on the comic fan to make the movies "more accessible." They wrote a new continuity but there are so many moments that a comic fan will recognize and be excited about. Also: J. Jonah Jameson RULES in all three, if not the most in 3. Of course the deleted scene in 2 where he's actually wearing the Spider costume in his darkened office... ho ho ho.

[Ca$h]

i literally fell out of my chair laughing when JJJ's desk shook and the pills went flying. Classic.

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

He slowly composes himself. "...thank you." Hehehe.

[The Assman]

BRUCE CAMPBELL


'Nuff said.

[Ca$h]

Pecker.

Parker.

That's what I said. Pecker.

;D

[Prince Darko]

Batman Begins was dope as fack.

[Link Van Haggard]

So should I go see it then?