I've always felt that the Spider-Man series has been poorly cast, written, and directed from the first installment. I recognise that this opinion puts me in the minority, but I think it's something worth contemplating if you like these movies. Do you like these movies because of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst's questionable acting? Do you like it because of Sam Raimi's dull and repetitive storytelling (how many times does he have to resort to the villain kidnapping MJ in the third act)? Or do you like it because it's Spider-Man, one of the most entertaining comic book characters created? Yes, these films could have been a lot worse (just ask Joel Schumacher), but it seems like everyone involved settled for "agreeable" and not "extraordinary." With the negative reviews and word of mouth coming off of this latest installment, I almost feel like people have finally started to see the flaws that have been there since the first installment; it just took two movies for that initial awe of seeing Spider-Man on the big screen to wear off.Spider-Man 3 essentially gives us a week in the life of Peter Parker, and it is very episodic. Peter and Mary Jane are having relationship troubles because he is so enamored with his fame as Spider-Man. Harry finally vents his anger towards Peter and assumes his father's alter ego. Flint Marko, a petty thief on the run, accidentally stumbles on a science project in the marshes and gets turned into the Sandman. And Eddie Brock is the new hotshot photographer gunning for Peter's job. These four stories don't so much intertwine as they happen independently of each other. When one story runs dry, they move to the next. When that one goes as far as it can, they move on again. It isn't until the end that all these stories actually come together, so as a result it feels like you're watching multiple movies at once, and not one finely crafted, multi-arching story.
I've already said my piece about Tobey and Kirsten. They were miscast and they don't improve much here. James Franco does alright with his part, but it felt like he was shortchanged after two movies setting up his storyline. But then, that's kind of a running theme in this film: shortchanging any story that isn't Peter and Mary Jane's relationship woes. Thomas Haden Church is well cast as Sandman, giving unexpected depth to an otherwise two-dimensional villain, but sadly 75% of the Sandman's screen time is CGI, so he is largely wasted anyway. Yet the film is almost single handedly saved by Topher Grace, who gives the most entertaining and dark performance of the film. He has more energy and enthusiasm for his part than anyone else, and when he shares the screen with anyone it feels like they are asleep by comparison. He is both slimy and sympathetic, depending on the situation, and I can't help but think what an exponentially better series this would have been had he been cast as Spider-Man.
One plot point I haven't hit upon yet is the introduction of the Symbiote, a black substance that crashes to Earth and attempts to take over Peter. What could have been a dark and interesting story is instead turned into Jim Carrey's The Mask, culminating with a dance number by Peter in a jazz club. I think that's what has bothered me most about these movies: Sam Raimi treats everything like it's a joke, he finds a way to wink at the audience in far too many scenes. So when he asks us to care about the relationship troubles between Peter and Mary Jane, we just don't care. It was all goofy so far, so why should we suddenly act like these people's problems are even half serious?
On a more personal level, I think that what Raimi did to the character of Venom is insulting. Mild spoilers for the rest of the paragraph, folks. Since the first movie, Raimi has stated that he hates Venom and will not make a movie with Venom in it. The studios consistently informed him that Venom was one of the most recognisable and popular villains in Spider-Man mythos, so he finally gave in and included Venom. While not as disrespectful as Shumacher's treatment of Bane in Batman & Robin, Raimi found a way to include Venom as little as possible, as well as guarantee that if he makes a fourth film, he won't have to use Venom again. Raimi set it up perfectly to make Venom a multi-film character in the same way that Harry has been, and this one could have ended with the creation of Venom. Instead, he squeezes Venom in at the last minute just so he can get everyone off his back about it. What makes it all the more frustrating was how cool Venom seemed for those fifteen minutes, and what a great job Topher was doing with the part.
On the up side, the final battle scene is pretty well done, and I liked the way we saw things as if it were being filmed for a TV news broadcast. That made Venom much more frightening, almost like something out of Aliens. Between that and Topher Grace, this film barely rises above being horrible to be just mediocre. I really hope they aren't kidding when they say this is the end of the Spider-Man series as we know it, because I think there is a lot of talented actors and filmmakers out there who could do something really special with this franchise if given the chance.
