'Spider-Man 3' disappoints with 'web' of a plot
By Brittany Benjamin
Do yourself a favor: Instead of forking over the absurdly-priced $10.25 for an adult movie ticket to see "Spider-Man 3," save the money for what we can only hope will be more worthy "three-quels" that will soon grace movie screens come summer. You'll thank yourself later.
This summer sees an unusual phenomenon rising out of the Hollywood hills: the arrival of third installments in movie trilogies, including "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Shrek the Third" and "Ocean's Thirteen." And with expensive movie budgets and the sky-rocketing price of tickets, popcorn, candy and soda, the summer will leave viewers with only one question: Was it worth it?
"Spider-Man 3" doesn't leave summer hopefuls with a good first impression.
The movie runs painfully long at 140 minutes, every moment of which is spent wondering how long it will be until Peter Parker breaks down in tears again.
In all fairness, the movie starts off promising enough. New villains (Topher Grace as Venom and Thomas Haden Church as Sandman) bring a biting humor lost in the first two films. Picking up where "Spider-Man 2" left off, the opening moments of the film have an enormous energy that leave viewers bouncing on the edge of their seats. Intense and creative action scenes add to the excitement, as well. A particularly good fight scene ends with Spider-Man clotheslining New Goblin.
Yet good humor and action are not enough to save this film from poor acting and a tangled web (pun intended) of a plot. "Spider-Man 3" hangs itself in the immensely complex plot it sets up in the opening moments of the film, which never completely gets resolved. At times, the plot seems too chaotic and too abrupt to please.
Tobey Maguire returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. He fights once again to save Mary Jane's (Kirsten Dunst) life as well as their relationship as he tracks down both Venom and the Sandman, all the while dealing with his own desire to seek revenge against his uncle's killer. At the same time, there's always the possibility that New Goblin (James Franco), who was also once Parker's best friend, will turn up to seek his own revenge on Parker for killing his father. Confused yet?
The plot becomes a tangled knot that would take a miracle to untangle, a miracle that "Spider-Man 3" doesn't achieve.
The actors try to do what they can with the script, but still fall short. They, too, can't work miracles.
Maguire once again pulls off wearing the skin-tight suit, but when the script calls for any emotion, he loses his luster. In one pivotal moment when Venom takes over his body, Parker becomes what can only be described as "emo." This new side is amusing at first, but then goes a mile in the opposite direction when Parker takes up piano playing and dancing on stools and chairs at a jazz club. It's unnecessary and uncomfortable.
Dunst, like her character's Broadway performance, falls flat. She seems tired of the part, and the usually strong chemistry between her and Maguire fizzles out. Franco steals the show as Harry Osborn. His boyish charms actually have you rooting for him to get the girl at the end.
In reality, "Spider-Man 3" puts up a fight. It's not all bad, and it can still be argued that the third movie in the trilogy is better than the first.
However, the ending never reaches its true potential. The plot slowly goes downhill after Spider-Man turns into a blubbering bubble of tears. It finally meets disaster when Parker turns into an eyeliner-wearing mess, leaving several questions unanswered and taking an unsatisfactory turn into a moment from an after-school special. Its message: forgiveness.
If anything, the movie should be asking fans to forgive it for being such a letdown. We can only hope that the upcoming "three-quels" this summer prove more entertaining.
Grade: B-
Contact Brittany Benjamin at brbenjamin@scu.edu