Really, really disappointed.
Spider-Man 3 has its good moments, but the desire to throw in everything (including the kitchen sink) ends up making the movie a largely disjointed experience. You get the sense that they felt that this would be the last movie in a trilogy – not likely now that it’s grossed over $189 million on its opening weekend – and felt they had to include so much.
The Good:
- Spidey swinging is always fun
- The fights were dynamic like they should be
- The Peter/MJ romance (although I still feel that Kirsten Dunst is woefully miscast in the role of Mary Jane, click here for how Mary Jane is supposed to look)
- Sandman’s origin
The Bad:
- The big holes in Sandman’s resolution
- Not enough superheroics in favor of melodrama
- Venom – there was no reason they had to put Venom in this movie. It feels rushed and squeezed in at the last minute, almost as if the script was done and somebody said “Oh yeah, Venom!”
- “Dark Peter Parker” – Tobey Maguire is a good actor (Cider House Rules, Pleasantville) but it didn’t show here at all
I really liked Spider-Man 1 and 2 and thought that they helped to raise the bar for superhero movies, but Spider-Man 3 was a huge step backwards. If they had limited the plot to Sandman and the New Green Goblin, I think it would have worked much better. Adding all the other elements bloated the production and felt like the worst kind of “filler” material.
Rating: 2.5/5
I’ll agree with you on every point but, add one thing I didn’t like:
Mary Jane as played by Kirsten Dunst looks like she did in the early 60’s, when I read Spider – Man. I didn’t like Jonah Jameson, or the Aunt or Peter Parker for that matter (in the comics I mean), so I didn’t like Spider Man
As for this movie, that “thing from Outer Space” was badly planned. I won’t say how, because I’d have to throw in a spoiler.
It felt like they complete cut something out of the end of the movie – nothing about the Sandman resolution made any sense whatsoever.
Actually, now that I think about it, I bet the Sandman story, rather than having something cut from it, had stuff added – the entire movie makes sense if you leave out the motivation of his kid, and the speech at the end. I’m betting that they added it in to make clear that ‘vengeful Spidey’ was the wrong path for Spidey.
I didn’t mind the Venom stuff – it was all of a piece with Peter finding the dark side of vengeance and rage. I suppose you could do the ‘black suit’ without adding Venom into this particular story.
I liked Harry in this movie, which surprised me because I found Franco annoying in the first two.
I like the gawky daughter of the landlord. I love the fact that these movies keep bringing back a large cast of characters. I like Harry’s butler, who is kind of a creepy version of Batman’s Alfred.
Bruce Campbell still rocks
Go Old School to see how Mary Jane really looked like
Of course the whole MJ thing was ruined by making both Peter and MJ college students instead of professionals. In the end, I think Dunst’s character lacks the self-confidence I expect from Mary Jane.
Why don’t they make another Hellboy movie. I liked that one.
Mary Jane as played by Kirsten Dunst looks like she did in the early 60’s = Go Old School to see how Mary Jane really looked like
“Why don’t they make another Hellboy movie. I liked that one.”
They are.