Review: "Spider-Man 3" is Too Crowded

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 76 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence
DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi
WRITERS: Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent; from a screen story by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi (based upon the Marvel Comic Book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko)
PRODUCERS: Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Grant Curtis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope
EDITOR: Bob Muraski
BAFTA Award nominee

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, James Cromwell, Theresa Russell, Dylan Baker, Bill Nunn, Bruce Campbell, Elizabeth Banks, Cliff Robertson, Ted Raimi, Perla Haney-Jardine, Elya Baskin, and Mageina Tovah

Sam Raimi returns to direct Spider-Man 3, and this time he has the hero and film juggling a gaggle of new characters, which ultimately weighs down this film and denies the best villain of this installment, Venom, the substantial screen time that would have made SpM3 as good as Spider-Man 2.

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has finally struck a balance between his life as the costumed superhero, Spider-Man, and his civilian life, which includes his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) or M.J., but there are so many troubles brewing on his horizon. First, Harry Osborn (James Franco), the son of Spider-Man’s most dangerous enemy, the villainous Green Goblin, strikes at him using some of his father’s technology. Next, Peter learns that Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) was the man who really killed Peter’s beloved Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). A freak scientific accident fuses Marko’s DNA with sand, and he becomes the shape-shifting Sandman. If that weren’t enough, Peter, a photographer for the Daily Bugle meets his new rival, Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), a sneaky twerp willing to do just about anything to impress the Bugle’s editor-in-chief, J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), in order to get the fulltime photographer position Peter wants.

Peter and M.J. (who knows that Peter is also Spider-Man) are also at odds because M.J. feels that whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on, Pete is too busy talking about being Spider-Man and how popular the hero has become with the general public. Their relationship crumbles when M.J. sees Spider-Man/Peter Parker kissing Eddie Brock’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard). Meanwhile, Peter has encountered an alien substance, a symbiotic creature, which merges with Spider-Man and his traditional red and blue costume and turns it black. The union also changes Peter’s personality, and it is the new, more aggressive and selfish Peter who publicly humiliates Brock. Unbeknownst to Pete, Brock will play a major part in bringing forth Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis, Venom. As Peter Parker tries to repair the rifts between he and his closet friends and also rediscover his compassion, Sandman and Venom form an unholy union to have their revenge against the wall-crawling hero.

Spider-Man 3 is a special effects extravaganza, featuring dizzying chase scenes in which characters are whirling, twirling, spinning, soaring, plunging, etc. between the buildings and structures of New York City. Above the street and below, Spider-Man and his adversaries defy gravity and avoid destruction even when gravity or the force of their own punches and kicks send them spiraling toward an extra hard landing. Computer rendered characters including CGI version of Spider-Man, Sandman, Venom, “Goblin, Jr. Harry Osborn, and the civilians they endanger (including M.J. and Gwen) account for the bulk of the complex action scenes, which couldn’t be pulled off with such dazzling, dizzying flair using real actors.

In the end, however, Spider-Man 3 is like the original 2002 Spider-Man movie – a lot of sound and fury dropped in between poignant character drama. The core of this movie is the message of compassion, forgiveness, and heroism. Early in the film, things are going so well for Peter – he’s going to propose to M.J. and the public adores Spider-Man – that when an obstacle presents itself or a little rain falls in his life, he’s turns to anger, pride, envy, and vengeance. In fact, most of the characters are looking for retribution or dealing with bitterness and personal defeat.

Try as Raimi, his co-writers, and cast might, the film has no soul, however. It’s simply a loud, superhero action fantasy built on CGI. There are too many characters and subplots to allow the drama and message to fully bloom into hearty flowers. Spider-Man 3 has the thrills and chills of superhero and villains colliding, but it is exceedingly dark and gloomy, which doesn’t allow the heroism to come through until the end. Of course, if this is really just popcorn entertainment, who cares if the human drama is just window dressing?

5 of 10
B-

Friday, May 11, 2007

NOTE:
2008 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Special Visual Effects” (Scott Stokdyk, Peter Nofz, John Frazier, and Spencer Cook)

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Review: "Spider-Man 2" is a Superb Sequel

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 112 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for stylized action violence
DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi
WRITERS: Alvin Sargent, from a screen story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Michael Chabon (based upon the comic book created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko)
PRODUCERS: Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope
EDITOR: Bob Murawski (D.o.P.)
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman
Academy Award winner

SUPERHERO/ACTION/DRAMA/ROMANCE with elements of sci-fi

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Alfred Molina, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Donna Murphy, Daniel Gillies, Dylan Baker, Bill Nunn, Willem Dafoe, and Cliff Robertson

I had mixed feelings about the first Spider-Man, released in 2002. The action sequences featuring Spider-Man rescuing folks, being his Spidey self, and fighting the Green Goblin were for the most part pretty cool. The (melo)drama was well conceived, but was too dry and flat. Director Sam (Evil Dead) Raimi’s sequel, Spider-Man 2, doesn’t suffer from flat drama, and the action is even better than the first time. After X2: X-Men United, this may be the best superhero movie ever.

As SM2 starts, a myriad of personal problems beset our hero, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), and being Spider-Man doesn’t help any of them. He’s broke, and the bank is about to foreclose on his Aunt May’s (Rosemary Harris) home. He isn’t making enough money taking photos for the Daily Bugle, and his newspaper boss, J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), doesn’t cut him any slack. Parker is in love with his longtime friend Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), but he’s afraid to let her into his life for fear that one of Spider-Man’s enemies will eventually use her as a pawn in their revenge schemes against him. His best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) believes that Peter and Spider-Man have a close professional relationship, and Harry hungers to avenge his father Norman’s aka, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) death (he believes) at the hands of the web-slinger. Peter’s also still haunted by the death of his Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson), for which he blames himself. If that weren’t enough, Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), a scientist Peter admires, becomes a dangerous fiend known as Dr. Octopus, who has four monstrous mechanical arms attached to his body and who blames Spider-Man for his fate.

For years, my friends and I wondered if any Hollywood studio could make a good Spider-Man movie. Thanks to computer generated imagery and computer rendered images, at least the gravity defying antics of superheroes can be seamlessly translated from the four-color page of the comic book to the big screen. The SFX filmmakers on Spider-Man do extraordinary work creating a CGI Spider-Man who soars, spins, dips, hops, leaps, slides, dives, jumps, flips, and break dances across, through, and over the landscape of NYC, the city that is a very well used character in this film.

The writing, the second element very necessary for translation of superhero to screen, is much improved over the first film, likely because the three writers of the screen story are very familiar with superheroes. The strong writing of this film is combined with the fine acting of the first film, which carries over to SM2, and that’s what makes the drama so palatable. Of particular note is Rosemary Harris as Aunt May; Harris not only brings a solemn note to this fantasy film, but she also helps to humanize the Peter Parker character and lend credence to the idea of the hero as a regular guy dealing with the ups and downs of life.

Much credit to Sam Raimi, known for his horror and fantasy films, he is actually a very talented director who is equally at home with drama as he is with the fantastique. If he didn’t prove it in A Simple Plan, he certainly proves it with Spider-Man 2. Raimi can bring tears to your eyes with the drama and romance, and he can knock you back into the seat with heart-stopping action. Raimi’s new film will make your spirit soar vicariously with Spider-Man as he swings on his magical webbing over the city.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, John Frazier); and 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Paul N.J. Ottosson) and “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush, and Joseph Geisinger)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier) and “Best Sound” (Paul N.J. Ottosson, Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Jeffrey J. Haboush)

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Review: First "Spider-Man" Flick Entertaining, but Average

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Spider-Man (2002)
Running time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
MPAA – PG-13 for stylized violence and action
DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi
WRITER: David Koepp (based upon the comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko)
PRODUCERS: Ian Bryce and Laura Ziskin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Don Burgess (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Arthur Coburn and Bob Murawski
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/FANTASY/ACTION/SCI-FI

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, Joe Manganiello, and Bill Nunn

When a genetically modified spider bites high school outcast Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), Parker gains powers and abilities based upon the natural characteristics of spiders. After a robber Parker failed to stop when he had a chance kills his Uncle Ben, Parker becomes Spider-Man (again, Maguire), a costumed superhero to use his super powers for the greater good. Spider-Man soon encounters a destructive costumed super villain named Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, The Last Temptation of Christ), who is the alter ego of a wealthy industrialist Norman Osborn. In addition to dealing with super crooks, Parker has domestic troubles. He is in love with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst, Interview with a Vampire), who is also the love interest of his roommate, Harry Osborn (James Franco), the son of Norman.

Directed by the diverse Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, A Simple Plan) and based upon the Marvel comic book of the same name, Spider-Man revels in the excellent execution of the fight scenes of its two antagonists. A combination of computer animation, close-ups, and stunt doubles, the confrontations between hero and villain burst with energy. Raimi, no stranger to SFX, knows how to compose a movie that takes advantage of effects and how to shape the effects around the movie or to shape the movie around the effects.

The script David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Panic Room) is another thing entirely. The plot is simple: Spider-Man is in the Green Goblin’s way, and Goblin wants to remove him. The story is fairly straightforward, and it’s nothing special. Whether the fault of the director or of the writer, the character drama between the action is boring and dry, and you could find your mind wandering while waiting for the next get together between Spidey and the Goblin. While the drama is clunky, the fights are so exciting; getting them is like getting a Christmas gift.

The acting is on the whole professional work. Both Maguire and Dafoe play the roles with class and are quite believable as Parker/Spider-Man and Osborn/Goblin respectively. Maguire totally sells us as the nerdy Parker, and when he becomes super powered, Maguire shifts into a whole other gear. Dafoe is funny, wacky, and intense as both Norman Osborn and as the Goblin. His prowess as an actor bleeds through the Goblin’s mask and gives the villain depth and dimension.

Spider-Man is a summer blockbuster: light on drama but heavy on the eye candy of the effects. Luckily the effects really work, because the drama is weak. Fans of comic books and action movies will likely get a jolt out of this movie. However, if you’re looking for something really special, or at least, very good, this is not it. Spider-Man is, at best, an average product with a big ad campaign behind it.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Sound” (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Ed Novick) and “Best Visual Effects” (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier)

2003 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier)

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Those Crazy Zac Efron Spider-Man Rumors (A Negromancer Bits and Bites Extra)

Those of you who follow such things know the mess that Sony Pictures' Spider-Man franchise has become.  Director Sam Raimi, who directed all three Spider-Man movies, reportedly could not agree with the studio on issues concerning "Spider-Man 4's" plot and villains or even finish a fourth film in time to meet the May 2011 release date.  Thus, Sony not only dumped Raimi, but also the franchise's stars - even Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire.  At that point, Sony apparently decided to relaunch the franchise featuring a younger Spider-Man.

Now, news/gossip/rumor site OK is reporting that Zac Efron of the Disney Channel's "High School Musical" will be Spider-Man... And Vanessa is also supposed to be along for the ride.