Spider-Man 3: Redux

I viewed Spiderman 3 a second time with my brother and his fiancé, which gave me a chance to let the movie sink in. I enjoyed the movie a little more, but my rating for the trilogy still stands. Peter is dealing with fame, dealing with unresolved guilt over uncle Ben, remorse over what he's done to Harry and to MJ. The Symbiote could have been an entirely different movie, but it gets us to a Peter with his head so far up his ass, it's comical. The Sandman sadness is really his strength and I wish he was allowed more screen time. There are many coincidences, but I think a fair number are needed in most movies. It's just a question of your level of believability. Even though it's completely telegraphed, I still love Harry coming in to save Peter. How about the somber, disjointed note the movie ends on?

I think the mass audience has been cursed with the cloud of 'the trilogy' hanging over our heads. Our minds go back to Godfather 3, Return of the Jedi, The Last Crusade. We feel that the stakes must be higher and higher each time we plunk down $10 @ the cinemaplex. Why not look at it as another installment or, in other words, another issue of Spiderman? Well, it takes 3 years between these films and there's no guarantee there will be a next one. It isn't serialized like TV and comics. We've also become accustomed to seeing Spidey swing throughout the city. You can never get back the first time he puts on the costume and spins a web any size. But still there's a loud majority that feel the 2nd Spiderman is the best comic book movie out there. I believe that because you get all of the trials and tribulations of Peter Parker, plus a much more solid villain in Doc Ock. It also has the great moments where Harry and MJ discover his secret identity. The bottom line is when I watched X-3; it felt foreign to the first 2 movies. Like someone had hijacked the studio and the actors to put on their own conclusion. Raimi has some things forced on him, but ultimately this is still his world and his conclusion to many of the major plot threads. We'll see how Shrek 3 and Pirates 3 fare in a few weeks. My guess? Shrek has 1 solid weekend and Pirates does very well for a month or so till Tformers.


PS. LOTR did all their movies together and Pirates filmed 2 and 3 back to back. I'd like to see more of this in our superhero franchises