Spider-Man 3
**I had the pleasure to join the Franchise Detours podcast to discuss “Spider-Man 3” as part of their discussion on the Sam Raimi trilogy. You can listen to that here.
Third films in superhero franchises have always seemed problematic, it would appear. No one quite seems to get it right. Of course, many find themselves having different personel either in front of- or behind- the camera, and that will always make a difference. But most of the time- scratch that, all of the time- the resulting film falls short of hopes and expectations. “Batman Forever” began a free-fall for the original franchise despite having the saving grace of a brilliant Jim Carrey as the Riddler, “X-Men: The Last Stand” marked a decided decrease in quality after two exceptionally successful previous films by cramming too many intriguing storylines (and too many new, intriguing characters) into two little time, and, well, let’s just say the best thing that ever came from “Superman III”- besides the memorable fight between Clark Kent and evil Superman- is a classic reference in “Office Space.” Of course, most franchises haven’t quite gotten that far, be it for being too young or, well, just not being that good.
“Spider-Man 3” is curious in that it both stands as an exception to the rule, as well as something of a confirmer of the rule. Of course, one could say that about the franchise- helmed thus far by Sam Raimi (the first person to remain as director for the first three films of such a franchise)- in general. Though the cracks in David Koepp’s screenplay wear thin upon multiple viewings, 2002’s “Spider-Man” is still one of the more enjoyable origin story films in recent memory, nimbly laying the groundwork for later films and establishing the main actors in their roles. And of course, 2004’s “Spider-Man 2” was the exception to the rule itself- being the rare sequel to top its’ original with a deft blend of all of the best elements of the first film while improving upon the weaker parts of it in spades (namely, the introduction of a three-dimensional antagonist in Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock and a sophistication of visual effects that felt cartoonish the first time out) to create an altogether exhilarating adventure and morality play.
“Spider-Man 3” continues that trend, as well as reverting to a degree, as well. But while nowhere near the brilliance of “2,” Raimi’s third entry is far from the third-film letdown of the aforementioned movies, in that the reversions work in the story’s favor. None of the film’s three villains- a potential landmine, as no franchise has nailed the multiple-villain problem yet (though “Batman Begins” came awfully close, and this one succeeds reasonably well as well)- may have the lasting intrigue of Molina’s Ock- or even Willem Dafoe’s over-the-top Green Goblin- but I can’t imagine the story cooked up by Raimi, his brother Ivan, and “Spider-Man 2” screenwriter Alvin Sargent without any of them. These films are, ultimately, about Peter Parker (Spidey’s real-world alter ego brought to life by an ideally-cast Tobey Maguire) anyway; like adaptations of a great novel, you just can’t explore the storylines of a comic book series with the same depth on film. And while Raimi’s film threatens to fly off the rails at times, he stays true to the story he’s telling, which is fundamentally- like in “2”- a morality play about its’ hero in the trappings of a large-scale action movie. He delivers the goods on both counts.
When last we saw Peter Parker, he’d come to accept his responsibilities as superhero Spider-Man and come to a place where he could let in the love of his life- Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst- it’s unthinkable to see anyone else in the role)- despite the risks inherent were his enemies to find out his true identity. Unfortunately, one of his enemies- friend-turned foe Harry Osborne (James Franco)- already discovered his identity, as well as the dark secret of his father (Dafoe’s Green Goblin, whom died in a battle with Spider-Man, but not at Spidey’s hands), who asks for vengeance from his son.
Cut to a couple of years later (I guess; a timeline isn’t really established between 2 and 3 in this one). Peter and MJ are still together and very much in love. MJ is about to make her Broadway debut in a musical (yes, we do see Dunst sing- and it won’t be the last time, either), but more importantly, for the first time, the entire city of New York is behind Spider-Man (a fact none-too-loved by Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jamerson, continually played at a highly-comic-pitch by J.K. Freeman). And with his long-time love by his side, life is good for Peter.
Well, not all of it- he’s still on the outs with Harry, who’s started to develop some of his father’s skills for chaos with the Goblin inheritance he discovered at the end of “2,” with the intention of taking Peter out with it. He puts those skills to use in the film’s first major fight sequence, as he intercepts Peter after a visit with his dear Aunt May (the invaluable Rosemary Harris, still a guiding force for Peter after three movies) where he tells her of his intentions to propose to MJ, and Aunt May gives him her ring for the occasion. This sequence sets the tone for all of the action in the film, and for Peter and Harry’s scenes together. Peter gets away, but not before knocking Harry unconscious, causing him to lose his memory. Not all of it (he knows his father’s dead), but he doesn’t remember his recent past with Peter- as far as he knows, they’re still friends. It doesn’t last, though, and Franco excels at using Harry’s rekindled good will towards Peter to his advantage in inflicting maximum emotional damage on Peter and gaining an ally in MJ, who’s Broadway debut is a dud; her firing after dreadful reviews is a confidence she doesn’t trust Peter with- he’s too enamoured by their seeming happiness and the public popularity of Spider-Man to feel her pain (a moment with Spidey rescuee Gwen Stacy- played by “The Village’s” Bryce Dallas Howard in an underwritten, but story-important role- that resembles Spider-Man and MJ’s first kiss further devastates her)- as she catches a spark of a crush on Harry before he remembers his duty to his father. When he does remember, he uses it to get MJ to break it off with Peter- a scene on a bridge that resonates with desparate feeling and pathos- by telling him she’s with someone else, sending Peter over the edge.
It’s easier than he realizes. A meteorite hits the ground in New York containing a black ooze, a symbiote organism that attaches itself to Peter while in the Spidey suit one night. It turns his Spidey suit black and brings out everything that’s aggresive and raging inside Peter, especially when he and Aunt May come to learn that Uncle Ben’s real killer- Flint Marko (played by “Sideways” Thomas Hayden Church, bringing feeling to a one-dimensional role with more of a backstory than we might expect)- is still alive, and has just escaped from prison. This sets Peter off, stalking the dark streets for any hint of Marko to exact vengeance. Little does he know that Marko’s been molecularly melded with sand- while on the run, he hides out in a containment chamber- turning him into the dangerous- and seemingly unstoppable- Sandman, a most formidable opponent for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But the symbiote-suit has a way of changing Peter, as he blows off MJ, looking to humiliate her at her new job at a jazz club while on a date with Gwen, goes to extremes to get his point across to Harry about not killing his father- almost killing him in the process- and viciously attacks not just Marko after a robbery but also Eddie Brock (“That ’70s Show’s” Topher Grace, whose cocky exterior hides an envious nature that lends itself well to the character), another freelance photographer for the Bugle who’s out to empress Gwen and get in good with Jonah by showing this new side of Spidey in hopes of landing a job Peter wants as well. It’s not that easy for Eddie, who, humiliated by Peter at the Bugle, asks God to kill Peter; fortunately for him, Peter is also at the church in an attempt to rid himself of the symbiote-suit, which then attaches itself to Eddie, turning him into Venom, setting off the chain of events that’ll lead to the film’s epic conclusion.
Admittedly, I’ve just given up more of the story than I care to normally, but I don’t feel too guilty over it for two reasons: 1) it’s little more than what’s in the previews for the film, and 2) it’s vital to discussing the film’s main focus to lay the groundwork thick with story, ’cause there’s a lot of it in the 139 minute film (some might say too much story; I’ll get to that later). As I said, the “Spider-Man” films- and, fundamentally speaking, many superhero movies- are about, well, the title superhero. The first “Spider-Man” was the origin story, with the hero thrust- by chance- into a position of power that required him to make choices with what to do with that power, and discover what it meant that he had it. “Spider-Man 2” showed Parker in a crisis of conscience, so in love with Mary Jane that he denied his powers- and his destiny- before realizing that both his love for MJ and his responsibilities as Spider-Man are intertwined; it’s his love for MJ that inspires him to do what’s right as Spider-Man, and it’s impossible for him to have one without the other.
In “Spider-Man 3,” what Raimi and his co-writers are looking at is what happens when the addiction to that “great power” is fueled by selfishness and anger. Peter’s ego- bloated by Spidey’s celebrity- blinds him to MJ’s needs, and the symbiote organism turns his Spidey-strength into a violent tool and further distances him from the ones he cares about the most. This is exactly the type of film the trailers promised, and Raimi delivers it in spades, as Peter must face the demons within in order to find the hero he once was, the type of “courageous, self-sacrificing” person- to quote Aunt May from the second film- who thought more for the lives of those around him than for himself.
It’s that dark side within Peter that all of “Spider-Man 3’s” villains collectively represent: Uncle Ben’s death at the hands of Marko is the target of Peter’s rage; Harry’s own desire for vengeance forces Peter to hold a mirror to himself, and like Harry, Peter loses that battle more often than not; and Peter’s continual thwarting of Eddie goes beyond friendly rivalry and into a more malicious sense of mean-spiritness that crosses over into- and from- his behavior towards Mary Jane. If none of the motives of this villainous triumverate are developed beyond the bare minimum, and emotional foundations are little beyond the surface, it’s because the combined antagonism they manifest for Peter is more important than their individual stories. It’ll no doubt be a letdown to fans of the comics, but it’s very effective as cinema (I didn’t feel the film should’ve been longer- or shorter- than it already was, nor that I was short-shrifted with any of the villains), and a joyride for the visual effects technicians responsible for bringing all three baddies to life. After winning an Oscar for his spectacular work bringing Doc Ock to life in “Spider-Man 2,” visual effects designer John Dykstra bowed out to supervise the effects on the upcoming “Hot Wheels” movie; stepping in was “Spider-Man” vet supervisor Scott Stokdyk, who creates truly stunning visual effects for Sandman and Venom. They aren’t always stunning, though; the cartoonish feel in the effects and action sequences that began to show in repeated viewings of the original “Spider-Man” are back in portions of “3.” Inevitable, perhaps, given the complexity in bringing both characters to life, but when effects like Spidey swinging through New York’s skyline and Harry on the Goblin glider look barely more convincing than the same type of visual was in the original “Spider-Man,” one can’t help where some of that reported $250 million budget went to if it didn’t go towards making the action scenes look immaculately real…
…that’s not to say the film fails to deliver the intended action fireworks. Starting with the sequence near the beginning between Peter and Harry (which has the same level of drama as I felt, at least, during the Anakin-Obi-Wan fight at the end of “Episode III” had, maybe even more so given how it ends up), Raimi hits the ground running, as he, cinematographer Bill Pope, editor Bill Murawski (both vets of “Spider-Man 2”), and the visual effects artists use each characters distinctive characteristics to push the boundaries of how each sequence progresses, and moves the story along at the same time. If there is one disappointment in the action department, though, it’s the final fight with Spider-Man, Venom, Sandman, and Harry. Parts of it are a little too pat, others are just too big to register emotionally, while others just get lost in all the chaos. Basically, too much is going on in this sequence, and again, the visual effects- more here than in any other sequence- just don’t completely convince. It’s the one portion of the film where I would have liked to have seen fewer characters involved, with Raimi and his co-writers maybe finding ways to allow the individual arcs to run their course prior to the battle royale that concludes the film. Staying with Raimi and his visual technicians every step of the way is composer Christopher Young, who pinch hit at the last minute on “Spider-Man 2” for his “Gift” director after a falling out with original composer Danny Elfman (whose memorable themes from the first two are still utilized beautifully), and delivers the goods on “Spider-Man 3” as the film moves between large-scale action and character-driven melodrama.
But whether you’re talking about the flawed first film, the flawless second film, or the frentic third film, Raimi keeps the action rooted in the emotional bonds between Peter and Mary Jane, and once again, Maguire and Dunst rise to the occasion of the material. The love between these two is clear even when they’re at their most estranged, and it provides for moments of genuine feeling. Given the nature of the story, our sympathies are most with MJ, and Dunst builds on the vulnerabilities we’ve seen come through the character’s initial surface as one of the “cool kids” in a way that reminds us just how good Dunst is as an actress. Her devastated reserve when she’s fired from the play, and when the love of her life kisses Gwen Stacy while receiving the key to the city. Her visible hurt during the dinner when Peter was intending to propose as his focus seems less on her than on him (and it’s during this dinner when Raimi’s iconic leading man- “Evil Dead’s” Ashe, Bruce Campbell- makes his latest hilarious cameo as a Matrid’e a little too anxious to help Peter). Her concern after Peter and Aunt May discover about Flint Marko’s escape and role in Uncle Ben’s death. And finally, in the embracing way she opens up to Harry’s renewed friendship after his memory loss as Peter drifts away. She carries the story’s emotional arc, and her disillusionment with Peter mirrors our own.
This is some of Maguire’s best work yet as Parker; it’s hard to imagine where they could take the character beyond where they lead him to here (as many as three more films have been discussed; whether we’ll see them- and whether we’ll see Raimi, Maguire, and Dunst in them- depends on what ideas catch fire for further adventures). The interesting this is, it’s never as if Maguire takes Parker into pure badass mode after the symbiote substance gets into Peter’s system; he’s certainly not as ruthless a bad guy as he was in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Good German.” Part of it is surely that Raimi plays “bad boy” Peter for comic effect (women see him strutting his stuff on the sidewalk and laugh), but also, Peter’s fundamentally a good guy. A quintessential good guy like Pete trying to be a smooth talking charmer with a glint of danger to him is like Jack Nicholson playing Luke Skywalker; his true nature is too obvious to take the personality shift all that seriously. But Maguire makes it work to the character’s- and the film’s- advantage, and Peter’s obliviousness to what MJ’s going through is wholly believable, and his aggressiveness towards MJ, Harry, Marko, and Brock is as convincing as the guilt and regret he feels later as he talks to Aunt May about trying to set things right. In both Peter and Mary Jane’s stories in “3,” this is where the pen of Sargent- an Oscar-winner for “Ordinary People”- is as beneficial as having actors as talented as Maguire and Dunst in the roles. They make the material come alive with force and feeling, and in Raimi and Sargent, have the best collaborators two actors could hope for.
This series has been a rich vein for what I would call “cinematic grace notes”- moments that the common viewer won’t really think much about, but ones that the more attentive viewer cherish. I’ve been privey to many over the years; Mal’s speech about love at the end of “Serenity,” Giles handing Buffy her diploma after a giant school-wide battle at the end of the third season of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Sean Archer taking his wedding ring off of Castor Troy’s finger in “Face/Off,” the four hobbits- back in the Green Dragon, sharing quietly in their collective pride for what they’ve done for the people and home they love- in “The Return of the King,” and Buster Keaton’s projectionist left scratching his head at the end of “Sherlock Jr.” are just a few of the most memorable of these types of moments. Rewatching “Spider-Man 2” recently, another such moment revealed itself when, after rescuing Mary Jane, Peter tells her that they can never be; MJ’s tears at the statement are offset by the look she gives him next, as she understands that his words weren’t meant to hurt her, but for her benefit (his joyful smile at the look on her face being a sign of relief at her realization trumped only by the film’s wonderful final scene). “Spider-Man 3” ends on yet another such moment, again between Peter and MJ, and again with the two expressing an understanding towards one another that goes beyond anything words could convey. If it is to be the final image we see of these two- be they the characters or the actors- I can’t imagine a better sendoff.
