Originally, I was going to watch Spider-Man 2 before I went to this but Apple paid for my ticket and who am I to turn down a free movie. A friend said there wasn’t anything critical I would be missing if I saw 3 first so I went to it with my skeptical expectations thanks to the other reviews I read.
The latest chapter of the Spider-Man saga begins with everything going Peter Parker’s way. He’s excelling at college; Mary Jane is starring in an off-Broadway musical; Aunt May is alive and well; the city and people of NYC love Spider-Man with the exception of Daily Bugle’s editor-in-chief and Peter’s boss, J. Jonah Jameson. But it wouldn’t be much of a movie if something didn’t go sour and since it’s the flick launching the Summer Blockbuster (more like Blockbluster) Season for the third time in five years, everything for Parker has to go wrong. These types of movies don’t make money unless it’s all excessive.
- Spider-Man faces not just one new villain but four—Sandman (perfectly cast with Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace), the New Goblin (James Franco) and his inner demons
- Peter decides to ask Mary Jane to marry him but her career hits the skids quickly, it has to be all about her, her, her
- There’s a possible romantic rival for Mary Jane in Peter’s life named Gwen Stacey (Bryce Dallas Howard, yes, Opie’s daughter)
- A new photographer (Grace again) is muscling in on his turf
- Lastly, New York’s finest have finally realized that some other thug (Haden Church again, surprise!) killed Uncle Ben.
Right away one can see all the problems this movie is going to have due to a rather unwarranted number of plots and subplots. Having multiple villains in a superhero flick has always been the kiss of death since Batman Returns too. Somehow director Sam Raimi pulls it off successfully. It’s not a perfect movie by any stretch: it runs a tad too long, the long conversations bring it to a grinding halt and the number of characters overwhelms non-comic-book fans. Yet the good easily outweighs the bad through Raimi’s strength with frenetic action such as Spider-Man fighting the New Goblin in mid-air or Peter’s comical dance routine in a jazz club. The comedy parts from actors other than Bruce Campbell (as a French maitre’d caricature) and Ted Raimi (an ad guy) were an awesome surprise because superhero adapations tend to be serious and I think many critics including this cartoon review miss the point, especially when blockbusters are done by the numbers.
This movie will entertain all but the most fickle Spider-Man purists and sufferers of ADD. I know I would still come to this conclusion regardless of seeing 2. My only annoyance is how much money Sony is making for several reasons. The fuzzy math on breaking box-office records for an opening weekend isn’t news, adjustments for inflation are ignored and ticket prices being jacked again this Summer definitely adds a few million bucks automatically. Eventually the bloated price tags for these types of movies will come crashing down on Hollywood, it just won’t be this one.