Spider-Man 3

by Brian Zitzelman

Spider-Man 3 kicks off the summer 2007 season, the time for massive blockbusters, lots of things going kablooey and an annual array of gems, both quiet and loud, to be found within. The web-slingers first two releases are amongst the most successful and praised of the decade’s big tent fare. The latest will no doubt achieve the first half of the equation. Whether Spider-Man 3 is any good is a different discussion altogether.

The tale kicks off with your friendly neighborhood Peter Parker basking in the admiration his good deeds have garnered, which, along with the love of his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, has put old Spidey into a novel environment, one of continuous and growing happiness. Plans are in the works to propose to Mary Jane when the past begins to catch up to Peter. The uneasy standing with one time best friend Harry Osborn is rich with vitriol, leaning towards a collision brought on by the ever-haunting death of Harry’s father, the Green Goblin. To make matter worse, Flint Marko has escaped prison, a suspected petty thief who has been revealed to in fact be the killer of Peter’s Uncle Ben.

The core of Spider-Man 3 builds from Peter’s inner-conflict over his newfound confidence, leaning on egotism, with the webbed-one’s growing sense of revenge towards anyone he deems deserving of a thorough beating. The idea is fine, it is merely too bad a barrel of extras ones are piled upon its bones. Raimi’s picture never reaches the indulgent, bloated level of Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest but it circles the path. Where the first two Spider-Man films had a genuine focus, the third overstuffs itself with villains, leaving far too little time for the character moments that had laid a nice balance in previous installments. Flint Marko is a prime example of the instability. Played by Academy Award Nominee Thomas Haden Church, Marko is introduced as a troubled man, stealing to get whatever money is needed to attain the medicine his sick daughter requires. Church is sympathetic, if a tad blasé. Through the old superhero standby of an experiment gone wrong, or right if you want powers, Marko’s body is transformed into sand, which he shifts and shapes into whatever ways he so likes. His reformation after the accident is one of Raimi’s and his talented effects crew’s finest hours, a difficult, brutal looking task that only increases one’s compassion for Marko’s task. That sadly wraps up all the character development Sandman endeavors in Spider-Man 3. From henceforth he’s simply another villain for Peter to pound, with passable set pieces to host them, exemplifying the good but nothing special temperament of the sequel.

What shines in Spider-Man 3 is all that has already been placed from the start. Peter’s emotional struggles are exemplary, fitting into the character’s overly emotional, sweet centered and nerdy self. Maguire gets to revel in said nerdiness time and again here, clumsily strutting along and dancing to a beat that grooves along in his head and his alone. Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson is a step up for the actress. Dunst needs to reveal MJ’s nervous, unsure nature without appearing weak – she nails it. Dunst shows off a surprising sensitivity, instilling a heart to MJ’s scenes. The returning cast is in stellar form as well, with J.K. Simmons and Rosemary Harris getting to add their own unique touches. Words must also be shouted for Raimi veteran Bruce Campbell’s third straight, perfectly executed cameo. Campbell’s slightly snooty, anxious maitre d’ is the largest, finest comedic piece of the superhero story.

The acting takes a turn for the worse – no – dull with two of Spidey’s villains, James Franco and Topher Grace. The duo are okay but lack the enthusiasm and aura the rest of the acting regime carries. Franco impresses when allowed to smile, recollecting fond memories of earlier days on "Freaks and Geeks", a shame he spends the majority of the picture brooding. Grace comes across as the same character he tends to always be, the smarmy smart-ass, a role that has its place, just not in the Spider-Man series.

There has been much discussion whether Spider-Man 3 will be Raimi’s last and one can not help but feel a bit of boredom in his direction here. The movie is rich with scenes that epitomize his directing hand, yet they seem to largely be in the quieter times, playing off Raimi’s well known love of traditional slapstick. The finest work of his career has been the occasions when the director mixes that love along with a blend of character and the surreal, Evil Dead 2 and Spider-Man 2 for example. When Raimi’s cult director self takes hold the latest Spidey glimmers with his special light, but a lot of the two plus hour pictures lack that extra piece. Surely, when a filmmaker’s particular touches abandon the superheroics of superhero movies, the time to move on is clear. What a magnificent ride it has been though.