This review's a few days late because I wanted to be sure I got my Triple-R over Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 review uploaded and I had other prior conflicting commitments. To make up for the delayed review I'm going to be reviewing the entire Alien Anthology prior to Alien: Covenant's release next week. Anyways, this week I'm reviewing Spider-Man 3 to tie into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as a Marvel release this past weekend and simultaneously advance my series of Spider-Man reviews swinging into July's Spider-Man: Homecoming. I'll go ahead and give you a head's up that this review will include spoilers but the film is ten years old at this point so if you haven't seen it yet then it's not really a big deal. For the remainder of May I'll be publishing Throwback Thursday Reviews over Despicable Me, Prometheus, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Retrospective Reviews for the Alien Anthology, and new reviews including King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Alien: Covenant, Baywatch, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
'Spider-Man 3' Review
Spider-Man 3 serves as the concluding chapter for this iteration of the web-head. Resuming immediately after the events of Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker is just getting into the swing of balancing his dual identities only to have danger looming overhead once more. Spider-Man 3 is a widely maligned feature, failing to materialize into a thrilling threequel and cap off an incredible superhero trilogy. Sam Raimi returned to direct and lent his hand to penning Spidey's third screenplay. Raimi's creative lens helps to steer Spider-Man 3 away from being a total disaster but his touch wasn't enough to completely save the venture.
Raimi and cinematographer Bill Pope were able to construct at least one great scene to juxtapose nearly every atrocity captured but none of it really makes up for the fact that Spider-Man 3 shouldn't have turned out this badly. Spider-Man 3's main issue is its insistence on being three different films featuring three (a case could be made for four) different antagonists that were forcibly interwoven into one overcooked mess. The script comes from the brain trust of previous script spinner Alvin Sargent, Sam and Ivan Raimi.
There are plenty of story components to pick apart but I'd say the most pressing problem was an overcrowded story that didn't particularly service any of the characters. For starters, Peter's facing at least three sources of conflict and that's an overwhelming amount to resolve in two and a half hours, give or take. There's the pre-established quarrel between Peter and Harry and the introduction of Sandman and Venom, the latter of which never quite jive into Spider-Man 3's natural narrative. You'd think that the sensible direction to follow would be for Harry to take the mantle of being Spidey's big baddie considering the groundwork has been lain in two prior franchise entries.
However, Sony seemed to really want to force Venom into it (this is still evident today with plans to release a standalone Venom movie next year) and Raimi must have been dying to play around with Sandman. It's not that these villains are all terrible, rather the fact that they weren't all pertinent to the story at hand and don't fit well together.
This is especially evident in the design and layout of the film. First, Harry's the threat until he suddenly gets amnesia. Then Sandman comes out of nowhere to bring everything full circle regarding the death of Uncle Ben till he's temporarily disposed. Eddie Brock fills the void of Peter's workplace rival at the Daily Bugle and the symbiote arises as a symbol of Peter's inner conflict. Eventually the two join forces to become Venom but till that point remain separate sources of conflict.
One common thing you'll notice is that no more than three of these antagonists are adversarial towards Peter at once. The threats work but only two or three at a time due to the constraints of the narrative, almost like a game of Whack-A-Mole. Fifteen minutes into the film Harry gets amnesia so he's friendly till he regains his memories. During that time Sandman resurges, Eddie Brock threatens his livelihood, and the symbiote latches onto Peter in his most troubling time. Sandman is almost immediately disposed of (for the time being) and the symbiote gets put away for a bit. Harry regains his memories and Brock continues to be a jerk at work. Peter pulls out the symbiote again and fights Harry once he realizes his memories have resurfaced. When Harry's defeated, he remains on the sidelines. Sandman re-emerges and Brock and the symbiote coalesce into Venom.
That's not even mentioning the string of plot-holes in between or the cringeworthy mess that is emo Peter Parker dancing at a jazz club...
Believe it or not though, there are actually redeeming aspects to Spider-Man 3 if you know where to look such as the fights between Sandman and Peter, Peter's second confrontation with Harry, Harry's sacrifice, J. Jonah Jameson, or simply the fact that the black symbiote suit looks wickedly awesome. However, all these stand-out sequences or memorable moments are paired with an equally atrocious scene so it all kinda evens out when it's all said and done. The visual effects are inconsistent to say the least with gorgeous renderings opposed to disgusting digitized avatars and inadequate green screen work. It almost makes you wish they had gone the Spider-Man route, utilizing more practical effects or at least cut out a few baddies to conserve the budget. Elsewhere, Christopher Young stepped up to the plate after Danny Elfman bolted and I've gotta say he did a commendable job at composing some beautiful pieces to coincide with Elfman's pre-existing heroic anthems.
For anyone that's followed my reviews of the two predecessors, you should be well aware I'm not a fan of Tobey Maguire in the role of Spider-Man. Maguire purely lacks charisma when he puts on the suit so I never buy the dual identity dynamic of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and his stint with the symbiote this time around is painful to watch. I'll admit he's got the awkwardness of Parker down to a tee, just no other aspect of his personality.
Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane is once again relegated to her familiar damsel duties and she's fine at that I guess. However, I personally would have rather seen Mary Jane do anything else than be exploited by the villain for a nefarious scheme to ensnare Spider-Man for the third consecutive time.
James Franco is probably the only returning cast member who I feel truly grew as an actor over the course of making these movies. Franco provides one of the better performances in the crowded ensemble, finally letting Harry's malevolent side loose, and Franco found a nice balance between being friend and fiend. Other retuning mainstays include J.K. Simmons and Rosemary Harris as Daily Bugle's irksome editor and the tender, supportive aunt. Newcomers include Thomas Hayden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Topher Grace. Church brings terrific concealed tragedy to Flint Marko, making Sandman stand out as one of the more compelling characters among the group. Howard offers a fine portrayal of Gwen Stacy but has little more to do than serve as a love triangle/relationship drama plot device.
Lastly, Topher Grace feels the most out of place among the ensemble as both Eddie Brock and Venom. Grace is suffficient in bringing a displeasing demeanor to Brock but Grace's portrayal of Venom verges on being featured in a scary Saturday morning cartoon. Raimi does his best to make Grace's over-the-top performance menacing, but it flounders with mixed results.
I could go on and on about how flawed Spider-Man 3 is but I'm pretty sure you either already know from personal experience or get the gist from my extrapolation and analysis. When it comes down to it, Spider-Man 3's placement in the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy is equivalent to Spider-Man scaling the Empire State Building only to dive off the with no web fluid, no parachute, and only a rusty trampoline underneath to break his fall.
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