The latest Spider-Man film has all the action the previous two offered with some pretty impressive visuals, but this one has the added benefit of ridiculously cheesy scenes. After 2 hours and 20 minutes, I had to wonder if the editor just up and quit in the middle of post.
The third installment begins with a very nerdy Peter Parker excited about Mary Jane’s Broadway debut. This is the least self involved we see him for the rest of the movie, which causes major problems for their relationship. But this film is packed full of villains and Spider-Man has his hands full with Harry still out for revenge, the convict that really killed Uncle Ben on the loose (Sandman), and a meteor full of vengeful “goo” roaming Manhattan (Venom).
Of the many storylines to follow, Harry’s is the most rewarding one and it finally gets resolved. The most “cringe worthy” scenes involve Peter Parker’s transformation into an aggressive egomaniac that apparently likes to dance and walk around the city acting like a complete moron. I also could have done without the “twist and shout” scene between MJ and Harry, which seriously makes me wonder about the soundtrack for this film (a real downgrade from the Dashboard Confessional song of the previous). Unfortunately the score left a lot to be desired as well.
Everyone turned in decent performances, especially for a comic book film, but Kirsten Dunst really stands out as MJ. I also realized during this movie that she might be the only significant other to a super hero that I actually like. And it’s so refreshing that her man trusts her with his “secret.”
First of all, I would like to know if anyone has ever been to a performance where the artist just stops singing in the middle of a song and gets off the stage to dance with her man. Why does this seem to always happen in movies? Anyway, MJ and Peter make up.
Also, Peter learns to forgive by pardoning the man who killed Uncle Ben. I actually found it quite odd that Sandman supposedly wants him dead, but as soon as Spider-Man kills Venom he suddenly has a change of heart and is all about asking for forgiveness. I felt like this character had a real identity crisis about whether he was good or bad. Did he want to steal money to save his daughter or pound Spider-Man into the ground?
