Spiderman 3.....euucchhh!!
I wouldn't go QUITE that far, but...
Now, I love Sam Raimi. How much do I love Sam Raimi? I'll defend
Crimewave and
The Quick And The Dead any day of the week. Just so you know. But this may be his dullest feature film to date (except for that baseball movie with Kevin Costner which I refuse to watch).
There's so much here that could have been interesting, if not very unique - pride going to little dork Peter's head, his dark side as manifested by Venom, Harry's attempts to live up to or live down his father... but it's all wasted. Take the two scenes where PP opens a bag to get out first the black and later the red suit; should have been pivotal points in the story, but they're not since Raimi is too busy directing special fx to bother setting up any conflict between the two. And while McGuire has never been a Great Actor, surely he should be able to show emotions in SOME other way than to bawl like a schoolgirl or strut arond town in eyeliner?
I want to say the Sandman subplot is a pointless excuse for more special fx that only rehashes the events of
Spiderman 1, but come to think of it - it provides the only thing in this rather vapid 2 1/2 hours that actually sticks with me afterwards and refuses to let go. Namely, this question:
Why the hell is Sandman unable to do anything except roar like King Kong when he grows to King Kong size?
OK, so it's still got some of the trademark Raimi comic-book humour, visual extravaganzas and
The Bruce in one of his best cameos in a long time (been studying John Cleese in
The Meaning of Life, eh Bruce?) so I'll give it 2/5. But no more.