Film of the Week: Spider-Man 3

I think I am the only one I know who actually likes Spider-Man 3. Fans of the Toby Maguire Spider-Man says that this film ruins the franchise. I agree with them that the franchise had a strong start and a spectacular second movie featuring the epic confrontation between Spider-Man and Dr Octopus, but I disagree when they say that the third film plummets fast. I will defend my liking of this movie for as long as I have to.

The first film featuring Spider-Man’s arch nemesis, The Green Goblin was an instant hit. Toby’s portrayal of Peter Parker struggling with life at university with and without powers – there wasn’t many superhero films that could beat it. When it comes to sequels, it’s common for them to not be anywhere as good as the first film, but occasionally a sequel comes along and dominates the franchise. Peter Parker loses his powers and for a moment actually enjoys having a normal life once more, until he realises that his normal life was actually being Spider-Man, but the only way to get his powers back is to defeat those pesky unwanted thoughts roaming around inside his head that are constantly making him doubt himself. Add that battle with the battle with Dr Octopus, who truly tests Spider-Man’s abilities, the sequel is regarded as the best superhero film of all-time by many.

Spider-Man 2 ended on a cliff-hanger that showed Harry Osborne discovering his dad’s secret of being the Green Goblin. By this time, he hates Spider-Man for killing his father, when actually his father died at the hands of his own blade when his board crashed into him when attempting to kill Spider-Man. In Spider-Man 3, He takes up the mantle and goes after Spider-Man, and by doing so, he eventually discovers that his life-long friend, Peter Parker, is his enemy, and so the battle in and out of costume begins with Mary-Jane Watson caught in the middle.

It has been widely noted that the three films follow the exact same narrative. Peter Parker struggles with his powers, an enemy turns up who ultimately kills himself, and whilst fighting against said enemy, he needs to rescue Mary-Jane as well. Those three films show that it doesn’t matter what narrative you have, but what you do with it, because the first two films were well-received. The third on the other hand, whilst had the biggest opening weekend at the box office out of the three, wasn’t well-received at all.

When I say that I like the third movie, anyone who doesn’t immediately brings up the most notorious detail in the movie. During the time when Peter Parker has been possessed by Venom and is wearing the black suit. He slowly starts becoming cocky and thinks he can do whatever he wants without caring what people think, which is why he started strutting and dancing in the middle of the street. Whist even I can see the awkwardness in that scene and how it could have been better, it did show just what effects Venom had on Peter. When I have acknowledged that that detail could have been changed, they then ask what I like about the film, and I say how it went bigger than the previous two.

It was an ambitious move to add three enemies in one movie, because you’ve got a lot to do in such a short amount of time, but they’re forgetting that one of the three enemies have been developing gradually throughout the entire franchise. Harry Osborn, the second incarnation of The Green Goblin. The fight between Spider-Man and Harry Osborn happens mostly during the first half of the movie. Nearing the end, Harry redeems himself by finding out the truth about his father’s death. In the end, he feels obligated to help the person who he has treated as a lie for so long.

The other two enemies, Venom and The Sandman have ample amount of screen time to show development. Venom attaches itself to Peter and so develops alongside Peter. The Sandman is shown using his powers to get enough money to help his sick daughter, and of course Spider-Man is going to stop him, which creates that rivalry between the two. If Sandman can stop Spider-Man, then he’s free to help his daughter properly. During the fight scene in the underground, when Peter has already been affected by Venom and is fighting The Sandman, you’ve essentially got three characters at any one time, all developing at a steady pace. When The Sandman is stopped for a brief time by Spider-Man, that line, ‘good riddance’ that Peter says shows just how much Venom has affected him. Eddie Brock, Peter’s rival when it comes to photographing Spider-Man, becomes the perfect host for Venom later on in the movie. With being constantly outshined by Peter, Eddie will do anything to make himself noticed, and when given the opportunity to beat Peter whilst being Venom, he takes that chance and runs with it.

When the climatic fight scene when The Sandman teams up with Venom. The two proves to be a powerful force. They stop Spider-Man in his tracks, making the public believe that this is the end of their beloved neighbourhood superhero. It’s a tense battle, and one that I enjoy watching over again because, even though I know that Spider-Man will win, there’s still that notion that he just might not this time. For the first time in the franchise, he has been pushed to his limit and needs help. That’s something you very rarely see in a superhero movie. They are superheroes, and so nothing will ever be able to knock them down. Spider-Man 3 shows a superhero being knocked down.

I would even go so far to say that this film is much better than the latest Spider-Man film as of writing this article, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That also decided to be ambitious and include three characters, but that failed to develop them properly. The Green Goblin, Electro, and Rhino all needed to be introduced, developed as characters, and show the audience why they want to stop Spider-Man, all whilst Peter Parker was going around trying to solve the mystery of why his parents suddenly went missing. Too much happened in that film. It was just too crowded for my liking. I was excited to see Rhino on screen, but to have him appear at the end of the movie without seeing the actual fight with Spider-Man, I didn’t see the point in that – they built up the hype of Rhino so much and it dropped faster than a bowling ball rolling down a vertical hill.

I may have expressed my enthusiasm of getting the point across a little too much during that article, but I just wanted to let you know that it isn’t as bad as many people claim it is. Like all films, it does have its low points, and it seems that they are focusing on them more than the highs. I have defended the film as best as I could, and that is all I can do.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)