Stuff by Steve

It has been a while since I have heard as many love-it/hate-it sentiments for a movie as I have with Spider-Man 3. I found it curious that opinions were quick to break forth among my circle of friends, with equal numbers literally exclaiming how much they loved or hated the movie. Perhaps it is because this was the first major show of the season and anticipation was sky-high from the success of the first movies and the blandness of the winter fare. Some suffered the disappointment that followed dashed expectations, and others were just happy to have a movie to watch that didn’t suck. I have taken a more moderate position; I found the film to be flawed but enjoyable. The acting was fine, as it has been, and the effects were the same top-notch eye candy. The mediocrity was in the story. I predicted this at the end of the second film, when we saw the forlorn-looking M.J. watching her love swing off into the distance to pursue a life of crime-fighting without her. The Raimi brothers, who wrote the story, knew they needed to get back the unattainable nature of the girl, so when it all happened, it felt a bit contrived. Also, there seemed to be a few too many villains - six, to be precise (count with me: New Goblin, Sandman, Venom, strange creature from space, black-suited Spider-Man, and Peter Parker’s internal struggle). Throw in the complication of some villains being victims themselves, others changing sides, and other villains being part of one character, then part of another, and then a character all in itself, and you have a hard time knowing who to boo. But, speaking of Peter’s internal struggle, I think that that was the weakest part. The debate of what makes a true hero is a worthwhile one, but not for three movies in a row. The script desperately needed a new motivation, but it didn’t get one. Thus, except for the numerous villains, I felt like I had seen it all before. Still, a bad Spider-Man movie is still a good movie, in my opinion. I found the action sequences thrilling and pace deft. Even though the drama was contrived in concept, it was quite accessible in execution - you can always relate to Spider-Man, for some reason. And that’s where the charm is at.