Spider-Man 3

I just realized that I haven't made a post about how the movie that I've been anticipating for a year or two was. This is bad. It must be remedied.

Basically what I've been telling people who ask me how Spidey 3 was is this: I enjoyed the movie because I went into the theater with low expectations. It failed for exactly the reasons I expected it to: too many things going on at once. We've got three different villains AND the symbiote for Spidey to fight, a crumbling relationship with MJ, and a new love interest in the form of Gwen Stacy. Now, all of these themes, separately or in certain cases paired together, would make for an excellent storyline. As it is, quite the opposite occurs, and the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with each theme as it's juggling all six or seven, so it just underplays all of them, ignoring their vast potentials. It's really tragic too, because as I watched, I really wanted to see more done with Venom, more done with Sandman, more done with the symbiote.

Harry is arguably the most interesting part of the film. His part in the story is allowed to be wrapped up with a bang (though not necessarily a well-orchestrated one), but at the cost, again, of underplaying all the other characters. MJ's relationship with Peter begins to unravel as she starts to distance herself from him for some reason that the movie doesn't seem to clarify, and as the symbiote aggravates Peter's "dark side." It's really fucked up that Gwen should be used in the way she is, as the "other" girl that Peter uses to make MJ jealous -- a far less pivotal role than she has in the comics. Ultimately, all the love and relationship and normal life stuff designed to keep the female section of the audience occupied proves just as cramped and served short of their potential as the villains are.

But I did say I enjoyed the film, didn't I? Honestly, the film isn't bad until the final fight scene, when the slowly steepening hill finally hits a 90 degree angle. In the meantime, it's a fun ride down. The action scenes are just as cool as you'd expect, though all the costumed people spend way too much time with their masks off. Probably the most memorable part of the movie are the "Evil Peter" scenes, which were thankfully not taken at all seriously and are quite hilarious. Similarly, crowd-pleasers like Bruce Campbell's appearance make it enjoyable in a tongue-in-cheek way.

The movie would've been a major letdown if my expectations had been higher, and even now the wasted potential stings like mad. It was a fun movie, though and worth seeing at least once, just don't expect it to be Batman Begins.