Thursday, May 24, 2007

Spiderman III

I promised a Spiderman review awhile ago, so here I go:

I loved it and theCSO hated it. The movie gives quite a bit of backstory on every major character, and while that did slow things, I thought it was well worth the wait to really understand what was going on in people's heads. The story is really scattered, but I liked it that way.

Spiderman should probably not be allowed to cry in future movies, though, as Tobey Maguire looks really weird when he tries to cry. There was derisive snickering in my theater.

Oh, and Bruce Campbell played a snotty French waiter. That was bitchin'.

Movies that make a big point of social awkwardness don't tend to go over well in my house, and this one is no exception. Inside that costume, Spiderman is still the high school geek who just doesn't get, for example, that posing for a photograph with a pretty girl by imitating the iconic upside-down kiss from the first movie will piss off his girlfriend.

Spidey's biggest foe has always been himself and this movie doesn't shy from how destructive the desire for vengeance can be.

TheCSO thought the morality-play aspect was heavy handed, but honestly, how many kickass summer blockbusters even attempt to show the humanity of everyone involved?

I lurved it.

CC

3 comments:

Joel Monka said...

I agree with what you've said, but I have another reason for loving this movie. For those of us who fell in love with Spiderman more than forty years ago, one of the main reasons was that he WAS still the high school geek who just doesn't get it. He was the first superhero with a real personal life, and one you could identify with. It may sound stupid, but the first time I was badly shot down trying to get a date, it really did help to remember that Peter Parker did, too.

Real heros, be they soldiers, cops, etc., are still just people who have to learn to deal with this problematical world- an important lesson for kids to learn. How many people have screwed up their lives because they didn't understand that even if you DO get that NBA contract, or that recording contract, or that break-through role, you still have to learn to deal with life?

jkh2os said...

hey, not to be all GTUy and theological...y, but you may enjoy reading the spiritual review of Spidey III at pop theology (early May, I think).

Of the reviews of the film I read, I appreciated its inclusion of discussion of what happened for "the battle from within" in terms of spiritual effectiveness.

agrape,
j

LaReinaCobre said...

I liked it, too. I liked learning more about the villains, and getting to see Peter really make a fool of himself. He is such a NERD. But this was my favorite of the three, even though I understand why some didn't like it. It had more of what I liked. And the action scenes were really intense.