Spider-Man 3
Day 2
Film 2
Going into today I did not think that finding a movie via television would be so difficult. I was expecting to turn on the tube see something imediately, record it and then watch it at my lesure a coupel hours later. When I did sit down I came to the stunning realization that most of the movies on the X million channels are not the ones I have any want to see. This put me in a bind. That was when I came across FX, and saw that Spider Man 3 was playing today. It had the benefit of actually being somethign I almost wanted to watch. So I set my DVR to record and here we are.
My Expectations:
For a couple of years Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were the best of the best when it came to superhero movies. There was not a whole lot of competition, and in retrospect the 2002 Spider-man does not quite live up to its age. The sequel was a masterpiece for the genre, and a key prerequisite for the success of The Dark Knight.
I had great hopes for the film when it first came out, as many others did, but amdist a tide of nay say reviews by a small army of over hyped geeks it fell off of my radar. Still, the success of the second movie was enough to make me intrigued when I saw it while surfing channels.
The Plot:
Spider Man 3 felt like it had too many balls in the air, catching spots of a good story here and there, but with too many plot lines to follow. No one story really hit home, and the confused mess really hurt the film overall. It has the same feeling as other bad super hero movies where there are seven villains, a super hero's personal life, and the fate of the romantic interest... Actually, looking back on that last sentence that is Spider-Man 3. If we resign to that we might as well say that Spider-Man 3 was a bad super hero movie, but I would not accept that completely.
It felt like the writers were trying to be true to the source material, and as anyone who has any idea about Marvel story lines (although I am no expert) they all are built around Shakespearean motifs. With that base, the stories feel rehashed and predictable. But that is not why we watch super hero movies. No, it is for the chance to escape to something amazing.
The question becomes: Does Spider-Man 3 fulfil in the something amazing department? I say no. Spider-Man 3 forgets this by throwing in a confused soap opera plot with superheroes. It gives us some great action scenes stitched together with poorly written (or poorly acted) sop. It made the movie drag in places. This coupled with the already confusing plot line just made the film impossible to get into.
I wonder if you were to take each of the villains highlighted in the film (Hobgoblin, Sandman and Venom) and gave them their own 2 hours of fame, if it would be better?
A Critical Look:
As I said, Marvel's story lines all have a Shakespearean feel to them, and they benefit from it. It allows the plots to be enjoyable for their ridiculousness without making the audience feel lost. This does not allow for experimentation and becomes the flaw for most Marvel tales. What good is another retelling of Shakespeare for a world already sick to death of it?
Apart from that I cannot say much of anything else. It is a popcornrific superhero movie, it knows this and does not try to go beyond it.
My Thoughts:
Spider-Man 3 was an average superhero movie. It did not knock my socks off like its predecessor had. It did not challenge me mentally or emotionally. It had fun parts (mostly powered by spectacular performances by the tertiary characters.) If I had anything else to do I would have done it, but when just laying around and watching television, you could do worse.
If you are a fan of superheroes and comic books there are worse movies to watch. If you are not, there are better things on the television you could be watching.
Day 2
Film 2
Going into today I did not think that finding a movie via television would be so difficult. I was expecting to turn on the tube see something imediately, record it and then watch it at my lesure a coupel hours later. When I did sit down I came to the stunning realization that most of the movies on the X million channels are not the ones I have any want to see. This put me in a bind. That was when I came across FX, and saw that Spider Man 3 was playing today. It had the benefit of actually being somethign I almost wanted to watch. So I set my DVR to record and here we are.
My Expectations:
For a couple of years Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were the best of the best when it came to superhero movies. There was not a whole lot of competition, and in retrospect the 2002 Spider-man does not quite live up to its age. The sequel was a masterpiece for the genre, and a key prerequisite for the success of The Dark Knight.
I had great hopes for the film when it first came out, as many others did, but amdist a tide of nay say reviews by a small army of over hyped geeks it fell off of my radar. Still, the success of the second movie was enough to make me intrigued when I saw it while surfing channels.
The Plot:
Spider Man 3 felt like it had too many balls in the air, catching spots of a good story here and there, but with too many plot lines to follow. No one story really hit home, and the confused mess really hurt the film overall. It has the same feeling as other bad super hero movies where there are seven villains, a super hero's personal life, and the fate of the romantic interest... Actually, looking back on that last sentence that is Spider-Man 3. If we resign to that we might as well say that Spider-Man 3 was a bad super hero movie, but I would not accept that completely.
It felt like the writers were trying to be true to the source material, and as anyone who has any idea about Marvel story lines (although I am no expert) they all are built around Shakespearean motifs. With that base, the stories feel rehashed and predictable. But that is not why we watch super hero movies. No, it is for the chance to escape to something amazing.
The question becomes: Does Spider-Man 3 fulfil in the something amazing department? I say no. Spider-Man 3 forgets this by throwing in a confused soap opera plot with superheroes. It gives us some great action scenes stitched together with poorly written (or poorly acted) sop. It made the movie drag in places. This coupled with the already confusing plot line just made the film impossible to get into.
I wonder if you were to take each of the villains highlighted in the film (Hobgoblin, Sandman and Venom) and gave them their own 2 hours of fame, if it would be better?
A Critical Look:
As I said, Marvel's story lines all have a Shakespearean feel to them, and they benefit from it. It allows the plots to be enjoyable for their ridiculousness without making the audience feel lost. This does not allow for experimentation and becomes the flaw for most Marvel tales. What good is another retelling of Shakespeare for a world already sick to death of it?
Apart from that I cannot say much of anything else. It is a popcornrific superhero movie, it knows this and does not try to go beyond it.
My Thoughts:
Spider-Man 3 was an average superhero movie. It did not knock my socks off like its predecessor had. It did not challenge me mentally or emotionally. It had fun parts (mostly powered by spectacular performances by the tertiary characters.) If I had anything else to do I would have done it, but when just laying around and watching television, you could do worse.
If you are a fan of superheroes and comic books there are worse movies to watch. If you are not, there are better things on the television you could be watching.
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