It used to be the case that comic book adaptations tried to distance themselves from their source material and to play down aspects that were less likely to appeal to a non-comics reading audience - things like ludicrous spandex costumes, preposterous dialogue and monolithically complicated character histories. But then along came last year’s X-Men 3, which chose to cast off the dark, intelligent drama established in the first few films in favour of a mindless plot, dumb catchphrases and shallow one-note heroes and villains. And while Spiderman 3 doesn’t sink anywhere near as low as Ratner’s shambolic effort, it does follow the same trend of backsliding into comics’ more dubious traditions.
The real problem, other than traditional Hollywood bigger-is-better logic and an overuse of CGI effects that just don’t quite work, is that Raimi and co-writer Alvin Sargent seem to have taken all their inspiration from the comics of their childhood and then simply levered the whole thing into a modern-day setting. The first two films struck a good balance between nostalgia, faithfulness, and savvy of what a modern audience will accept. Spiderman 3, by contrast, stretches credibility to the limit on an all-too-frequent basis, ditches any kind of realistic development in favour of one-note characterisation and absurd eleventh hour plot twists, and seems to be set in some kind of cartoon representation of the sixties.
A few examples: The Sandman, one of three new villains crammed into the two and a half hour running time, is created when criminal Flint Marko falls into a molecular accelerator whilst on the run from the police - one scene of getting used to his new powers later and he’s resumed his thieving career. Venom, another new baddy, drops out of the sky attached to a meteorite and turns into a black replica of Spidey’s costume, which Peter Parker then unquestioningly starts to wear. But it’s Harry Osborne as the New Goblin who gets the really shitty end of the stick … you have to feel sorry for any character so entirely driven by mcguffins. Selective amnesia, for god’s sake…
If this was a Stan Lee comic, where a story had to be crammed into a handful of pages and plausibility was the last thing on anybody’s mind, you could role our eyes at how cheesy it all was and move on. But it’s not - it’s one of the most expensive films ever made, the finale to a much-loved trilogy that should really be wrapping hours of continuity up in a satisfying way. It should have and could have been so much better, and some of the faults are so glaring that it’s amazing anyone could have missed them.
Yet, it’s far from being a bad film. Maguire is still hit and miss in the lead, Dunst seems even more woefully miscast than before, but Franco has finally found his feet as Harry Osborn and both Topher Grace as Eddie Brock / Venom and Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko / Sandman make for satisfying bad guys. Apart from the opening scrap with the New Goblin and a few occasions of too much or misused CG, most of the action sequences are stunning. And at least Sam Raimi seems to have finally recovered from his shellshock at having such colossal budgets thrown into his lap, and has cut loose from the restraints he obviously set for himself in the first two - which isn’t always a good thing, but it does guarantee a sense of fun, and a level of energy that no other director could match.
Raimi is perhaps most to blame for the fact that Spiderman 3 is frequently a colossal mess, but he’s also the one who manages to hold that mess together, mixing comedy, horror, drama and action in such a way that you soon start to let your brain slide past the unsuccessful scenes in the knowledge that what comes next will probably make up for it. And largely thanks to him, while this second sequel is a disappointment after what’s come before, it’s by no means a disaster and well worth a look.
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Sam Raimi made Spiderman 3 hurried, after all Avi Arad impossed him Venom. What we were expecting for? The result was dissapointing. Thats why the franchise deserves a change. We want Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) for directing Spiderman 4.
Yeah, nobody should really be suprised that Spidey 3 wasn’t so great. If you read the interviews that Raimi was giving a year ago then it sounds like even he knew it wasn’t going to work.
del Toro’s definately one of the best fantasy directors around, but I think I’d rather see him make some of the films he’s got planned rather than move onto another comics franchise. He talks on his site about making Lovecraft’s “Beyond the Mountains of Madness” once Hellboy 2’s finished … now that’d be something.