Thoughts on Spider-Man 3 ***SPOILERS***

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webjnke1

New member
Saw it this afternoon and as I expected it was very good.

I love how this series manages to combine really goofy, small moments of humour with granRABtanding sequences that make you want to cheer (in particular, when Harry finally teams up with Parker).

However - I really hated the way Sandman was apparently 'redeemed' at the end.

Before his superpowers he committed robbery and, at the very least, manslaughter.

But we're supposed to buy that he's actually a decent guy because he was doing it for his sick daughter. And it was an accident that he shot Uncle Ben. And that he's felt really bad about it.

Ok, I could perhaps accept that. Perhaps.

But once he becomes the Sandman he goes on a rampage and almost certainly kills at least one policeman in the first act - before at least aiding Venom in slaughtering several more.

And yet, we're still supposed to think that's a good guy because he felt bad about killing Ben and that anyway, it was all for his daughter.

It was a rather unsatisfactory way to end the Uncle Ben plotline and it sent out a slightly disturbing message (ie, you can do anything bad you want, but as long as you did it for a good reason and you say sorry - it doesn't matter).
 
Funnily enough, my friend is doing a study on moral issues for her A2 coursework.

It's all to do with the age of the audience - typically, young children will see stealing as bad, no matter what. However, as you get older and realise the difference between stealing for your own benefit and stealing when it is the only option (to save your daughter), it becomes less of a moral issue as one realises that they would do the same in the circumstances.

Not excusing the fictional character of anything though.
 
how come harry didnt die after his first fight with spierman?? he bashed his head and fell 50ft

he'd been "souping up" (don't know how else to say it) his body using the same equipment/chemicals that his father did

why did the butler wait until the last minute to say 'oh yeah by the way spierman didnt kill your father, his wounRAB were from his own knife' (not that that actually does prove spierman didnt kill him..)

I agree with that, he could've told him in the 2nd film!! And yeah it doesnt prove spiderman didnt kill him! :confused:

embarrassing scene after scene of peter strutting down the street (did venom make him put eyeliner on too?)

that WAS embarrassing, I thought the restaurant scenes were worse. I cant believe this is what Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame has succumbed to
 
I got dragged to see this last night with hubby and son (not being a Spidey fan or fan of anything of this genre...sorry fans :o ), but have to admit I was really entertained.

I didn't read any of the reviews beforehand and therefore wasn't aware that it was being received with mix views. Having said that I am nodding with agreement to some of the negative views from the fans who expected more.

All in all, I thought the effects were good, the humour was good, (I actually liked the cheesy street dance scene). But that said, I was beginning to doze off by the end and felt some scenes could have been shortened or cut out altogether.

My only gripe is the overall morality message that they seem to put in these films, but I guess that's what these films are all about...Superman, Batman, Spiderman etc. They all seem to have a cheesy moral message that leaves a slight bad taste in your mouth afterwarRAB. All that said, my hubby and son loved it. :D
 
Ah, Spider-Man. It's good to have him back!

I went into this on a bit of a down note, seeing as over the last few days I have read from a few places that SHOCK HORROR this movie is not as good as you think it should be! 3 star reviews. Not bad, but crucially, not brilliant. And not the kind of reviews that the previous two films were getting.

So do I agree with the criticisms? NO. Not at all. Too many villians? NO. I thought it made it more exciting. Not enough screen time for Gwen Stacey? NO. Assuming they do another one, and she is in it, it was a great build up to her character. Not enough action? NO. Plenty of it. Not as exciting as the previous two? NO. I would say that the action sequences were at least on a par with Spider-Man 2.

The villains were very well done I thought, all of them. It was good to have Harry trying to get even so early on, and after a decent fight, it was good to see him getting knocked down in such a silly way, and I liked the whole amnesia thing, I really really liked Happy Harry.

Sandman had a GREAT introduction, the scene of his making was done very well. There were times when I didnt think he worked great, but I thought the fight in the train network was very well done.

Venom didn't really have a lot to do on screen (although his prescence was felt through most of the second half, inside of Peter), but was quite creepy towarRAB the end.

I loved when Sandman was smacking down on Peter, and then the bomb went into the side of his head, I really hoped Harry would team up with him, and help take them down. I had a feeling he would die, when I saw him all disfigured for the first time (quite a shock), and it will be sad if there is a Spidey 4 that he won't be there. Great to see another small Willem Defoe cameo as well.

Gwen was brilliant I thought, really like Bryce. Like I said before, if they do another one, she should definitely come back. It was a bit disturbing seeing Jack Bauers EVIL Dad as her dad though.

Kirsten was AMAZING. She looked brilliant the whole way through and I was really impressed with her. Not as good as Tobey though. I think this showed just how good an actor he really is. From being a complete dork and reading the lines through with Mary Jane at the start in the theatre, to being a total bad ass in the fight with Sandman, to doing that strut down the street, to the emotion when he learns the truth about Uncle Ben, you believe in every single second. If any actor portrayed a character as well as Maguire did in this movie, in a non-blockbuster movie, he would be getting an Oscar shout I am sure. I thought he was THAT good.

One of the best scenes was Kirsten doing the twist with Harry, and making the pancakes. A really dorky little scene, but a really really sweet one. I also loved the dancing montage, (for a bit I thought Venom might be some kind of dancing monster).

There were so many fabulous comedy moments. The French Waiter, the montage of Peter getting extremely arrogant with his dances down the street, every single second of J Jonah Jameson, and a brilliant cameo by Stan Lee ("Nuff Said").

The ending felt a bit rushed, despite the length of the movie. It just seemed to flit from scene to scene, but I can excuse it. It ended well. But I really do hope they do a new one. There is so much potential, (40+ years of stories to draw from), and the actors are all so good in their roles, that I really really want to see a 4th.

Criticisms? Yes. The cheesy news reporting during the final battle I could have done without, it just felt wrong. The characters of Peters landlord and his daughter, I know they were in the last one, but I felt they didnt really fit in at all in this one, for whatever reason. Minor criticisms though. On the whole I thought it was excellent.

Oh, and lets not forget the moral. If you want to make a hot ginger fall back in love with you, just save her from a 50ft man made of sand. Yes.

9/10
 
I agree with most of what you've said. The reviews have been middling, but for me, the most important thing with this film was that I laughed a lot, wanted to cheer during the heroic sequence and was never bored.

Couple of issues though...in this para...




Too many villains. YES. That contributed to one my two primary criticisms of the film.

It was a little flabby.

And having, ostensibly four villains (Sandman, Venom, Goblin Jr and Evil Peter) made it less focussed than I would have like. Also, it meant Sandman disappeared for most of the film and Venom was under-developed.

Not enough Gwen? TOO MUCH. If I didn't know the comics I would have no idea why she even existed (apart from causing contrived problems between Pete and MJ). Overall though - that didn't bother me too much.

My other major gripe was the Sandman Redemption - as I said above.

If I was to give it a mark...I'd probably go for 7.5 out of 10
 
Tooooo Long. It neeRAB at least 30 minutes of guff ripped out of it.

'how come harry didnt die after his first fight with spierman?? he bashed his head and fell 50ft'

He's the bloody Green Goblin for god's sake


PJ68. Your review is partly wrong. Sand Man was the best baddy in the movie. He was in the movie all the way through. More than Venom. Venom was totally wasted.

Some of the effects where truly stunning. The scenes of Spidey bouncing off debris and walls looked great

Peter strutting down the street was great. Very funny. What made it funnier is because everybody just looked at him like he was an idiot.

Jonah Jameson was also very funny and a great character.

However I agree MJ just whines and moans too much and Aunt May has too many moral stories about uncle Ben. It is all those scenes that stretched the movie out far too long. If I was Peter I'd get rid of Mary Jane, as she is a ballache and then shack up with Gwen Stacy :D
 
For me, this was easily the best of the three films. I was dreading it a bit - so many villains, so mnay story lines. I was expecting a hideous mess.

But I thought it was slick, funny, exciting and very moving. A real epic. I cannot believe some of the appalling reviews the film got. Just goes to show what puts the 'C' in 'critic'!
 
went to see it last night, thats 3 hours of my life i will never get back, thank god they have started making batman films again.
huge spidey fan, huge raimi fan but sorry no.
and i thought sam rami was above all the american flag waving patriotism bit.
he should be ashamed.
1 and 2 were far far better and if thats the most expensive film ever i hope they got a money back warranty on the effects.

sorry missed the best part of all, bruce campbell is a god!!!!!
mr pecker, that is what i said.. class
 
I agree with Mr Lavigne.
After all the critisism I wasn't expecting much but I was blown away, it was fantastic!
Parker going on the darkside was the best bit, very funny.
Can't understand the bad reviews or the slagging on imbd forums.
 
It was an awful film. Script was clunky. Characters were poor. The reporter on the mock tv channel was argubly one of the worst performances I've ever seen in a film.

Coupled with that spiderman shot in front of the US flag, made me wanna barf.

If you wanna see a good film, go and see This is England.
 
Was shocked at how bad Spidey 3 was. This played to a full house at my local last night and there were definite grumbles of disappointment. And that wasn't just at the ridiculous running time of 2hr20 mins, exc. the end credits!!

Too many villains, disjointed scenes, embarrassing attempts at comedy, shoddy CGI work (you could barely see what was happening in the early mid air fight). Kirsten Dunst was just downright depressing and I hated that her character had evolved into a simpering mess. Tobey Maguire was okay, though appeared less comfortable with the 'bad' side of Parker. Venom was a poor on-screen villain and really not worth including. The music score was off too, Danny Elfman's expert touch missing.

The one stand out scene was the Sandman's birth, which was truly stunning and beautiful - the only bit reminiscent of Doc Ock's surgery freak out in Spidey 2. However, Sandman's subsequent appearances and battles had no substance (literally).

Felt sorry for Dylan Baker as Dr Curt Connors who (as I recall) was in both 1&2 and whose character eventually becomes The Lizard. That would have been a better way to go for the third movie.

When I saw Spidey 2 for the first time, I thought it was a poor follow up to no1. But I now appreciate the overall darker tone / depth and it stanRAB up to repeated viewing. The same cannot be said for no 3. This really did seem like a case of throw in everything, sod the running time and lets hope something works. Wrong all round!

What a sad ending to this franchise. 4/10. :(
 
Here's my tuppence worth.

I went to see the film last night with lowered expectations due to reviews. It wasn't as good as Spiderman 1 & 2 granted, but hey, I enjoyed it.

I was able to feel more compassion towarRAB MJ (I'm a girl so I could see her reasons for wanting to have a whine). In the first two films I felt quite indifferent towarRAB her.

Some scene's could have been better. For example, near the beginning with Harry's first fight with Spiderman which was a bit messy and I couldn't make out what as happening at times.

When he's strutting down the street it was a little too cheesy.

I liked the villains and wanted to see more of Venom.

As soon as Harry became Spiderman's friend I knew he wouldn't have long to live and I admit I had to wipe away a tear at the end.

I wasn't expecting perfection and didn't get it, but I'm still glad I went to see it.

It was certainly ten times better than X Men 3.
 
I think you ALL forget that spiderman was a funny guy. His caracter is meant to be wisey cracking. This film is keep to the roots of what spiderman is. I think that you have forgetten the true spiderman and need to go back and re-read the comic books and watch again. You will see that it is spot on and perfect.
 
I give the film 8/10

Where to start?

Excellent flashbacks to the first two films during the opening credits and when the black goo appeared it set up the film nicely as you knew who would make an appearance in that film

The supporting cast did a very good job, loved the scenes in the Bugle where Betty kept reminding Jameson about his blood pressure and then vibrating his desk when he picked up the wrong pills and where he pays that little girl 100 bucks for the camera only to find out there is no film in the camera

But the only gripe I would have is that Gwen Stacey was a bit underused, and I would like to have seen more of that relationship between her and Peter developed a bit more if there is going to be a Spidey 4. But when she did appear, she was absolutely smoking hot

Back to the main cast, THC did a relatively good job as Sandman who told a good story as to why he turned to crime in the first place. But hey at least he didn't die leaving the possibility open to a future return if there are any more Spiderman movies. Brilliant effects when Marko actually became Sandman and I was very impressed

Topher Grace I felt was a bit underused in this one as Venom, ok Eddie Brock was seen a lot but would like to have seen Venom developed a bit more when Brock got the symbiote. Don't get me wrong I've got nothing against Venom but that team-up with Sandman near the end just felt a bit rushed for my liking. But credit to the CGI department, Venom was really good

Black suited Spidey was so creepy it was excellent, behaving like a complete jack-ass in front of Gwen and MJ in that jazz club and the wake up call he got when he shoved MJ to the floor. But with the jack-ass scenes there come some frightful violent scenes especially in the Bugle where Parker and Brock come to blows when Parker discovers the fake pictures of Black Spidey. Tobey plays Parker, normal Spidey and Black suited Spidey to perfection and he pulls all 3 off really well. He and Kirsten Dunst play the perfect onscreen couple and I do hope they return for 2 or 3 more Spidey movies before finally handing the torch over

Onto Harry and what an ending for him, Spidey hater at the end of 1 and all the way through number 2 and back to being frienRAB with Peter/Spidey in number 3. I personally would have liked to have seen him go out the way he went out in the comic books, poisoned by the Goblin formula but alas it was not to be and it was very fitting he died as a hero and not as a villain

And finally onto to MJ, very emotional performance from Kirsten. She went from being emotionally abused in 1, sorting out her conflicting feelings for Peter in 2 and having the worst luck in number 3. I thought to myself 'will this poor girl have just a little bit of luck' especially with that scene where Harry forced MJ to ditch Peter and then the emotion on the bridge when she actually did was actually felt. As with what I said about Tobey, hope she returns for a few more Spidey films

So overall not as good as Spidey 2 but a very satisfactory film none the less
 
I did'nt realise how awesome the film was until hours after i had seen it. It did seem a bit like a soap opera in the middle. The only thing i disliked was the lack of screentime for venom.
 
I found it good. Nothing special. The first two were much better.

This film had potential to be good but it was ruined. The villians were totally wasted.

Sandman - Turning into a huge monster ruined it for me and he was quite pointless. And why would Spidey let him go just because he was sorry? He is still a criminal robbing banks and killing people.

Venom - What the hell? The greatest Spidey villian i think and they ruined him. He was in the film for 15 minutes tops. He kept taking his face off and instead of being a hench big guy ended up some weakling who wanted revenge because he was "embarrassed"!

MJ - How annoying is she? She turned into such a jealous bitter girl that i gave up caring. I wanted Peter to dump her and for her to just go away.

Peter - What was up with those stupid dance routines in the street? Was i watching the right film? And that bit in the jazz bar - since when could he play piano? He was quite irritating aswell.

Harry - It was so predictable that he was going to help Peter at the end and get killed. I told my friend that would happen when Peter asked for his help. Who the hell was that butler? What was up with him and MJ dancing in the kitchen for like 10 minutes?

The film ruined all the characters. Ruined the villians and ruined the story. It wasn't bad and the effects were very good. It was just a big dissapointment! It felt like some cheap corny comedy half the time!

I heard they are planning a Spiderman 4,5 and 6 but i hope the director returns to the films original roots!
 
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