SPIDER-MAN 3

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
Columbia Pictures
Grade: A-
Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written By: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sargent, story by Sami Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce
Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Rosemary Harris, J.K Simmons
Screened at: SONY, NYC, 4/30/07
Opens: May 4, 2007

Spider-Man 3 is an exhilarating experience, one of the great American comic-book cinema treats. The movie has lots of action with sufficient pauses for romance; sneaks in a moral message without too much treacle warning about the dangers of egotism and vengeance-seeking; and shows our web-based hero to be not the invulnerable character he may have thought he was. While watching this one hundred thirty-nine minute epic tale (and oh, does the time go by quickly), I was able to think back to my fleeting youth, particularly my days as captain of a comic book club. We held meetings in the back yard of my folks’ women’s wear store in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, trading our stash of literature including books about Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man, Superman, Superboy, and the like. I was too young then to criticize their writers for not inputting more vulnerability, and was likewise incurious about Clark Kent’s and Superman’s seeming celibacy. Sure, kryptonite would be bad news for Superman, but we never expected him to be exposed to it for long, and only in rare episodes. And occasionally Billy Batson would be gagged before he could get Shazam from his lips. But real vulnerability? No. Spiderman demonstrates it greatly. No, we don’t really think he’ll die. But we do know he’ll learn a lesson that he’ll never forget for the rest of his life, and that’s enough. In this episode he’s guilty of the sin of pride, the one sin that the ancient Greeks would never forgive. He gets to pay the price.

For those who are dazzled by money–and they say accounting is the sexy career field nowadays since the Enron scandal made the front pages of all the papers–“Spider-Man 3" cost upward of $250 million. Think of it this way. One quarter of one BILLION dollars to make. And you can get all of that by plunking down eight, nine, ten or eleven dollars at the box office. Now big money for the making does not guarantee great results. Think of “Ishtar,” one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. “Spider-Man 3" is no “Ishtar.” This is a film that features a flawed super-hero fighting flawed villains, and what’s more the characters are so complex that even the villains have some good in them!

You’d not think a armed-robber and killer would have much goodness but you’ll find some spirituality in Flint Marko aks Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). He’s a convict who has escaped from New York’s Riker’s Island, where he is suspected of killing the husband of May (Rosemary Harris), who is also the uncle of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), aka Spider-Man. Parker is out for revenge, and if revenge involves killing the con on the spot without bringing him in for a trial, that’s just fine with him. That’s one flaw for the Spider-Man, at least until Spidey hears Marko’s hard-luck story. Another villain, Eddie Brock aka Venom (Topher Grace), means well. He’s a young dude, a good photographer who’s freelancing for a newspaper run by J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons), and he’s hungry for a break. When he plagiarizes a picture to feed his appetite for a decent job, his evil side holds sway. He gets his chance to do real damage when some black #### from Spidey’s black costume falls upon him, giving him super powers. Peter Parker has his own villainy, involving a nasty ego trip that befalls him when he dons that black costume, giving him powers beyond anything he felt before with the mere red togs. He feels good. He feels great. He feels so good that he bops down the street as if he owns New York City, to the disapproving stares of the young people he passes. Even sadder, when he plays up to the temptingly beautiful blond, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), kissing her on the lips in front of his good-girl main squeeze, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), he’s in serious girl trouble.

There’s even more sub-plotting in the story, intricately worked out by director Sam Raimi together with Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent, involving a misinterpretation by his best friend, rich playboy Harry Osborn (James Franco). Harry is certain that Peter Parker killed the elder Osborn, Harry’s father, and is determined to get revenge by killing Spider-Man. With all these enemies–Harry, Flint Marko (who can turn into Sandman thanks to a botched radioactive experiment), Eddie Brock (who turns into Venom when the black uniform of Spider-Man wraps itself around him giving him the teeth of a dinosaur and the power of a tiger), Mary Jane (who drains Spidey’s energy by depriving him of her love), and most of all Spider-Man (who makes war upon himself)–how can this poor guy survive?

Scott Stokdyk’s visual effects are startling, including Sandman’s deconstruction, Spidey’s wild trips among New York’s gorgeous skyscrapers, all set to Christopher Young and Danny Elfman’s assertive music with Bill Pope capturing the non-CGI photography.

Here is a man with vulnerabilities. No wonder he cries, and it’s about time that a super-hero, a male, shows his true feelings. Did Clark Kent ever cry? Billy Batson? Wonder Woman? Not on your life. And because of this, I missed part of my childhood.

Is “Spider-Man 3" as worthwhile to see as “Waitress,” the best movie of the year so far? No way. The two movies cannot be compared. “Waitress” is pure delight as a comedy with an edge of pathos about a woman with an abusive husband who bakes pies to express her moods. “Spider-Man 3" costs a zillion times more and is perhaps the best American (as opposed to Japanese) comic-book fantasy that has yet come to the screen.

Rated PG-13. 139 minutes © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online