Spider-Man 3

[crimsonquill]

Seriously, you don't think there's a difference between a healing factor and totally vaporizing two complete beings?

I have the "Making Of" books for all Spider-Man movies and they establish that Green Goblin had 3 types of bombs... Blade, Disintergrating, and Explosive. Norman used explosives and blades most of the time in the first movie and used a few disintergrating bombs on those suits who stole his company. Harry used mostly blades and a few explosive ones especially during the Sandman fight - the only time I saw the disintergration version was when Peter used one at the end of the battle. It's hard to tell which version is being used but if you look closely enough at the bomb each is shaped and colored slightly different.

- CrimsonQuill

[Jakew]

I'm also going to get nerdy and mention Venom has a weakness to fire, making him more susceptable to the bomb, and Eddie was just a weedy human.

[udasu]

It closed up the first three movies well, either ending the franchise, or setting it up for newer sequels. Special FX and action was great. It was just more of a movie than a comic book, as the first two were. The part in Spidey 2 where he loses his powers reminded me of the streetwalking/bar scene. A little too long and tedious..

[77]

ok I finally went to see this film, I was disappointed to say the least. What happened to vemon referring to himself in the third person?
I was really hoping for that.

[captainspud]

He'd had the suit for like twelve hours. Hadn't had a chance to even give himself a name yet.

:/

[Uncle Yuan]

And can anyone give me a coherent explanation why [spoiler]Captain and Gwen Stacey were at Harry's funeral?  At what point in the movie did either of them have anything to do with Harry?[/spoiler]

[BentonGrey]

[spoiler]Well, I think I can make sense out of that.  At his death, it would have been revealed that he was the Goblin, and that he had helped save the city.  Therefore, it would make sense for a police captain to attend, and if he were attending, it's possible that his daughter might as well.[/spoiler]

[Revenant]

Anybody notice in Jameson's office:

[spoiler]The framed front page article "Doc Ock Still At Large?"  That was a nice touch.. shows that no death is very permanent in Superhero-world.  And makes it possible for a comeback![/spoiler]

Also

[spoiler]I agree that some of the comedic scenes were over-milked for all they were worth.  Peter Parker dancing down the street, then checking out chicks... putting on a black outfit... then dancing in the street AGAIN, then getting scoffed at by chicks AGAIN... made me groan the second time around.  The point had been made and it was funny the first time.

The Jameson buzzer-surprise happened just one time too many also.  It was funny, but done too much, it treads into juvenile territory.

The camera joke with the little girl was hysterical though, I thought.  "Ya little crook!"  "Film is extra!..."  It was a very New York moment.  I love how NYC again became a character in the movie.  But I could have done without the melodramatic newscaster... she was bad.  Really bad.

Otherwise, I have nothing but praise for Spidey3.  The action scenes and the fighting were stellar, the best I've seen in a Superhero movie.  I have no fear that the superhero-movie trend is anywhere near its end, as long as they keep up that level of excitement.  Hear that, DC and Bryan Singer?  Lets have some freakin' super-villains already![/spoiler]

[Alaric]

Anybody notice in Jameson's office:

[spoiler]The framed front page article "Doc Ock Still At Large?"  That was a nice touch.. shows that no death is very permanent in Superhero-world.  And makes it possible for a comeback![/spoiler]

[spoiler]Uh, that was obviously an old paper. A current one wouldn't have been framed like that. It doesn't mean Doc Ock's still around.[/spoiler]

[Ajax]

[spoiler]Sandman is the only villain to survive the Spider-Man franchise thus far. That is assuming of course Venom is dead. Am I the only one who finds that strange?[/spoiler]

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Actually, we really don't know for sure that Doc Ock is dead.  We saw him floating in the water, but later time he was out his arms came to life.  They easily could have saved him this time around.

[Pyroclasm]

I agree with cat on Doc Ock.  I didn't think he had a final real life death, but a comic book style vanish-into-the-abyss-so-he-can return-later-death. I'm not even positive Green Goblin is "truly" dead either.  I mean, that's a trait of his character: Seemingly die, only to return yet again.  And without finalizing his death with a funeral pyre, I wouldn't put it past the serum to heal him eventually...
[spoiler]...Or for the serum to heal Harry, for that matter.
Anyone notice the "movie" scorpion and lizard figures in the S3 line?  Would be cool if they're based on S4 concept work.  Maybe in S4, since Eddie is dead, the symbiote finds its next host: The Scorpion[/spoiler]

[Revenant]

I think they left the door ajar for a possible return of Doc Ock.. that newspaper article could go either way.  It was a nice detail, but without comparing the date of the article to the date Spidey last fought Doc Ock (which is impossible) we'll never know.  But since it was there, I'd like to think Octavius has made an appearance after his seeming demise and is still at large.

[spoiler]
I also think Eddie Brock and both Osbournes have a shot at coming back.  Venom and the Goblins have such awesome visual potential.  Then again there are a lot of other Spidey villains to mine, too.  Maybe the death of Gwen Stacey in the next sequel (you know that's coming) can spur Eddie Brock/ the symbiote to resurrect itself.. and build a new army of Spidey rogues?
[/spoiler]

Oh yeah....

[spoiler]When Spidey exploded the symbiote and Eddie ran to it, did anyone else think that Brock and the symbiote would become irrevocably fused by the heat??[/spoiler]

[Pyroclasm]

[spoiler]When Spidey exploded the symbiote and Eddie ran to it, did anyone else think that Brock and the symbiote would become irrevocably fused by the heat??[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Actually a couple of people I was with thought that.  They thought that a glob would reform Venom, as a fused being.  Heh.  Parallel thinking. :)[/spoiler]

[BatWing]

[spoiler]i think lizard would appear in the 4th one and i like cookies with nuts in them. i think thats how peter got weight. [/spoiler]

[Ares_God_of_War]

I still don't know what to think about "X-games ninja" harry. I almost think I like "Power Ranger" Norman's costume. at least mask wise. I can see why plot wise they would have used that costume/mask for harry but I still would have rather had something more "goblinesque" and I liked how his story played out.

[spoiler] Sandman bothered me toward the end because they built him up as a victim of circumstance type villian but at the very end he was perfectly happy to put an inoccent person in danger to lure spider-man to try to kill him. I really liked how harry/peter played in this battle but I would have rather seen, as someone earlier suggested, this carry over into a 4th film and these events take place there. And instead of Venom/sandman it could have been some other type of villian like the scorpion or someone more motivated to kill spider-man and put someone in danger to do it  [/spoiler]

[Mr. Hamrick]

[spoiler] Sandman bothered me toward the end because they built him up as a victim of circumstance type villian but at the very end he was perfectly happy to put an inoccent person in danger to lure spider-man to try to kill him. I really liked how harry/peter played in this battle but I would have rather seen, as someone earlier suggested, this carry over into a 4th film and these events take place there. And instead of Venom/sandman it could have been some other type of villian like the scorpion or someone more motivated to kill spider-man and put someone in danger to do it  [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Sandman's been portrayed like that a lot in the comic.  It's brought him from villain to hero and back to being a villain.[/spoiler]

As for the 4th . . .  I think Kraven and The Lizard will be the villains with teasers of other villains (The Osbornes) still being alive.  Since 4 5 and 6 have been announced, I think we could see a building of a "Sinister Six" by time 6 roles around or a rematch between The Goblin, Venom and Spidey.  Only The Goblin will be Norman not Harry.

[Ajax]

[spoiler] Sandman bothered me toward the end because they built him up as a victim of circumstance type villian but at the very end he was perfectly happy to put an inoccent person in danger to lure spider-man to try to kill him. I really liked how harry/peter played in this battle but I would have rather seen, as someone earlier suggested, this carry over into a 4th film and these events take place there. And instead of Venom/sandman it could have been some other type of villian like the scorpion or someone more motivated to kill spider-man and put someone in danger to do it  [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Sandman's been portrayed like that a lot in the comic.  It's brought him from villain to hero and back to being a villain.[/spoiler]

As for the 4th . . .  I think Kraven and The Lizard will be the villains with teasers of other villains (The Osbornes) still being alive.  Since 4 5 and 6 have been announced, I think we could see a building of a "Sinister Six" by time 6 roles around or a rematch between The Goblin, Venom and Spidey.  Only The Goblin will be Norman not Harry.

I don't think we will ever see the sinister six in the movie franchise while Raimi is in charge. It's not that the sinister six is a bad idea it's just too many characters in one movie. Heck this one had too many side plots imagine what it would be like with six villains. They should keep it down to a max of two villains, anything more and it gets too cluttered.

[captmorgan72]

I just got back from seeing Spidey 3 and loved it. I do agree that Venom should have been in Spidey 4 and not crammed into this one. Anyway, I didn't stay for the end credits, was there a secret scene at the end of the credits?

[bredon7777]

I just got back from seeing Spidey 3 and loved it. I do agree that Venom should have been in Spidey 4 and not crammed into this one. Anyway, I didn't stay for the end credits, was there a secret scene at the end of the credits?

Sadly, no.

[bearded]

i took the wife and kid to see, and they had interesting comments, that no one here has mentioned yet, with all the crazed fanboy disections.
i noticed my wife giggling when no one else was, when parker was feeling guilty over being emo, or reaching a non emo state of mind.  the realization scenes, ya know?  i asked and she said the instance he becomes emo, he gets eyeliner.  any non emo expression, even the same scenes, generally no liner, or much less if so.
i was trying to figure this out.  maybe it's tiny eyelash symbiote?  or maybe, he's afraid of his mascara running while he's doing all his weeping.
my duaghter, gemma, six years old, halfway thru the movie says, 'he needs to put his red and blue suit back on.'

[Viking]

I'll make a few minor comments on aspects that I haven't seen critiqued yet in this thread:

[spoiler]
There was one improvement over Spider-Man 2 that I really liked.  The directors did a much better job of deciding how long extras need to scream, and how much film time needs to be dedicated to said screaming.  Spider-Man 2 had a few scenes where the camera would remain on a person who screamed... and screamed... and took another breath and screamed...  Spider-Man 3 had much tighter, more believable scared citizens when mayhem was going on.

Criticism: did they cast any women extras that didn't look like they came from a modeling agency?  I remember the scene in the physics lab right before Flint gets zapped.  Every single one of the scientists - male and female, for that matter, looked like they had just finished getting their headshot photos for the latest round of casting calls.  Your average scientist does not look that well-sculpted, or well-groomed![/spoiler]

[detourne_me]

i took the wife and kid to see, and they had interesting comments, that no one here has mentioned yet, with all the crazed fanboy disections.
i noticed my wife giggling when no one else was, when parker was feeling guilty over being emo, or reaching a non emo state of mind.  the realization scenes, ya know?  i asked and she said the instance he becomes emo, he gets eyeliner.  any non emo expression, even the same scenes, generally no liner, or much less if so.
i was trying to figure this out.  maybe it's tiny eyelash symbiote?  or maybe, he's afraid of his mascara running while he's doing all his weeping.
my duaghter, gemma, six years old, halfway thru the movie says, 'he needs to put his red and blue suit back on.'

you got a smart family,  you should be proud.


i hope the film doesnt get too dated with all the emo-ness (i hate myself for saying that,   i considered myself part of the emo subculture 6-odd years ago,  back then it was clean cut hairstyles and cardigans.)

[The Pwime]

I *heard* that the SM4 villains would be the Lizard and...Carnage.  I'm very hesitant to believe the latter, because:

- It's SO early after SM3.  I cannot stress that enough.  This factor alone puts the b-s meter at about 90% or higher.
- Raimi hated the thought of putting Venom in a film, and it showed in the quality of the character's portrayal, so why on earth would he put the "spinoff-of-the-spinoff" in the fourth film?  :rolleyes:
- It's Carnage.  Can anyone see that working out too well, movie-wise?

[BatWing]

i love carnage!
i hope they make the character look crazy in sm4
i hope tobey would come back! :)

[Sword]

OK:Upthread I believe some people expressed concern about Flint flying away on the wind. There is textual evidence for him using this: Specifically Nova 17 and 18.

[TheMarvell]

So the DVD came out this Tuesday. Who picked it up and what version? I got the 2-Disc special edition on regular DVD.

Now for my personal opinion of the movie since it came out before I registered here. Fair warning, this has major  :spoiler: and it's a huge wall of text so if you feel like reading a lot, have fun. :P

[spoiler]The movie was above average, but not nearly as good as the first two (especially 2), thus making it the weakest in the trilogy, and ultimately slightly disappointing. One critic put it like this: the trilogy ends with a hobble, when it should have soared.

The movie had a great outline and a perfect potential to conclude the trilogy with everything that it had, despite characters being shoe-horned in (more on that later). The main problems that lie in the movie have much more to do with direction than the actual screenplay or story, and that to me is what is so disjointing about the film, because it appears as though Sam Raimi almost collapsed from the weight this film carried while trying to keep his own style.

I'd say about 2/3rds of the film actually live up to the juggernaut this film was. Raimi keeps his characters true to what they've been throughout the films past and knows how to explore their relationships further and fleshing out. The main problems start to lie, however, in the mere fact that the last 1/3rd of the film drops logical character interaction and motive for spectacle, action, and special effects. First, I want to talk about each of the characters themselves:

Peter Parker/Spider-Man: Tobey was great up until, and it pains me to say it, when he gets the symbiote. It's not its place in the movie that bothers me, it's how Raimi handled it. Raimi has always been fantastic in keeping the themes of Spider-Man true in his movies. In this movie, it was supposed to be darker. Much darker. Guys, how in the world is his new haircut supposed to amplify this theme? It doesn't. In fact, it practically makes it laughable. After he "kills" Sandman, he looks in a mirror and decides to brush his bangs down and mess with his hair some. This was completely unnecessary, and in fact detracts from the film. More people in the theater laughed their butts off at this silly concept. Somehow, in Raimi's eyes, becoming selfish and evil means you have to change your hair to a more "emo" style. Second of all, was the eyeliner makeup really necessary? My god, that scene where he appears in Harry's window was just so pathetic. This was supposed to be a dramatic scene, and it starts off with laughter (I'll get into Raimi's comic relief soon). And then, oh yes, the strutting scene and, worst of all, the jazz club scene. The strutting scene was reminiscient of the "Raindrops" scene in Spidey 2, I agree. It made everyone laugh. But in all honesty, Spider-Man 2's themes were much different, and that scene was appropriate, as odd as it was. The one in Spider-Man 3, however, did NOT fit in the overall theme of Peter going bad. But this scene is hardly even comparable to the Jazz club scene. Guys, when a scene in Spider-Man 3 reminds me of a very similar scene in the movie Anchorman, starring Will Ferrell, something is really, really WRONG. I cannot emphasize this enough: the jazz club scene is so terrible that it nearly ruins the entire movie. Yes, i thought it was that bad. In the 3 times I've seen this movie, this scene makes me cringe EVERY time. "Now dig on this..." God damn it Rami. Why would ever put this in?

Besides the emo haircut, the terrible jazz club scene, and to a lesser extent the strutting scene, the one thing that bothered me was how Peter could physically choose whether or not to wear the black suit, until he conveniently couldn't take it off. I know Raimi wanted the suit to symbolize substance abuse, but come on. It doesn't make any sense or logic that he can take it off at will, but suddenly can't in the bell tower.

Now for the villains:

I thought New Goblin carried the movie. Really, in the previous 2 movies, James Frano's acting was a bit rough around the edges (especially in 1) but by 3 he's really learned some good acting chops. All of his fight scenes were fantastic. However, I didn't really care for the costume. In no way, shape, or form, does it even resemble a Goblin. Why couldn't they have made his mask Goblin-like at least? He's only seen wearing it once or twice in the film anyways, so why not make it look like a goblin instead of a paintball mask?

Sandman was excellent. I'm a bit torn on how they made him Uncle Ben's killer, but I guess it works more or less. Thomas Hayden Church is a great actor and perfect choice for the role. The only time I didn't like him was when he mindlessly teamed up with Venom.

Venom. Oh Venom. I think everyone agrees with me on him. Not enough screen time. Not nearly enough development. No "we are Venom" no explanation on his abilities or his threat to Spider-man. He seems to be pretty much there for the fanboys, which is a shame. I liked Topher OK, and I'm torn on Venom's voice. The number one thing I thought was stupid though, was the fact they felt the need to kill him off. They could have easily "killed" off the symbiote, and left Eddie Brock webbed up by spider-man to be taken to jail. Really, killing off Eddie was unnecessary. And the message in the webbing was easily the cheesiest thing in the entire series next to that awful jazz club scene.

Now for some nitpicks:

why on earth did they make the butler the catalyst for changing Harry's mind? That was completely out of left field. Venom teaming up with Sandman was pretty random as well. And I didn't like how MJ seemed pretty forgiving of Harry even though he threatened Peters life and even attacked her and forced her to break up with Peter. Speaking of MJ...anyone else really tired of the same old "villain captures MJ" cliche? I want to see her defend herself for once.

Here's what I would have changed:
-no emo haircut, strutting, or jazz club scene. Make the dark side of Peter completely serious
-change the breakup scene. I don't know why, but it just felt awkward
-instead of the strutting and jazz scenes, have more development for Venom
-if you're going to have Sandman and Venom team up, I'd have them at least know eachother on some kind of personal level beforehand. I thought maybe having Marko's now-dead partner end up being Brocks step-father or something, maybe being tied in that way.
-instead of Venom capturing MJ, I'd have him torment Peter in a way the goblins never did, actually using stealth, threatening his identity to the city (maybe mentioning JJJ or something) sort of like how he did in the cartoon, and then maybe teaming up with sandman to have the whole need for Harry teaming up.
-get rid of the damn news reporter at the end. "Oh the brutality of it!" UGH!!!
-last but not least, don't kill off Brock. Disposing of the symbiote in an ambiguous way is good, but not Brock. Just web him up, send him to jail, etc.[/spoiler]

If you've read this long, I thank you. Don't be fooled by all my griping though. In the end, I actually did enjoy the film. But it has problems, and plenty of them. I liked the movie, but it's easily my least favorite of the three. I think the movie would have fared better if either Sandman or Venom were left out entirely. Both essentially work (although could have been much better implemented) but if one was left out, the other could have had so much better development.