Post by •°o.O emily O.o°• on May 9, 2007 17:23:20 GMT
since no one else has got round to it yet! *spoilers*
After the massive success of Spiderman 1 and 2, this was one of THE films for '07. And do you know what? I was a bit disappointed.
As the critics have been commenting on, the Raimi brothers writing team have tried to fit a hell of a lot into the 2hrs 20 mins...a grand total of 3 super-villians(plus alien goo), a new "dark" emo-haircut spidey, 2+half love interests, 1 photographer rival, 1 overly british news reporter and 2 badly dubbed songs by MJ. This adds up to make...1 very rushed film.
Some really interesting new characters are introduced (super and norms) who get a few mins of screen time and then are rushed off to make room for the next lot. With so many people whirling round the screen its easy to lose track, especially to those of us who haven't read the comics and can fill in the gaps in back stories (do they do the characters justice regarding the comics? anyone?). Like Sandman. Interesting guy, not polarised, good stuff from Thomas Haden Church...but the story of his life is given to us in idiot proof quick little sum up - oh he's in a prison outfit, here's his sick cute daughter, here's some handy sand based technology to give him super sand powers (fantastic graphics mind) here's a sandy rampage oh he's gone. and its that quick. new crush Gwen Stacy is 2dimensional at best...oh by the way, she's his lab partner guys! she smiles brightly and all mentions of her relationship with...that photographer, I didnt even get his name...are forgotten. she finally gets to act when she figures out that bad spidey is using her. but thats the last we see of her anyway! James Cromwell appears for a couple of frames it seems, and fades away...it was just all such a rush! This is summed up by that photographer's line to the Captain (who happens to be Gwen's dad) "oh by the way, I'm your daughter's girlfriend." yes. who were you again? but the audience, like poor Captain Stacy, is expected to make a mental note and move on.
After all the emphasis on Spiderman's inner conflict with his dark side, I was unimpressed by the character developement. Peter Parker becomes intensely full of himself, hurts MJ, then...learns his lesson? probably. I think they cut his redemption scene to fit in more of his smug high school musical dancing. what the hell?
? ?
There are some real brilliant moments in this film. A laugh out loud scene with the highly stressed daily bugle Editor, some tender and painful moments between Pete and MJ, some beautiful shots. Technically, you can't fault the film (hmm, except the editing at times.) But - I'm sorry Sam - the script keeps the film average all the way through. There are some very forced plot turns which they don't even try to cover up; "oh look, a handy sand truck." "oh look, it's my old friend Sandman, what are the chances?" "hey, wouldn't it be a great idea if I kissed Gwen in front of my potential fiancee for no particular reason?" The best crew in the world can't save a film from bad writing, and this clunky tangle of disconnected events mean a disappointing 3rd part.
Thoughts? 3 stars *** from me. Oh Sam. Em
After the massive success of Spiderman 1 and 2, this was one of THE films for '07. And do you know what? I was a bit disappointed.
As the critics have been commenting on, the Raimi brothers writing team have tried to fit a hell of a lot into the 2hrs 20 mins...a grand total of 3 super-villians(plus alien goo), a new "dark" emo-haircut spidey, 2+half love interests, 1 photographer rival, 1 overly british news reporter and 2 badly dubbed songs by MJ. This adds up to make...1 very rushed film.
Some really interesting new characters are introduced (super and norms) who get a few mins of screen time and then are rushed off to make room for the next lot. With so many people whirling round the screen its easy to lose track, especially to those of us who haven't read the comics and can fill in the gaps in back stories (do they do the characters justice regarding the comics? anyone?). Like Sandman. Interesting guy, not polarised, good stuff from Thomas Haden Church...but the story of his life is given to us in idiot proof quick little sum up - oh he's in a prison outfit, here's his sick cute daughter, here's some handy sand based technology to give him super sand powers (fantastic graphics mind) here's a sandy rampage oh he's gone. and its that quick. new crush Gwen Stacy is 2dimensional at best...oh by the way, she's his lab partner guys! she smiles brightly and all mentions of her relationship with...that photographer, I didnt even get his name...are forgotten. she finally gets to act when she figures out that bad spidey is using her. but thats the last we see of her anyway! James Cromwell appears for a couple of frames it seems, and fades away...it was just all such a rush! This is summed up by that photographer's line to the Captain (who happens to be Gwen's dad) "oh by the way, I'm your daughter's girlfriend." yes. who were you again? but the audience, like poor Captain Stacy, is expected to make a mental note and move on.
After all the emphasis on Spiderman's inner conflict with his dark side, I was unimpressed by the character developement. Peter Parker becomes intensely full of himself, hurts MJ, then...learns his lesson? probably. I think they cut his redemption scene to fit in more of his smug high school musical dancing. what the hell?
? ?There are some real brilliant moments in this film. A laugh out loud scene with the highly stressed daily bugle Editor, some tender and painful moments between Pete and MJ, some beautiful shots. Technically, you can't fault the film (hmm, except the editing at times.) But - I'm sorry Sam - the script keeps the film average all the way through. There are some very forced plot turns which they don't even try to cover up; "oh look, a handy sand truck." "oh look, it's my old friend Sandman, what are the chances?" "hey, wouldn't it be a great idea if I kissed Gwen in front of my potential fiancee for no particular reason?" The best crew in the world can't save a film from bad writing, and this clunky tangle of disconnected events mean a disappointing 3rd part.
Thoughts? 3 stars *** from me. Oh Sam. Em
