Caught in a Web

Spiderman 3 was to be one of the biggest films of the year, and I am sure that as far as income goes it will be. The pre-established loyalsts to Spidey and the new fan base developed from the first two films will bring in enough money. But as far as content goes I am afraid I have to classify Spiderman 3 as a bit of a let down.

Don't get me wrong, the film is better than other recent comic book movies (i.e. Fantastic Four and Daredevil) and, at times, enjoyable to watch. But it is undeniable that the film lacks something. What is it? Action and Progress!

All around the film has a good story, mostly the work of Comic creater Stan Lee, but the writers of this third Spidey film seem to have been caught treading water. They re-hash the same old stories from the first two films without adding anything new, without progressing them. The love story between M.J. and Peter Parker is prime example. In the first two previous movies we have seen visibly the isolation of Peter and the growing love of Mary-Jane. We've seen the conflict that being Spiderman brings to their relationship and the disappointment of M.J. when, once again, she is shut out of Peter's world. The story is already in place when we come to the third film, so why do the writers feel the need to spend at least half the film building it back up?

Furthermore the internal turmoil of Parker as the dark spiderman battles for control is dealt with so poorly. The best scene is when Parker finally strips himself in the bell tower of the church, a fantastic sequence. But it soon over and forgotten. The plot is tedious up to this point, and almost over after it. The interaction between Spiderman and Venomon is even more pointless to the film as this fantastic character is barely a role player.

In my opinion there are fare amount of fantastic shots, but the story takes way to long to progress and winds up dissapointing when it finally does climax (why on earth did Peter's "cool strutt" have to last sooooooo long!). Spiderman three, it seems to me, moves like is was caught in its own web.