Image courtesy of impawards.com
Director:
Sam Raimi
Cast:
Tobey Maguire……….Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Kirsten Dunst……….Mary Jane Watson
James Franco……….New Goblin/Harry Osborn
Thomas Haden Church……….Sandman/Flint Marko
Topher Grace……….Venom/Eddie Brock
Bryce Dallas Howard……….Gwen Stacy
Rosemary Harris……….May Parker
J.K. Simmons……….J. Jonah Jameson
James Cromwell……….Captain Stacy
Theresa Russell……….Emma Marko
Dylan Baker……….Dr. Curt Connors
Bill Nunn……….Joseph ‘Robbie’ Robertson
Bruce Campbell……….Maître d’
Elizabeth Banks……….Miss Brant
Cliff Robertson……….Uncle Ben Parker
To call Spider-Man 3 disappointing would be a disservice to what Sam Raimi has tried to accomplish. It would be more fair to call Spider-Man 3 surprising or, better yet, shocking. It is incredible to think that a major sequel was allowed to be as campy as the web-slinger’s third outing and there is something satisfying in seeing Raimi take advantage of the freedom afforded him. Finally fans are reminded that Raimi was indeed the director of The Evil Dead Trilogy.
That reminder takes a while to set in as the first act of the film closely resembles its predecessors. It’s tough being Spider-Man, love triangles are tricky, sympathetic bad guys are just trying to get ahead, lather, rinse, repeat. But then something strange happens, some black symbiotic goo melds with Spider-Man’s suit and he goes a little haywire. As Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) descends into madness, the movie is right alongside him. It becomes difficult to tell when Raimi wants his film to be taken seriously and that is hard for an audience with high expectations to deal with.
It is safest to assume that Raimi is always directing with tongue-in-cheek, but doing so diminishes the impact of the film. Playful directing or no, Spider-Man 3 has a lot to cover. There is plenty to blame: too many villains, too many love triangles, too many fight scenes. It seems little room is left for plot development which is unfortunate since so many great ideas are present. However, the only evidence of those ideas exists in brief scenes of dialogue that do little more than move viewers from one action set piece, or cool visual effects scene, to another.
The film editing is so frantic that one does not want to get too settled in to any one aspect of the film. The fights scenes are incredible, the effects are remarkable (especially Sandman), and the montages are unbridled bliss (watch as Peter Parker gets all emo). But it is hard to appreciate any of that because the film never slows down enough to allow the audience to soak it in. It is almost as if the filmmakers were afraid that there may be no Spider-Man 4 and wanted to make sure they got everything in before the franchise ended. Ending a franchise is always a massive undertaking that deserves as much, if not more, care as developing it in the first place.
Considering the possible weight of ending a franchise on his shoulders, Raimi deserves credit for keeping Spider-Man 3 from being too heavy handed. His unique style makes the film one of the more watchable train wrecks in recent memory. In a movie where acting is merely an afterthought, Raimi coaxes wonderfully over the top performances from much of his cast.
Everybody looks to be having great fun, but no one more so than James Franco as Harry Osborn. In an early fight between Spider-Man and Harry’s New Goblin, Harry bumps his head and suffers from short-term memory loss. His ailment adds fresh intrigue to not only his relationship with Peter Parker, but also his involvement in the love triangle including Peter and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst).
That plotline would be enough on its own, but there are super villains to attend to as well. It is a shame that Venom (Topher Grace) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) are not each given their own film to face off against Spider-Man. Their union against Spider-Man is barely explained and very illogical considering their motives. In fact, their alliance is so perfunctory to the movie’s conclusion that it does not exist until the last possible minute.
Of course questioning the logic in a comic book movie becomes redundant, but it makes it easy to see why “disappointing” might be the first word that comes to mind when the credits roll. Instead, one should consider what he or she expected going in and ponder just how far off course Spider-Man 3 goes. It is hard to be upset with a sequel that is such a departure from that which came before it. At its most convoluted Spider-Man 3 is comfortable with itself, even if what it is is something that no one expected.
