Expressing Emotions
5 months ago
Tuesday 29 May 2007
Monday 28 May 2007
SPIDER-MAN 3: WHY DID ALL THESE VILLIANS COME?
SPIDER-MAN 3: WHY DID ALL THESE VILLAINS COME?
The first time I saw Spider-man 3, I wasn't bored but I wasn't terribly excited about it either. I thought then that I would not be able to sit through another sitting of this movie. I was right.
Yesterday, I saw the movie again with a friend who was unable to see the movie and I tried my best to keep looking at the screen. But by the time the film ended, I had:
1. Fallen asleep at the cinema for the first time in my life
2. Discovered how to play Sudoku on my cellphone.
3. Made a list of plot points that Sam Riami must have picked up from Hindi movies.
What the hell were they thinking? They took three villains with excellent motivations(Goblin and Venom both want Peter Parker dead and Sandman wanted to save his daughter), Peter Parker and Mary Jane's relationship problems, Peter's thirst for vengeance(that was smartly retconned)and they made a complete mess of it. They took enough material for atleast two movies and then they tried to cram it into two hours.
And what was on screen for the two hours was a terribly concocted mishmash of a movie which was a complete letdown from the awesomeness that was Spider-man 2.
The good:
1. The special effects were again out of the world. The first battle between Spider-man and the Goblin was breathtaking. Coming a close second was the sequence where the Sandman is created (They really should have better security at those particle Physics test facilities:)
2. James Franco, Rosemary Harris and Tobey Maguire are all fantastic in their roles. Franco in particular is breathtaking.
3. The comedy sequences are really funny and fit the tone of the movie really well. Every scene with JJ Jameson is a hoot. The sequence at the French restaurant was the kind of gentle but biting humor the series does really well.
4. The old Spider-man theme song was a nice touch. In fact the music in the whole movie was excellent.
The bad:
1. The movie was marking time and worse, you could see it doing that. Harry regains his memory-because he had to in order to move the story forward. Peter gets rid of the symbiont-because it was about two hours in and they have to shoot the big climax. Venom and Sandman join forces because it was time for the big climax. You see where I am going with this.
2. Speaking of which, either make your villains really bad without explaining their actions or give a solid base for their actions and make them a sympathetic villain. Don't start giving them back stories if you have no intentions of following through with it. Why introduce the Sandman's daughter if you are going to make him King Kong without the heart or the sadness? Why give Eddie Brock a girlfriend and make us sympathize with him if his sole purpose is to sneer "I love being bad" in the last half an hour of the movie?
3. The Green Goblin tells you to break up with your boyfriend and you do it? Have some confidence in your boyfriend, Mary Jane. And your singing really is terrible.
4. A powerful alien symbiont, which enhances your aggressive side turns Peter into an even bigger dork? Also why was it so easy to remove the suit earlier in the movie but not later?
Things Sam Raimi picked up from a Hindi Movie
1. The hero dancing in the street and making passes at girls as he goes by.
2. The heroine sings-twice.
3. That old staple of Hindi cinema, hitting your head and then suffer from memory loss.
4. Said Memory returning upon being kissed by the heroine.
5 Last but not the least, the naukar who sees everything but says nothing because he wants to protect the ghar ki izzat. The emotional impact of that particular scene is completely lost in the ridiculousness of it.
Maybe they really should have split the movies into two and keeping the Venom storyline for the next one. I hope that this was a momentary aberration and that the franchise doesn't go the Batman (before Batman Begins) way and think the story is an excuse to string breathtaking special effects together.
**1/2 out of 5 stars
The first time I saw Spider-man 3, I wasn't bored but I wasn't terribly excited about it either. I thought then that I would not be able to sit through another sitting of this movie. I was right.
Yesterday, I saw the movie again with a friend who was unable to see the movie and I tried my best to keep looking at the screen. But by the time the film ended, I had:
1. Fallen asleep at the cinema for the first time in my life
2. Discovered how to play Sudoku on my cellphone.
3. Made a list of plot points that Sam Riami must have picked up from Hindi movies.
What the hell were they thinking? They took three villains with excellent motivations(Goblin and Venom both want Peter Parker dead and Sandman wanted to save his daughter), Peter Parker and Mary Jane's relationship problems, Peter's thirst for vengeance(that was smartly retconned)and they made a complete mess of it. They took enough material for atleast two movies and then they tried to cram it into two hours.
And what was on screen for the two hours was a terribly concocted mishmash of a movie which was a complete letdown from the awesomeness that was Spider-man 2.
The good:
1. The special effects were again out of the world. The first battle between Spider-man and the Goblin was breathtaking. Coming a close second was the sequence where the Sandman is created (They really should have better security at those particle Physics test facilities:)
2. James Franco, Rosemary Harris and Tobey Maguire are all fantastic in their roles. Franco in particular is breathtaking.
3. The comedy sequences are really funny and fit the tone of the movie really well. Every scene with JJ Jameson is a hoot. The sequence at the French restaurant was the kind of gentle but biting humor the series does really well.
4. The old Spider-man theme song was a nice touch. In fact the music in the whole movie was excellent.
The bad:
1. The movie was marking time and worse, you could see it doing that. Harry regains his memory-because he had to in order to move the story forward. Peter gets rid of the symbiont-because it was about two hours in and they have to shoot the big climax. Venom and Sandman join forces because it was time for the big climax. You see where I am going with this.
2. Speaking of which, either make your villains really bad without explaining their actions or give a solid base for their actions and make them a sympathetic villain. Don't start giving them back stories if you have no intentions of following through with it. Why introduce the Sandman's daughter if you are going to make him King Kong without the heart or the sadness? Why give Eddie Brock a girlfriend and make us sympathize with him if his sole purpose is to sneer "I love being bad" in the last half an hour of the movie?
3. The Green Goblin tells you to break up with your boyfriend and you do it? Have some confidence in your boyfriend, Mary Jane. And your singing really is terrible.
4. A powerful alien symbiont, which enhances your aggressive side turns Peter into an even bigger dork? Also why was it so easy to remove the suit earlier in the movie but not later?
Things Sam Raimi picked up from a Hindi Movie
1. The hero dancing in the street and making passes at girls as he goes by.
2. The heroine sings-twice.
3. That old staple of Hindi cinema, hitting your head and then suffer from memory loss.
4. Said Memory returning upon being kissed by the heroine.
5 Last but not the least, the naukar who sees everything but says nothing because he wants to protect the ghar ki izzat. The emotional impact of that particular scene is completely lost in the ridiculousness of it.
Maybe they really should have split the movies into two and keeping the Venom storyline for the next one. I hope that this was a momentary aberration and that the franchise doesn't go the Batman (before Batman Begins) way and think the story is an excuse to string breathtaking special effects together.
**1/2 out of 5 stars
first post
Well, after thinking a lot, I finally decided to take the plunge and write a blog. As for the title, it is a lyric from a Johnny Cash song which I really love.
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