A sad development

By: amatorian
Date: Friday, May 04, 2007

I feel as if somebody dropped a very large ball upon my testicles and decided to pick it back up with immense strength just to hurl it back at them.  Disappointment is not a strong enough word for me to convey appropriately how I feel at this moment, having given myself at least an hour to rummage throughout my brain over the film I have seen.  Other comic adaptations have discouraged me from wanting to see more, but I continuously watch with the love of a child, the immense pleasure gained from sitting in a theater with my candy and soda, looking upon the monolithic screen to see my memories brought forth in glorious action.  Fantastic Four was a disaster, I can't forgive it, but I didn't expect much going in.  Daredevil was similar (although I find the director's cut to be far better).  Elektra and Catwoman...I'm not touching them at all, enough people already have.  Spider-man 3, although not the worst of the batch, is by far the biggest letdown.

Some people have focused on the negative being too many villains, too many characters with which to forge a story around.  Some have already been built and if you haven't seen the first two yet I'm not sure why you would see the third.  We don't need long drawn out work done on Peter, Mary Jane, Harry and such, we merely need the reminiscent of what occurred previously.  This seems to have only been done effectively with Harry Osbourne (James Franco).  His acting shines as a tormented individual, testing himself and trying to find some rest from what burns inside.  Though as the story progresses it seems merely the end result is pointless meandering.  Wading through nothing just so we knew he still existed.  We easily spot what the filmmakers were trying for, and in many cases there is a supreme amount of success.  Unfortunately those successes are overshadowed by the flaws.  These flaws do not come from having too many characters but from not effectively working with what you have. 

Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) feels poorly tacked on (In an interview Sam Raimi had said he was originally not in the script until Avi Arad asked him to place Venom in there), as such the nuances that fans truly know of the character, when the writing was spot on in the comics, simply does not come through.  Instead of a human being going through the worst of everything, finding that both Peter Parker and Spider-man are at the center of it all, with nothing left to do but to end it all we find him seeming to be just a brat.  Childish behavior was not one of Venom's traits in the comic books.  Neither is it one that works well in this film.  There was good reason for Eddie Brock (in the comics) to have wanted to end his life, to commit suicide.  The importance of that moment in the comic was flung far away and replaced with something so silly and lacking that we wonder why anybody (other than one that needs to grow up) would be filled with such anger.  Maybe that was what they were going for, but it simply doesn't work.

Sandman (Hayden Thomas Church) saddens me the most.  Perhaps he is an outdated villain that was never really worked well inside comics, but the glimpses of personality in the movie show what could have been, what was never in the comics.  An internally struggling person trying for better through the wrong ways.  This is what they are attempting to show with Parker in the film as well.  What could have been a masterfully enthralling revenge piece, showing off the darker side of humanity and the forgiveness of the spirit turns into monologues meant to tie everything up.  I wanted to feel for Flint's (Sandman) pain, but there was nowhere near the attempt for me to care as I did about Otto Octavius (Doc Ock from Spidey 2). 

Then we have the emotional issues fluttering around the head of our two lovebirds.  Seemingly this is where the film should sparkle, and at times it does.  Times when we see a true love that hurts because of such destructive forces.  One of them trying to salvage it while the other remains blissfully ignorant of it's problems.  Life crashing down upon them.  Surrounding such grand moments (which are far too few), though, is a myriad of tedious dialog that feels far too cliché and reminiscent of so many other movies that have graced our eyes time and time again.  A typical badly done romance going down the drains melodrama.  We know what's coming next because we have seen these events play out while watching the most recent romantic comedy and those following in pace behind it.  Only this time it has a guy in bright colorful tights!  It's not a question of originality but more the sensation of everything being lifted directly off the page of another movie.  I will actually give Kirsten Dunst some credit because to me this is the best performance she's done in these movies.  It's still not enough to save a script that lacks in so many areas.

I have tried to write something that gives away none of the film, hopefully I have done that.  I didn't see a necessity to inform you the story but merely give off my take on the movie.  I love the first one, adore the second and have been a fan since I was old enough for my father to read to me from a comic book instead of the normal children's books.  I speak to people that know me of why I have been such a worthwhile individual, helping others and especially my friends and family.  I say to them because of Spider-man and others like him as fictional heroes showing us what it means to be at our best.  I wanted this movie to work so badly, perhaps that is why I am depressed after having seen it.  I knew the case for the story, the difficulty of not being too overzealous and that although it hurts like hell in the end it's better to forgive than define a grudge.  This movie should have been the best of the bunch, and all throughout you can see how it could have been so easily.

The flaws are too apparent, hanging heavy over the good points.  The action sequences were the best part.  They were fun, amazingly well done and energetic.  Not the best I have seen mind you, but well done.  The action was simply great, but it's nowhere near enough for me.  Perhaps it should have been cut down merely to those sequences.  Sadly it would have been a far more enjoyable experience if it had.  I've seen action movies, seen most of what you can expect or see from the action itself.  Not a lot of it dazzles me anymore although I try to let it and in many cases it does.  But here I needed something tangible to grasp and all I got was so much sand slipping through my fingers. 

Just my opinion, and there is a good chance you may enjoy the film.  The only real point in criticizing a movie is to share your opinion.  Sometimes people agree and perhaps they will listen to you again.  Others don't and they will find somebody else that shares their belief.  That's the point of it, to find somebody that you see your feelings of a film being portrayed.  Once you find that you listen to them.  They may not always be dead on when it comes to what you enjoy, but they tend to help a bit.

Perhaps somebody who reads this will still see the movie but enjoy it a tad bit more than I did simply because they were warned.  Because they do share my feelings but going into it with this information helps protect that child inside from having a significant piece of his childhood washed away again.  I will forgive Sam Raimi, every filmmaker ends up with a few bad ones.  I am just sad to see something I loved so much dropped again.  People say be thankful they are even making comic adaptations.  After Ghost Rider and now this...

I'm sorry, I'm not thankful.  I'm hopeful.  There's a big difference.

Amatorius.

Click here to read the staff review by Mania.