When I first heard about the extensive cast list for “Spider-Man 3,” I got nervous. It’s the tendency of tent-pole franchises like this to up the ante with each passing sequel — more villains, more action, more of everything except character development and emotional engagement.
With no less than three villains and many other assorted characters, was the movie taking on more baggage than it could bear or was my instinct (oh, all right, spider-sense) wrong?
See, that’s one of the things about instincts though. They’re very often spot-on.
Not that the film is bad. Far from it. By all means go and have a good time, if for no other reason than to witness Thomas Haden Church slowly reform himself into the Sandman for the first time — a scene which Anthony Lane rightly noted in his review as one of the coolest moments of cinema you’ll witness all year. Though a half-hour too long and stuffed to the gills, “Spider-Man 3” offers enough popcorn thrills to be worth your time (not that my review would dissuade you from going anyway)
But after the greatness of the first two films, it’s hard not to see the third iteration as anything but a disappointment. It’s certainly not an out-and-out failure, but “Spider-Man 3” is definitely Exhibit A in the case of “More Doesn’t Equal Better.”
Most of you have no doubt been following the movie’s production closely enough that I don’t have to summarize the plot. But for those readers who may be just joining us and to pad out my review, I’ll do so anyway.
The film opens with Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) on top of the world. His alter ego, Spider-Man, is beloved by New York’s denizens and he’s got a beautiful girl (Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson). The world is dangling from his webbing. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, there is the little matter of Harry Osborne (James Franco), his former best friend and now sworn enemy. Harry blames Peter for his dad’s death and dons a techno-skater outfit to become the new Green Goblin and seek his revenge.
Meanwhile, there’s Flint Marco (Church) a big lug of an escaped convict who, while trying to get money for his ailing daughter, ends up being “demolecularized” and turned into the afore-mentioned Sandman.
Then there’s this mysterious meteor that just happens to land right next to where Peter one night and that also just happens to be piggybacking a dangerous alien symbiote (The meteor’s arrival is one of the first signs that the movie has problems. It’s handled so clumsily that for a moment I thought I was watching “Evil Dead” instead of “Spider-Man 3.”)
The symbiote spreads out into a neato jet-black costume for Peter, but wearing it brings out his dark side. How do we know this? Because he lets his hair get greasy and combs it in front of his face, an affect that doesn’t make him seem evil as much as it does the bass player for a Fall Out Boy cover band.
Much, much later (well past the halfway point), said symbiote develops a fondness for rival Daily Bugle photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who, on the other hand, doesn’t have very nice feelings about Mr. Parker.
Do you begin to see what I mean about the movie being weighted down? I haven’t even mentioned Gwen Stacey (Bryce Dallas Howard) or Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) yet.
As you might expect, director Sam Rami has trouble keeping track of the film’s various threads. Everything will be humming merrily along when suddenly the movie will slap itself on the forehead and say “D’oh! I forgot about the Green Goblin” and we’re somewhere else entirely. If you listen closely, you can hear Rami breathlessly running to the next plot point so he can check it off of his to-do list.
So what’s good about the movie? I liked a number of the action sequences, particularly one in the subway tunnels of NYC between the Sandman and the black-clad Spidey. The special effects are as good as they’ve ever been and at times achieve a level of visual poetry (see the aforementioned Sandman sequence). I liked Grace’s comic cockiness, I enjoyed Maguire and Dunst’s banter, and I’d pay twice the admission for “Spider-Man 4” if it had 50 percent more of J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. Overall I’d say there are enough crowd-pleasing moments to satisfy the fans.
But for every high point there’s a pointless scene that drags on for far too long. Why, for example and without giving anything away, even bother with the first act of Franco’s storyline if you’re going to completely negate it in the second? And what’s the point of employing talented actors like James Cromwell, Bill Duke, Theresa Russell and Bryce Dallas Howard if you’re just going to have them stand around and blend in with the scenery? Church especially seems wasted, given to looking grim for most of the film.
Yes, “Spider-Man 3” is fun at times, but it feels more like an overwrought amusement park ride than anything else. The first two movies were special. This is just another superhero flick.
May 4th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Agreed. Very, very, very much agreed.