Author Topic: EP Review: Spiderman 3  (Read 9483 times)

Bdoomed

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on: May 21, 2007, 05:29:16 AM
« Last Edit: May 29, 2007, 12:52:46 PM by Russell Nash »

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Loz

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Reply #1 on: May 21, 2007, 11:39:19 AM
What is going on at the House of Ideas? The last few years of Marvel films have been well ropey, Spidey 2, Fantastic Four, X-Men 3...



Zathras

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Reply #2 on: May 23, 2007, 04:01:40 AM
I hope that is it for Spiderman.  Probaby not, considering the amount of money it made.   Has anyone seen 28 Months Later?



DKT

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Reply #3 on: May 23, 2007, 03:45:35 PM
What is going on at the House of Ideas? The last few years of Marvel films have been well ropey, Spidey 2, Fantastic Four, X-Men 3...

I hear you on FF and X3 (BLEH!) but what was wrong with Spidey 2?  I thought it was much better than the first Spider-man (I had the hardest time getting past that scene with the Goblin and Spider-man on top of the roof talking through their respective helmet and mask.  It was pretty good, but I liked 2 better.  Still need to see the third...


ClintMemo

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Reply #4 on: May 23, 2007, 05:35:47 PM
(I had the hardest time getting past that scene with the Goblin and Spider-man on top of the roof talking through their respective helmet and mask. 

I know exactly what you mean.  When it got to that scene, all I could think of was "Power Rangers."  :P

Life is a multiple choice test. Unfortunately, the answers are not provided.  You have to go and find them before picking the best one.


Loz

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Reply #5 on: June 06, 2007, 09:37:27 AM
What is going on at the House of Ideas? The last few years of Marvel films have been well ropey, Spidey 2, Fantastic Four, X-Men 3...

I hear you on FF and X3 (BLEH!) but what was wrong with Spidey 2?

It was the 'new seriousness' of it all. I've been waiting for many years for Spidey films which put the comics on screen, including Peter Parker in all his bad-pun, wisecracking glory and instead we had this almost entirely  silent character. It was one of those films that reminded me what it's like to feel depressed, the long slow flats of feeling, as though all colour and texture has been leeched out of the world. Alfred Molina was great and Doctor Octopus' story was engaging, at least at the beginning and end and not so much when he was just Doctor Evil in the middle there, but there was just a void in the middle of the screen where Maguire stood.

In the end I decided not to go and see this film. Of my friends who have seen it even those that liked the second film didn't think this was any good so I'll save my cash.

And don't get me started on X-bloody-3...



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Reply #6 on: June 06, 2007, 03:33:57 PM
No worries there.  X3 is a travesty in my opinion  ;)


slic

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Reply #7 on: June 07, 2007, 01:51:43 AM
The only problem with X3 is that they crammed in too many cool story ideas into one movie.  It did a disservice to the actors, and shortchanged the fans - it was almost like they decided to cover 25 years of X-Men history in 2 hours.  Imagine the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in a 2.5 hour movie.



jscorbett

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Reply #8 on: July 01, 2007, 03:53:13 AM
The other problem with X3 is that they killed off all the characters we liked before the movie was half done.  The ones that remained, I didn't care as much about.



robertmarkbram

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Reply #9 on: July 07, 2007, 10:30:45 AM
I copied this over from IMDB.com and the other message board  for Escape Pod.

I saw Spiderman 3 recently and enjoyed it greatly for the special effects and for the new bad guys it introduces.

Most of all I empathised with and cheered for Thomas Haden Church's Sandman. His creation scene was sad and poignant: a poor man battling so much bad luck. He couldn't keep his family together and now cannot even keep himself together! I found Sandman's creation scene emotionally resonant with the sand blown scene in Altered States - which I imagined to be an allegory for two people who loved each other but were growing apart so slowly they didn't notice it any more.

An aspect of the first and second Spiderman movies that I most enjoyed was the emotional wrangling Peter Parker went through with his love for MJ. He loves her, but he feels as though he should reject that love, because he cannot protect her from the evil in his life. Ironically, he has brought the evil into his own life by choosing to "fight crime", to be a hero.

By implication, he is choosing the life of a hero over the life of a lover, a partner.

Why does he make this choice? What can make Spiderman reject the love of a good woman? Does he find the draw of being a hero, of having power and glory to be greater than the joy and satisfaction of having a partner? I won't mention the sex. Or does the emotional and moral imperative to help people form an irresistible urge that draws him to the inevitable conclusion that since he can't both help people and have a lover whom he can protect, helping people is what must win out.

I think the first and third movies present different answers to this question. In the first movie I felt that Peter Parker was irresistibly drawn to helping people. But in the third movie, he was after the glory! He fights so hard to make sure Spiderman gets good news paper coverage. Sure, he was under the influence of the black gunk - but it just exaggerates what is already there, so Peter loves the power and glory too.

Escape Pod has a very thoughtful review of Spiderman 3. It questions how easily Peter Parker rids himself of evil. He can strip off the black gunk and is immediately absolved of the evil he has committed (at least in the eyes of the audience). "We always have a choice", Peter says, yet in the words of the reviewer Jonathon Sullivan, Peter Parker paid the smallest price for his own evil.

The problem, Sullivan says, is that true evil comes from humans, not from external objects like black gunk from the sky. By relegating the source of Peter Parker's evil actions to the black gunk, we don't get to examine the true source of evil - the dark thoughts and desires in our hearts.

I find this to be a valid and important point. I was thrilled when Spidey managed to wipe the gunk off himself and "gong it to death", and I enjoyed the resolution he found with Sandman at the end.

However, as I was walking out I wondered "how many people died in the scenes they portrayed?" The movie showed lots of buildings and property getting destroyed - but surely all that damage would have taken quite a few people out as well. The aspect of "Collateral Damage" wasn't addressed - did Peter Parker have nightmares about the innocents who died while he was wearing the black suit? Perhaps this is common enough for all superheroes (or police, or soldiers..): in trying to do good deeds, sometimes innocent people get hurt.

Something I really wanted from Spiderman 3 was a bit more acknowledgment that tearing off the black suit doesn't mean Spiderman has torn all evil thoughts from his heart. It just means they aren't being amplified anymore. Some people will say that was reflected by his statement that "we always have a choice" - the choice to follow through with our dark desires or not. That is true, but I still wanted something more: something I see in shows like Law & Order. That final look on the face of the main character, a lawyer, cop, DA, coffee boy etc: thoughtful but uncomfortable. They are thinking: "something bad has happened, unavoidable, necessary perhaps, but bad -  and it can never be taken back.. I hope I can live with myself."


Unblinking

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Reply #10 on: October 14, 2010, 05:42:12 PM
The only problem with X3 is that they crammed in too many cool story ideas into one movie.  It did a disservice to the actors, and shortchanged the fans - it was almost like they decided to cover 25 years of X-Men history in 2 hours.  Imagine the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in a 2.5 hour movie.

The way I interepreted that cramming was a merchandising push--you introduced 35 new characters, each of which gets to show their powers once, have a couple lines, and then dies or goes off camera.  And, like jscorbett, they disposed of all the coolest characters one way or the other throughout it.  Gah!  I hated that movie.  I blame the change in director.  I thought Bryan Singer did a great job with the first 2, but the director for this one ruined it.  Wolverine was a terrible movie too, though it had a few cool scenes.

I haven't actually seen Spidey 3, but I saw the first 2.  I never liked Maguire in the role.  The first one was pretty good, but since I don't like Maguire, and I've never really cared for the Green Goblin, it wasn't as good as it could be.  Spidey 2 was much better, partly because Doc Ock was my favorite villain, and he was played very well.  Really, who couldn't use all those extra superpowerful limbs?  I sort of want to see Spidey 3 if only for the Sandman special effects, but I appreciate the heads up on the issues within it.  Especially the implied theme with pulling the black gunk off and gonging it to death--now all I need to do to become a better person is figure out where my black gunk is so I can give it similar treatment.