Spiderman 3
DVD worthy. That is the shortest and most accurate review you are likely to read. The movie tries to do too much, and ends up falling short on several fronts. For me, its greatest sin is a poorly developed and gone too soon Venom, but I'll get to that later.
The alien symbiote that bonds with Parker was to be just that, a bonded symbiote that became one with its host. Spidey lore does not include a black suit with a pulse that is taken off and put on depending on mood. Anyway. The symbiote amplifies one's abilities and emotions, especially anger. In the case of Parker, this would mean a bigger, stronger, faster, more aggressive webhead. Fine. But in the process of selling the personality change, Kunta (Your name is Toby!) is lost. Anyone who has ever played a RPG and tried to roleplay an evil character has seen this happen. Most of the time, what is supposed to be evil is simply jerk-like behavior. Not the same thing.
Thomas Hayden Church was good as The Samdman, but Sandman was always a B villain. To be honest, I kept waiting for Paul Giamatti to come out and scream at him about merlot. No such luck.
Venom. Even the name is good. The best Spiderman villain ever written. One half of Venom is the symbiote, which was forcibly separated from Parker against its will. Needing a host, and stinging from the rejection, this alien form seethed and developed a hatred of Peter Parker. The other half is Eddie Brock, a big (think linebacker build) jock who worked as a reporter/photographer. Parker debunked Brock's big story, destroying his credibility, and his life as a journalist. Brock had to scrape by with freelance jobs from scummy tabloids afterwards, resulting in an all consuming hate for Parker. Symbiote meets Brock, they meld...and WEE ARE VENOMMM!!!!
A bigger, stronger version of Spiderman. A bigger, stronger, version of Spiderman that lives solely to hurt Spiderman. One that knows all about him, after all, the symbiote was once part of him. So Venom knows of Aunt May, Mary Jane, etc, etc. And, much to Parker's woe, Venom doesn't trigger his spider sense. Enough background, this is Venom, in all his glory.
Except that the role was given to Topher Grace, from That 70's Show. Not bad, just not menacing. Maybe Alex P. Keaton was off his meds, and couldn't hold still long enough for them to CGI the suit over him, I don't know.
Sigh. I went for Venom, I went because I am a lifelong Marvel fanboy. Now that I've gone, the verdict is in. This movie is a shell of what could have been, and mirrors Godfather 3. Not a bad movie on its own, it just doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as its predecessors, let alone share the title.
The real tragedy is that this thing made $51 million in its first day, more than a brilliant flick like Grindhouse will make over its international run. Market forces once again punish genius and reward the unoriginal remake/sequel trend.
The alien symbiote that bonds with Parker was to be just that, a bonded symbiote that became one with its host. Spidey lore does not include a black suit with a pulse that is taken off and put on depending on mood. Anyway. The symbiote amplifies one's abilities and emotions, especially anger. In the case of Parker, this would mean a bigger, stronger, faster, more aggressive webhead. Fine. But in the process of selling the personality change, Kunta (Your name is Toby!) is lost. Anyone who has ever played a RPG and tried to roleplay an evil character has seen this happen. Most of the time, what is supposed to be evil is simply jerk-like behavior. Not the same thing.
Thomas Hayden Church was good as The Samdman, but Sandman was always a B villain. To be honest, I kept waiting for Paul Giamatti to come out and scream at him about merlot. No such luck.
Venom. Even the name is good. The best Spiderman villain ever written. One half of Venom is the symbiote, which was forcibly separated from Parker against its will. Needing a host, and stinging from the rejection, this alien form seethed and developed a hatred of Peter Parker. The other half is Eddie Brock, a big (think linebacker build) jock who worked as a reporter/photographer. Parker debunked Brock's big story, destroying his credibility, and his life as a journalist. Brock had to scrape by with freelance jobs from scummy tabloids afterwards, resulting in an all consuming hate for Parker. Symbiote meets Brock, they meld...and WEE ARE VENOMMM!!!!
A bigger, stronger version of Spiderman. A bigger, stronger, version of Spiderman that lives solely to hurt Spiderman. One that knows all about him, after all, the symbiote was once part of him. So Venom knows of Aunt May, Mary Jane, etc, etc. And, much to Parker's woe, Venom doesn't trigger his spider sense. Enough background, this is Venom, in all his glory.
Except that the role was given to Topher Grace, from That 70's Show. Not bad, just not menacing. Maybe Alex P. Keaton was off his meds, and couldn't hold still long enough for them to CGI the suit over him, I don't know.
Sigh. I went for Venom, I went because I am a lifelong Marvel fanboy. Now that I've gone, the verdict is in. This movie is a shell of what could have been, and mirrors Godfather 3. Not a bad movie on its own, it just doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as its predecessors, let alone share the title.
The real tragedy is that this thing made $51 million in its first day, more than a brilliant flick like Grindhouse will make over its international run. Market forces once again punish genius and reward the unoriginal remake/sequel trend.
posted by PKav at 7:15 PM
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