Spiderman 3, Spoiler-free
by uber
Thanks to the good office of the Savage one, I ventured forth into the night and went to see Spiderman 3 at the previews.
The merry band of minstrels to accompany us included hug…ColmL*, Mr.E., Savage and Savage’s better half**.
The cinema was packed to the very doors, and we arrived in late because of the ludicriously annoying policy of making us put our mobile phones and other electronica into silvery bags. As Savage rightly pointed out, the last place a screener was going to happen was in the Savoy in Dublin at a preview, but they persevered, and I withered.
ColmL and I ended up down at the front row, which was not the direct shot of light to the retinas I had expected, though some of the larger action scenes were difficult to follow.
Overall, the film was 2-3 langers*** out of 5. The CGI and set-pieces were of a high standard, and they managed a cool enough anthropomorphised sand-monster without him looking too much like Morph. The script was a bit of a shocker though, it wavers badly in long sections, running out time it didn’t need to take. There is some tremendously heavy telegraphing, and a lot of scenes are backwards (where motivations are explained in advance and explicitly, then the illustrating shot is left at the end for a kind of belt-and-braces exposition).
Topher Grace does a very good job of not being Eric and makes good use of what he’s been given. It’s kind of a pity he took Venom now that Toby Maguire looks like he’s gone.
I definitely felt better about the movie than Savage did. I guess a lot of my dislikes had been vented before (I think Kirsten Dunst is a horrible choice for MJ), and this movie is a bit more confident in playing for laughs and indulging action. I’d say that overall it’s better than 2, but that it can’t compete with the freshness of 1. There are some *terrible* bits in the middle that almost killed it for me, bu
t I just can’t hate this movie as much as I did Ghost Rider or… that movie.
I reckon it comes down to this: I would go see Spiderman 4 based on this movie, and you can’t say much fairer than that.
* Only, kidding, I’m not Xaos :D
** Nickname as yet undetermined, better half status certain.
*** I don’t have the graphic to hand, sadly.
Comments
It has to be said, there were some *hilariously* bad moments and idiotic scenes, but like Uber, I still enjoyed it. It looks good, and it’s fun, just don’t expect too much of a cerebral challenge (apart from the odd occasion where the challenge will be to stop your brain running away to save itself).
2-1/2 langers is about right, probably 3 if you’ve had a couple of pints beforehand.
I haven’t heard the word langer in a long time. too long a time.
I may have branded it with the ‘So-bad-it’s-good’ moniker upon leaving the Savoy and retrieving my phone from what I hereby christen the ‘Douch Bag’, but I have to admit the film made me laugh, more so for the risks it seems willing to take with an awful lot of money. I can’t imagine what the critics will make of it. Maybe Sam Remi liked ‘Batman and Robin’. Still, it is an ‘exceptional’ film in many respects. I suppose you don’t always have to go the dark and gritty route when updating a superhero for the silver screen. You can always smoke some Crack instead. 2.5 Corkonian members from me too. I didn’t dislike it as much as I let on.
The other half of what Honan and the Kraut refer to as the ‘Itchy & Scratchy Show’ goes by the handle of Tootsie Royale. She even has the cards to prove it. Glad you enjoyed the show.