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Hardly a marvel

Three Spider-Mans is one too many
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By Steffen Silvis
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 9th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Kiss of the Spider-Man. A moment of heavy-breathing in this heavy-going sequel in the Spider-Man franchise.
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Along with X-Men, the Spider-Man franchise has been the most successful film series for Marvel Comics (the less said about The Hulk and Ghost Rider the better). The story of Peter Parker, nerd-turned-arachnoid hero, continues in this third episode, complete with the entire cast from the first two films, as well as a few new characters. And so it goes.  As Abraham Lincoln said in one of his early attempts as a literary critic, “Those who like this sort of thing will find that this is the sort of thing that they like.”
Young Peter (Tobey Maguire) is still working as a photographer, and living in a squalid cold-water flat that nonetheless offers a stunning view of the Empire State Building. His love interest, Mary Jane Watson, has made it to Broadway (which is rather startling, given that she’s played by Kirsten Dunst), and is a success in a Tony Award–winning musical.
Spider-Man 3

Directed by Sam Raimi
With Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard and Rosemary Harris
Note: Dubbed in most cinemas.

Yet all is not well. Leaving the theater after taking in Mary Jane’s show, Peter runs into his old friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), who is also leaving, and who also still carries a torch for Mary Jane. Worse is in store for our hero, as some nefarious dark matter from outer space lands near where Peter and Mary Jane are lazily hammocking on one of his webs. This creeping ooze will hitch a ride home with Peter, where it will later cause havoc.
Meanwhile, across town, runaway fugitive Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), the very man suspected of killing Peter’s Uncle Ben, accidentally tumbles into a particle collider, which will turn him into the Sandman. At the same time, the heartbroken Harry, who is also still grieving for his dead father, the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe popping back up in memory and mirrors), embraces his own lab transformation as Green Goblin Jr.
There follows the requisite superheroics, with Peter battling his erstwhile chum Harry, then saving the day after a construction crane mishap almost kills a young model who happens to be named Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), a chronological surprise for Spider-Man aficionados.
This is only the start of Peter’s problems, however. The Sandman suddenly hits the streets, and then the hitchhiking outer space substance, which we discover is of a symbiotic/parasitic nature, will begin to control our hero’s body.
Director Sam Raimi is skilled at churning out action films, and Spider-Man 3 has enough cliff-hangers and fight sequences to keep infants still. Maguire’s Peter is again Tarzaning through the canyons of Manhattan on spider threads, more often than not toward Dunst’s screaming Mary Jane. The special effects are expertly done, particularly the scene with the wayward crane. Yet the film desperately strives to be more.
There is cartoon emotionalism to be found throughout screen adaptations of comic book superheroes, but never has a Marvel tale been as mawkish as Spider-Man 3. Love and loss are all part of the human package, even for the genetically enhanced. But, with the overwrought weeping throughout, especially from our hero at the end (in close-up with chins aquiver), it’s difficult to keep from laughing aloud.
Maguire strains to be his winning, if newly pudgy, self (Raimi tries every camera trick available to keep the actor’s body at bay). Franco is solid, as is Church as an ever so human villain. J.K. Simmons as the Bugle’s editor offers another good comic performance. The supporting cast also carries some heft: Dafoe, Rosemary Harris and Theresa Russell. However, the extras mostly seem to be taking speed or worse, many shamelessly mugging in the background for their 15 seconds of fame.
It’s probably time to call a halt to this series, as Spider-Man 3 has clearly exhausted itself, particularly as there are too many moments that edge toward parody (rather than irony) in this otherwise lachrymose outing, an unfailing sign that there’s nowhere else for these characters to go except over a shark.

Steffen Silvis can be reached at ssilvis@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (9/05/2007):

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