Spiderman 3 – 3/5
Its something of unacknowledged law that nobody ever makes a good third instalment to a superhero trilogy – Superman 3, Batman Forever, X Men The Last Stand all considerable disappointments and declines from the films that preceded them. There had been hopes that director Sam Raimi would buck this trend.
Well, it’s not a bad film, but it is a disappointing follow-up to the first two and the main flaw is that Raimi broke his own rule. After promising never to go down the multiple villains route, he succumbs here and has not two but three bad guys and there just isn’t enough room for all the different plot elements to breathe and it all feels a bit jumbled and overlong. In particular the relational aspects of the film are too rushed in their developing to work and the various romantic triangles that are formed lack credibility.
The most superfluous of these villains is Thomas Haden Church’s (Sideways) Sandman. Despite strained efforts to link him to events in the first film, he is only included because he is both Raimi’s and Maguire’s favourite character from the comics. His motivations never entirely work, his special effects are the ropiest and despite Church’s best efforts.
Venom, a creature formed when an alien symbiote latches onto Spidey and after he eventually rejects it attaches to his rival Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), is a potentially more interesting adversary but only emerges towards the end of the film.
The most interesting of the trio is the one we’re already familiar with – James Franco’s new Goblin. Here we already have considerable back story and thus his encounters with the webslinger carry the most emotional intensity and also the best action. His character arc is also the most interesting, although even here things a rushed with a clumsy speech by his butler needed to move him on at one point.
As for the hero himself, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker starts the film so smugly happy with life in general and himself in particular that you can’t wait for something bad to happen to spoil it all. Although is supposed to be a film about his inner battles, theres nothing really that hasn’t been included in the previous films and at times you wish he’d stop being so mopey and just grow up. Even under the influence of the alien, apart from a couple of really malicious moments, he comes across as more pantomime villain with ridiculous swagger than genuinely nasty.
The script is as heavy-handedly moralistic as in previous episodes. Other newcomers Bryce Dallas Howard as Peter’s classmate/possible new romantic interest Gwen Stacey and James Cromwell as her police chief boss are so underused you wonder why they were included at all. And some of the effects seem to have taken a step back since the last film – a fight scene amongst underground trains seeming particularly lacking in realism. And the final showdown is the same as previous films – Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane in peril at top of tall structure – only with more bad guys.
Despite all of which, it isn’t a bad film – it still entertains and amuses. Most of the action sequences work well, despite having nothing to rival Spiderman 2’s train sequence. There are also some nice comic touches – Spidey stopping to pour sand out of his boots after the first encounter with Sandman. As ever JK Simmonds is excellently amusing as Peter’s boss at the Daily Bugle. And, as mentioned, the new Goblin storyline is done very well, when allowed room to breathe.
With a bit more discipline and a few cuts, this could have been a very good end to the trilogy. As it is, it’s a perfectly watchable and entertaining, if overlong, effort, but disappointing in the light of what went before.
Its something of unacknowledged law that nobody ever makes a good third instalment to a superhero trilogy – Superman 3, Batman Forever, X Men The Last Stand all considerable disappointments and declines from the films that preceded them. There had been hopes that director Sam Raimi would buck this trend.
Well, it’s not a bad film, but it is a disappointing follow-up to the first two and the main flaw is that Raimi broke his own rule. After promising never to go down the multiple villains route, he succumbs here and has not two but three bad guys and there just isn’t enough room for all the different plot elements to breathe and it all feels a bit jumbled and overlong. In particular the relational aspects of the film are too rushed in their developing to work and the various romantic triangles that are formed lack credibility.
The most superfluous of these villains is Thomas Haden Church’s (Sideways) Sandman. Despite strained efforts to link him to events in the first film, he is only included because he is both Raimi’s and Maguire’s favourite character from the comics. His motivations never entirely work, his special effects are the ropiest and despite Church’s best efforts.
Venom, a creature formed when an alien symbiote latches onto Spidey and after he eventually rejects it attaches to his rival Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), is a potentially more interesting adversary but only emerges towards the end of the film.
The most interesting of the trio is the one we’re already familiar with – James Franco’s new Goblin. Here we already have considerable back story and thus his encounters with the webslinger carry the most emotional intensity and also the best action. His character arc is also the most interesting, although even here things a rushed with a clumsy speech by his butler needed to move him on at one point.
As for the hero himself, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker starts the film so smugly happy with life in general and himself in particular that you can’t wait for something bad to happen to spoil it all. Although is supposed to be a film about his inner battles, theres nothing really that hasn’t been included in the previous films and at times you wish he’d stop being so mopey and just grow up. Even under the influence of the alien, apart from a couple of really malicious moments, he comes across as more pantomime villain with ridiculous swagger than genuinely nasty.
The script is as heavy-handedly moralistic as in previous episodes. Other newcomers Bryce Dallas Howard as Peter’s classmate/possible new romantic interest Gwen Stacey and James Cromwell as her police chief boss are so underused you wonder why they were included at all. And some of the effects seem to have taken a step back since the last film – a fight scene amongst underground trains seeming particularly lacking in realism. And the final showdown is the same as previous films – Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane in peril at top of tall structure – only with more bad guys.
Despite all of which, it isn’t a bad film – it still entertains and amuses. Most of the action sequences work well, despite having nothing to rival Spiderman 2’s train sequence. There are also some nice comic touches – Spidey stopping to pour sand out of his boots after the first encounter with Sandman. As ever JK Simmonds is excellently amusing as Peter’s boss at the Daily Bugle. And, as mentioned, the new Goblin storyline is done very well, when allowed room to breathe.
With a bit more discipline and a few cuts, this could have been a very good end to the trilogy. As it is, it’s a perfectly watchable and entertaining, if overlong, effort, but disappointing in the light of what went before.
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