Spiderman 3

PhilNYC · « **on:** 5 May 2007, 12:24 pm »

Saw this last night...and as huge a Spidey fan that I am, I was disappointed. Basically, I thought they tried to do too much...4 major story lines made it impossible to give any of them enough depth and detail to make sense, and overall the movie felt very disjointed. Special FX were of course amazing, but the stories and characters are what made the first 2 Spidey movies great, and I thought this one fell way short...

Woodsea · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 May 2007, 12:48 pm »

Phil,
Do you think my soon to be five yr old spidey fanatic son will be ok after watch this movie? He won't care to much about the story lines

Thanks

PhilNYC · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 May 2007, 02:12 pm »

It was actually pretty violent, so I'm not sure how a 5 year old might take it...more violent than the final Spidey-Goblin fight in Spiderman 1 in many spots...

gitarretyp · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 May 2007, 04:29 pm »

I also saw this last night. I agree that they tried to put way too much story line into one movie. Also, some of the script and acting were terrible. During a number of "sad" scenes, the audience was cracking up rather than crying because it was a cheese fest. The fight scenes were quite good overall, though they could and should have done much more with venom.

I'd recommend the movie because it was fun, but don't expect a movie in the same league as the previous two spidey movies.

mjosef · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 May 2007, 10:26 pm »

A little disappointed here too... they could have easily left out that other photographer guy story line, and spent more time developing the Sandman's and Peter's, Mary Joe's story lines.
I wasn't overly impressed with the FX either, no new grounds unveiled. How the hell did this cost over $300mil to make?
3 stars.

gitarretyp · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 May 2007, 10:41 pm »

IMHO, they should have done the movie around the black suit/symbiote and ended with the birth of venom. That would have made for a great sequel and left room to flesh out the venom character properly.

*************POSSIBLE SPOILER FROM HERE*********************

I really don't understand why they keep killing off spider-man's greatest enemies. Killing off venom is just plain wrong, and destroys the arc involving Carnage. The only major spidey villains left are the lizard and scorpion --maybe hobgoblin, if they're considering harry's character as distinct.

JohnR · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 May 2007, 11:35 pm »

I didn't understand where Venom got spidey-like powers from -- did the asteroid symbiote thing acquire them off Spiderman?

Apart from not getting that bit and finding Venom too easily/hastily introduced, I rather liked the movie

gitarretyp · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 May 2007, 12:02 am »

The symbiote takes on the powers of the host. So, yes, venom acquired his powers from the suit.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 May 2007, 02:15 am »

Quote from: gitarretyp on 5 May 2007, 10:41 pm

*************POSSIBLE SPOILER FROM HERE*********************

I really don't understand why they keep killing off spider-man's greatest enemies. Killing off venom is just plain wrong, and destroys the arc involving Carnage. The only major spidey villains left are the lizard and scorpion --maybe hobgoblin, if they're considering harry's character as distinct.

*************POSSIBLE SPOILER FROM HERE*********************

Well, it's entirely possible that Venom is still around, because you don't see the body after the explosion. As far as other major Spidey villians, you also have Mysterio, the Vulture, and Kingpin. If they do get around to doing a 4, it'll probably be the Lizard since Doc Connors has been present in all three Spidey movies (albeit only mentioned in dialog in the first movie...)...

chadh · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 May 2007, 04:08 am »

I heard a (rather unflattering) review of this movie on the radio the other day. But one comment made struck me as particularly amazing. The reviewer claimed that the movie had been shot with an astounding number of closeups in order to ensure it would look good on a 3" screen once it is released for ipod/cell phone viewing.

Is there any truth to this claim?

Chad

gitarretyp · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 May 2007, 04:20 am »

Quote from: chadh on 6 May 2007, 04:08 am

I heard a (rather unflattering) review of this movie on the radio the other day. But one comment made struck me as particularly amazing. The reviewer claimed that the movie had been shot with an astounding number of closeups in order to ensure it would look good on a 3" screen once it is released for ipod/cell phone viewing.

Is there any truth to this claim?

Chad

There were an abnormally large number of close-ups. That's partially why some scenes felt cheesy. Hopefully, other films (or at least films i care to see) don't follow suit.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 May 2007, 05:01 am »

Saw the movie on friday with friends and spouse. Had huge expectations but within the first 30 min, things started going downwards. Like someone mentioned earlier, it felt like a huge cheesefest. Hopefully the studio will be back with a more edgier spidey. I strongly feel sam raimi and toby have had their run and should move on to other things. Let someone else take over this franchise, and bring in a fresh new perspective. Kinda like harry potter...

PhilNYC · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 May 2007, 02:03 pm »

I agree there were some cheesy parts, but that isn't new to the Spidey movies (remember the "Raindrops keep falling on my head" and "We're New Yorkers; you mess with Spidey, and you mess with all of us!" scenes from 1 & 2?). But in 3, the cheesy scenes weren't as well-placed. Maybe it's because this film tried to be a lot darker, and the cheese felt really out of place.

FWIW, I didn't particularly notice an overabundance of close-up shots. And in fact, I think that the speed and visual complexity of a lot of the main action scenes are all going to look horrible on a 3" screen.

After Spidey 2, Tobey Maguire said that he doubted if he'd do a Spidey 4, so I think they tried to jam a bunch of stuff into this film anticipating that it would be the last...

rblnr · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 May 2007, 02:31 pm »

I thought it was overloaded and the villains weren't as compelling as Doc Ock, but I had a good time. More Thomas Haden Church and less James Franco would have helped. The Goblin angle has been done to death, and THC is a better actor at this point. The meteor think was weak too -- it happened upon Peter Parker? No intent, no creator? Thought I recall a preview where PP is holding the black suit and asks 'who made this?' Wonder if it got cut out w/an already stuffed story.

Didn't find an overabundance of closeups at all -- Raimi certainly isn't a director who can't think of anything else. Thought the closeups were used correctly in the character oriented scenes, and unlike most of the action directors out there, Raimi holds shots (because he knows how to), and establishes cutting rhythms that let the stuff breathe and play. Revenue for 3" screens is so small at this point that it wouldn't be a consideration. And don't think a guy like Raimi would do if for that reason in any case.

Kinda surprised at some of the negative reviews -- what did people expect? And where else could the story go after 1,2 but get a little darker? And from Darkman to Clueless to S 1/2/3, is there a better cinematographer than Bill Pope? Takes genres and makes them his own w/some soul.

I had fun watching it.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #14 on:** 6 May 2007, 02:53 pm »

Quote from: rblnr on 6 May 2007, 02:31 pm

Kinda surprised at some of the negative reviews -- what did people expect? And where else could the story go after 1,2 but get a little darker?

I don't think the issue was that it went darker, but moreso because so much was left unexplained (or the explanations were too shallow). There was no backstory on the experiment that Flint Marko "fell into", no explantion of the symbiote, the shallow "I've seen many things in this house" thing by Harry's butler, etc. IMHO, Batman Begins really raised the bar for dark comic-based movies to have a tight yet complex story, and IMHO Spidey 3 just bit off more than it could chew...

rblnr · « **Reply #15 on:** 6 May 2007, 03:06 pm »

Got it on dark, and agreed on too much left unexplained in certain areas. Maybe there will be a director's cut w/some story filled in. Again, to me the meteorite was the most glaring. Does the experiment Marko fell into require any more explanation? Not sure how that would help the story, whereas the meteor thing plays a more integral role regarding the emotional directions of the story and seems to require intent on somebody's part.

I think Batman Begins comes from a different place, not at all so fantastical from the outset. The darkness is in a different context and can be pushed in different ways. Particularly given the tone established by S1/2.

Just hope Zack Snyder doesn't completely screw up Watchmen -- that would be tragic. Have little confidence though w/what I've seen of 300 (admittedly just parts). Gives no evidence he can hold a shot and tell a story. We'll see.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #16 on:** 6 May 2007, 03:36 pm »

Maybe backstory isn't necessary, but at least some build up to it, rather than just have Marko running in a field, falling into a pit, and then suddenly getting whipped up. To comicbook fans, origins of heros and villians are a big deal, and this (and the meteor) just seemed like a really lazy job by the writer/director.

rblnr · « **Reply #17 on:** 6 May 2007, 05:52 pm »

Agreed that the Marko thing could have used a bit more build, but I'm not sure ultimately there was any other valuable way to play it from an explanation standpoint within the movie.

Though I'm not up on comics like I was, your comment reminded that I was a subscriber to 'Secret Origins' as a kid. I like the backstory lore too.

Robert C. Schult · « **Reply #18 on:** 7 May 2007, 04:27 am »

I'm pretty much a sucker for any "super hero" movie.

Just got back from seeing S3. Was really looking forward to seeing it - I wanna fly like that!

Overall I was very disappointed. My high expectation took at turn about a third into the movie when it hit me....

NONE OF THIS COULD REALLY HAPPEN!

I'm bummed.

Back to Batman for me.

Robert
RSAD

World Leader Pretend · « **Reply #19 on:** 9 May 2007, 03:49 am »

Quote from: Robert C. Schult on 7 May 2007, 04:27 am

NONE OF THIS COULD REALLY HAPPEN!

Damn you! Put that type of stuff in spoiler tags!!

*storms off*