Spider-Man 3 (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Spider-Man 3 (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Movie Review: 3 stars for the Effects and villains
Summary: 3 Stars
Ok watched this today and I am an Amazing spiderman fan from way and know all the characters and the timelines.
The good, pretty good job of trying to fit all those characters into one movie and bring us up to date. Best special effects out of all 3 and did not seem to have the number of visual errors the other 2 had. Kirsten Dunst still makes a great Mary Jane and best character acting to date is Rosemary Harris as May Parker with Jk Simmons as J.Jonah Hameson second.
Bruce Campbell in the restaraunt bit, best cameo of all 3 Spiderman Movies for him.
Thought all the actors did a pretty good job all came off as believable.
Could have been done better. The directing on Toby Maguire as Peter Parker, lines were dilvered great as spiderman, always seems a little off as Peter Parker.
The bad:
Spidery still has no Webshooters, He's a genius and created is own webmaking fluid, This should have stayed in since the beginning.
The whole "Bad" Peter Parker/Spiderman bit went on way too long don't know if they just needed filler space or what. Could have cut that down to 30 seconds. IT was just dumb.
Time line is ..WAYYY out of whack. Actual readers of the comics will vouch for this. It was a little hard buying the Sandman story line the way it was presented in the movie. Granted .Sandman was tough to fit his story into one movie.
and Yes I know all the characters, so following the storyline was not that hard, but most people do not. Lose one villian this move probably ends up being a winner.
Movie Review: Every Hero Has a Choice...
Summary: 4 Stars
After two hugely successful films, "Spiderman" and "Spiderman 2" respectively, Sony Pictures `Spiderman' franchise was definitely at the top of its game entering into the third, and for the moment, the supposed final chapter in the `Spiderman' series, at least as far as stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst may be concerned (their contracts were only good for three movies). So, with the primary cast assembled once again, Sam Raimi back in the director's chair, and also serving as co-writer with his brother Ivan and acclaimed writer Alvin Sargent ("Spiderman 2"), the latest chapter for good ol' web head was shaping up to be just as epic, and no doubt visually amazing, as its predecessors. Throw in a few more villains than usual, Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace), and New Goblin (James Franco), to mess with Spidey's life and loves, along with a certain black space goo that will bring out the worst in Peter's psyche, and Spiderman may just be in for a bigger fight than even he can handle. Not to mention the fact that Peter Parker/Spiderman, and all those aforementioned talented people responsible for bringing the character to life, must face the daunting task of attempting to top the first 2 films; but hey, superheroes are used to the odds being stacked against them so this film may have ended up being just business as usual for Spidey, but only time would tell.
"Spiderman 3" begins with Spiderman (Tobey Maguire) becoming swept up in his own hype as the citizens of New York are embracing a sort of Spidey-mania craze. As happy as Peter Parker/Spiderman's life seems to be, events are being set into motion that will soon bring him down off of his high. Peter's girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) is having difficulty finding success on Broadway, and with Peter's newfound arrogance, she is slowly beginning to get jealous of his rising popularity. Also, Peter's former best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), has embraced his father's dark ways and has become the New Goblin, and his only goal is to see Spiderman pay for his father's death. As if this old friend turned new villain, and the possibility of losing his longtime love wasn't enough to deal with, a new super-villain is created in the form of the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). To top things off a strange alien substance has landed on Earth, and has found a kind of kindred spirit in the newly arrogant Spiderman, and as it bonds to its new host, the alien symbiote begins to slowly corrupt Spidey's soul, until he no longer knows who he truly is any longer. This time the odds may just be too much for Spiderman to handle by himself.
If there is one thing that can be said about "Spiderman 3" that audiences and critics everywhere can agree on, it's the fact that this film is definitely the biggest in the franchise thus far. That aside, "Spiderman 3" found our hero not just in new territory by facing more than one villain in the film, but also finding himself disliked by many movie critics and audiences. Where the first two films were universally liked by everyone, this movie split audiences fairly even in their reactions to it. Many felt the story was far too bloated, with way too many new characters introduced, which resulted in uneven character development in some instances, giving the movie a disjointed feel that lacked the smooth flow of the previous two films and even made it a little difficult to follow. Another problem some audiences had was that the movie seemed to focus more on action than on the personal dramas being played out by the characters, not to mention the ending left people a little cold due to some corny dialogue between Peter and Harry, and a somewhat sappy and unbelievable resolution to the Sandman conflict. For those that enjoyed the movie, there were still some gripes that were shared with those that disliked it, but for the most part the gripes didn't seem to affect their view of the movie too much. I for one enjoyed "Spiderman 3", but found it to be the least enjoyable out of the series so far, still it's better than a lot of the action movies that Hollywood churns out. I agreed with some of the sentiments from those that hated the movie, but found some of their thoughts to be off in my opinion. Where I agree the most with those that disliked the film, is in the disappointing resolution to Sandman's conflict with Spiderman, especially in light of events that had occurred moments before between the two characters, but apparently Sam Raimi and his writers liked the resolution, though one does wonder why. Although, it did seem as if the writers were trying too hard to top themselves, which is a possible explanation for why this movie had so much going on, I must disagree with those who found the movie to be too hard to follow or lacked any sense of flow, apparently those audience members must not have been paying attention during the movie.
The cast for "Spiderman 3" continues the tradition of excellence that this series had set forth with the very first movie. Tobey Maguire once again portrays the dual persona of Peter Parker/Spiderman, and this time he gets to show off a new side to Peter that had previously remained untapped, which would be his darker side. This element to the character's story arc was on one hand one of the true highlights of the film, but on the other was one of the film's weak points. I enjoyed seeing an angrier, more aggressive Spiderman, and the black suit definitely looked sleek and cool; however, I grew tired of Peter's darker side being essentially an uber-nerd, granted this is most likely true to character, but a little less of this side could have been shown and I would have been much happier, I especially could have done with some editing during the sequence where Peter is checking out all of the ladies on the streets of New York (too much cheese for my taste). Kirsten Dunst looked much better as Mary Jane Watson in this film than she did in "Spiderman 2", I don't know what happened in the previous movie, but she looked way too pale and even a little unattractive, not to mention the redness in her hair didn't even come close to matching her color in the first film. Thankfully, the make-up and wardrobe department must have heard the complaints from moviegoers that felt the same way about her in "Spiderman 2", and appeared to work harder at matching the hair color from the first film, and actually applying make-up and putting her in clothes that were more stylish and attractive. I mean come on, this is a girl who is supposed to be an actress, yet she dressed in such an unattractive manner that I didn't like seeing her on screen that much, so it was a welcome adjustment in that respect. From a character standpoint, Mary Jane didn't seem to evolve much over the course of this film, her anger at Peter was understandable in certain instances, but in others seemed rather juvenile and out of character. James Franco seemed to really come into his own with Harry Osborn this time around, as he embraced the darker side of his character to become the New Goblin. Other returning favorites, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, and Rosemary Harris as Aunt May, were enjoyable as always, but I found myself wishing for a little bit more Jonah when this film was all said and done. Joining the cast was Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways") as the villainous Sandman, he definitely looked the part, but sadly he wasn't given as much to do as I would have hoped and his character felt a little underused in favor of giving more attention to the other villains in the story. TV star Topher Grace ("That 70's Show") was perfect as the smooth-talking and morally challenged, Eddie Brock, who begins to develop a hatred for Peter Parker and Spiderman, and eventually comes into contact with the very alien symbiote that is plaguing Peter to become one of comic book fans favorite Spiderman villains of all time, Venom. I enjoyed the addition of Venom as a villain for Spidey, but I thought that he would have been better suited to be the only villain in the movie, rather than sharing the stage with two others, plus I wish they would have chosen to have Venom speak more in his monstrous form instead of having the symbiote pull back to show Topher's face a majority of the time... oh well, nothing's perfect I guess.
Another highlight for "Spiderman 3" and the previous two films as well, were the numerous visual effects employed throughout the course of the movie. The effects department was definitely at the top of their game for this movie, the fight scenes were visually stunning and exhilarating, moving at an almost break-neck speed. The CGI for Sandman and Venom was among some of the best I have ever seen captured on film, and you could definitely see that no expense was spared in bringing these popular characters to the screen, and audiences absolutely loved it, regardless of what their overall opinion on the movie may have been.
In the end, "Spiderman 3" was an entertaining installment in the franchise, and would be a fitting end to this hero's journey if that is what is decided. However, I must agree that the story did seem a bit bloated at times and some judicious editing could have been done to smooth things out a little more. Although there were times that I found myself wishing for things to have gone differently over the course of the film, overall I enjoyed the experience of watching this movie, and will continue to enjoy it time and time again.
"Spiderman 3" is rated PG-13 for mild language and violence.
Movie Review: Nowhere near as good as the first two films in the trilogy
Summary: 3 Stars
I don't understand why so many people think "Spider-Man 3" is the best movie in this trilogy. I thought it was the weakest film by far. In the film, Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire), is on top of the world...both literally and figuratively. He's happily involved with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and Spider-Man is loved and adored by all of New York City. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Mary Jane is fired from her first Broadway show, and Peter's freelance photography career is threatened when Eddie (Topher Grace), a rival photographer, tries to steal Peter's thunder. Things with Peter's former best friend, Harry (James Franco), aren't going very well, either, and there's also a new villain in town: the mysterious Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who is connected to the death of Peter's uncle. On top of everything else, Peter encounters a strange black organism that transforms into a powerful black Spider-Man suit, which turns out to have devastating consequences.
The problem with this movie is that there's way too much going on at once, and all of the subplots and supporting characters are significantly short-changed. There were also many more stupid one-liners and failed comedic moments in "Spider-Man 3" than in the first three films, and I was extremely disappointed with the ending, which was unnecessarily depressing. I'm sure the film's producers are hoping for a "Spider-Man 4," but this series just needs to go away before it embarrasses itself even more.
Movie Review: Movies
Summary: 5 Stars
Spider-Man 3 was AWESOME!!! Loved the plot and all the thrilling stunts and special effects. This makes for a great movie because the whole family can watch it. Stayed true to the original comic book and I can't wait for another Spider-Man movie just as good as this one. The ending was great too!Movie Review: Spider-Man 3
Summary: 3 Stars
When I saw "Spider-Man 3" on opening night, I was really let down. How could a film with great-looking villains, amazing special effects, and Peter turning to the dark side, be bad? Well, for one thing, as great as the villains and special effects looked, they lacked heart and soul. As for Peter becoming more hostile and evil, the filmmakers decided to make a joke out of it and the whole storyline lost its punch. Also, by adding more, useless Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson/Harry Osborn drama, the story became bloated, routine, and at times, boring. "Spider-Man 3" was the weakest of the trilogy.
After finally watching the film for a second time, I found the film slightly more tolerable(mainly because I knew what I was in for). It still contained the same problems though. First, the storyline is filled with too many stories that are connected in totally unbelievable ways. Second, even though the audience has been close with the characters the last two films, Peter Parker, M.J. Watson, and others seem very one-dimensional here. Finally, when the film should have been serious, it opted for a more funny tone (which, ironically, I found not funny at all). Even though I have my complaints about the film, there are many parts that I did enjoy, mainly the special effects and fight scenes, James Franco's and Thomas Haden Church's performances, and in my opinion, the greatest scene of the trilogy, the creation of Sandman. These aspects elevate the film from being a waste of time.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is loving life. He has the love of his life, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), he's doing well in school, and most importantly, his alter-ego, Spider-Man is finally being revered for all his hard work. Regardless of all the good things happening to him, there is still a lot he needs to deal with.
First, his best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco), knows he is Spider-Man and still places the death of his father in the web-slinger's hands. Harry eventually dons a new version of the Goblin suit, hoping to get revenge.
Second, Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), the actual killer of Peter's loving uncle, escapes prison and ends up falling into a science experiment that turns him into the Sandman.
Third, M.J. begins to move away from Peter to Harry. After her show does poorly and she's fired from the role, she begins to dislike Peter because of the success he is receiving as Spider-Man. When M.J. turns to Harry, Harry decides to use to his advantage to make Peter miserable.
Four, an alien symbiote lands on Earth and similar to a parasite, uses Peter's suit as a host. When he dons his new black suit, he becomes more powerful, but at the same time, more aggressive and volatile. Once he finally gets rid of the symbiote, it finds a new host: Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who becomes supervillain, Venom.
Five...Six...Seven...Eight...The script is a mess. Besides what I mentioned above, there are many other stories in the film that deal with both Peter and Spider-Man. The main issue I have with the script is that it consists of coincidences. It's a coincidence that Spider-Man is fighting the villain, Sandman, who also happened to kill Peter Parker's uncle. It's a coincidence that the alien symbiote from space landed ten feet away from Peter instead of somewhere else on the planet. It's a coincidence that when Spider-Man rips himself free of the symbiote, his rival at the Daily Bugle, Eddie Brock, is right below him in some random church and then becomes Venom. Once he's Venom, it's a coincidence he knows that M.J. is Peter's love interest even though he's never seen her or the two together before. "Spider-Man 3" is ridded with all these situations that are unbelievable in terms of story and make the film much longer than needed.
Maybe I'm being a tad harsh. After all, the film is based off a comic book. Yet, this doesn't excuse the poorly written characters. The audience has already learned and cared a lot about Peter Parker and M.J, but the third film does nothing new with them. Even though they are together, they are still having tough times to work things out, which I find quite annoying. At the end of "Spider-Man 2," M.J. knew what she was getting into by being with Peter and how he wouldn't always be around for her physically. In this film, she pouts and whines, because Peter is never there for her, making the ending to the great "Spider-Man 2" look pointless. I wished that in this chapter they would have just been a happy couple and had M.J. more in the background of the story.
In a superhero film, the villains are usually the most interesting and the fun part of the film is when our hero fights them. The problem with "Spider-Man 3" is that the villains are similar to their characters on a comic book page: flat. As cool as both of the main villains are, they lack any depth or real characterization. All the audience knows about Sandman is that he killed Uncle Ben and now he searches for money to help his daughter get better from some sickness. That's it. The most hurtful part of the film is that the coolest villain in the Spider-man universe, Venom, gets reduced to fifteen minutes of screen time. What's even worse is that he doesn't have a long tongue or a muscular body frame like the comics, but instead looks like black Spider-Man with a mouth like a raptor and a face that changes from the raptor mouth to Eric Foreman's face...I mean, Eddie Brock's face. Venom is just there. There's no real purpose for him to be in the story. If I had had my way, I would have let the ending of this one be Brock changing into Venom. That way, Sandman would have more time to develop as a character and then Venom could have his own film with Spider-Man. By throwing too many villains into the pot, the film suffers.
My final problem with the film is the humor placed throughout. In the first two "Spider-Man" films, I laughed with the film when intentional, but in "Spider-Man 3," I found myself laughing at what was happening on screen. Peter's transformation to the dark side is what I'm referring to. What should have been a serious moment in the film becomes incredibly stupid. For instance, when he walks down the street, he breaks out into dance and "Saturday Night Fever" type moves. It's really embarrassing. As I watched that scene, I cringed, wanting it to be over as fast as I could, but it goes on for a good five minutes unfortunately. Other "funny" moments throughout take the viewer out of the film, especially at the moments when the viewer is supposed to be most engaged in what's going on.
Now, I can finally get on to what I did like about the film. First, the special effects are dazzling. If anything has improved throughout all the films, it's the effects. Sure, Spider-Man is still a computer's creation when slinging around New York, but he felt much more believable this time around. Second, the action scenes are well-done and plentiful. None are overlong (even though, Venom's should have been), but they are well shot and edited, especially the Sandman and Spider-Man fight in the underground. Third, the performances by James Franco and Thomas Haden Church are top-notch. While the film suffers from bad writing, these two are the only actors that truly make the most of it. Franco brings a much-needed warmth and charm to the film and his character stands out the most. Even though Sandman isn't a well-developed character, Church really makes the most out of it, which brings me to the best part of the film: the creation of Sandman.
Watching grains of sand slowly come together to form Flint Marko is a spectacle. Even though it's totally unrealistic, the special effects team along with the help of Thomas Haden Church, make the scene believable. As Marko tries to form, he stumbles and chunks of sand fall away. Once he realizes what he's becomes, his face of sand changes expressions and with the aid of Christopher Young's score, the scene is just beautiful and breath-taking. It's my favorite scene in the entire trilogy. If the film had more scenes that had great special effects balanced with heart, then it would have been amazing.
Overall, "Spider-Man 3" is the weakest of the trilogy. It was the one I was looking forward to the most, but was let down due to the script, characters, and the humor. Thankfully, the special effects, action, a few performances, and the creation of a villain were able to make it a better film and redeem it from being a waste of celluloid.