May 5, 2007

Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Director: Sam Raimi
Writers: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sargent, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, and Topher Grace
Co-Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, and James Cromwell
Description: Peter Parker is finally happy: he is doing well at the school, his girlfriend MJ Watson loves him and the whole city loves his crime-fighting alter-ego Spider-Man, finally bestowing upon him the praise he so rightly deserves. Apart from this, he has made some new foes and rivals . His former friend-turned-foe Harry Osborn has become the New Goblin and wants to avenge his father by killing Spider-Man. On one night, an alien symbiote from outer space crash lands in Peter's vicinity and attaches itself to his Spider suit, turning it black in colour and enhancing its powers. Flint Marko, a fugitive, is turned into The Sandman when he gets subjected to a molecular lab experiment. Incidentally, Marko is the person who is revealed to have killed Peter's uncle Ben and now Peter wants revenge. Peter's job as a freelance photographer with The Daily Bugle is taken by Eddie Brock. Peter also learns that apart from enhancing his powers the black symbiote has also brought out the dark side within him which causes him to ruthlessly manages to throw Eddie out of his job. When MJ breaks up with him, he starts dating his fellow student Gwen Stacy who was Edie's ex, to make them both jealous. Soon Peter must decide whether he should let his dark side to dominate his personality or not.
Rating: C
In a word... mediocre.

In-Depth Review!

Pros:

+Kirsten
+Sandman
+Aunt May
+the final battle
+Venom

Cons:

-Emo Peter. When did Peter Parker beome the fifth member of Dashboard Confessional?
-Topher Grace. Don't get me wrong, I love his work on That 70's Show, but Venom is NOT Eric Foreman. It seems he's just playing a really pissed off Eric--complete with the "geek-gets-hot-girl" aspect.
-Kirsten's singing. Sorry, she's a terrible singer. Which brings me to my next con.
-The blatant ripoff/homage to Some Like It Hot. Sorry, Kirsten, beautiful as you are, you cannot compare to the way Marilyn did that scene.
-It seemed as if it couldn't find its way. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a profound, depressing film, or a campy and fun one.
-The cheesy dialogue, especially that voiceover near the end by Peter Parker.
-Way overlong, alot of the scenes with Emo Peter could have been cut out.
-Including that HORRENDOUS scene where Peter's dancing. It seemed like it came straight out of Saturday Night Fever. Only, Saturday Night Fever is a much better film.
-Three villians? They should have simply taken the Green Goblin II idea out, it was superfluous and unnecessary.
-Was it really necessary to reduce M.J. to a screaming vixen?
-If I counted the number of scenes that included crying, I'd be here all day. Jeez, it's called restraint, people!

C, and may God have mercy on your soul.