After hearing so many long drawn out posts from Ditchy, I felt people wouldn't mind me expressing my comments so thoroughly. And for the record while my post may make several references to Ditchy's last post, this is by no means a "pick it apart" post lined with several contradicting quotes.
I think the thing that makes me appreciate Spider man 3 will everyone seems to honestly have given it such an unnecessary harsh cold sholder is the fact that it wraps up so much in one movie. And yet, this is the same reason that this movie worked so well for me, because it took a challenge and went with it.
Sam Raimi is one of the few directors who actually LISTENS to what people say and changes his movies depending on the results of his last film, something many directors tend to never do. I remember how well the first film was and how weird the second one felt considering Dr. Octopus took a back seat to the love story.
Considering the ass load of much worse and more miserably failed attempts to cram butt loads of information into a person's brain kind of movies, Spider Man 3 is probably the best one there is out there. While things may seem rushed, everything is at least SETTLED and no major issues are left dangling over our heads for years to come.
I HATE it when movies let you dangle. Super Mario Bros, Deep Rising, and Godzilla 98 all ended with cliff hanger endings and it sucks big time because you know for years and years there are stories left creeping around and are forever going to be left untold, unfinished, and undone by the fact the door was left open.
Films like Matrix Reloded, Lord of the rings, and Pirates 2: Dead Man's chest ended on similar notes, but at least you knew the money was gonna rank in enough that sequels were inevitably on the way. But with so much jibber jabber amongst Maguire and Dunst leaving, the studios had to prepare for a grand finale.
I'm happy with Spider Man 3, and yes I would have liked to see Venom more but if the series ends now, I'm at least happy he got the chance to come on screen before he possibly vanishes forever along with the rest of the Spider man universe. There was so much involved in this film that those 2 and a half hours blew by in a heartbeat.
I also felt that the first film is in truth, one of the very FEW select movies I consider "perfect". In regards to the whole Goblin's need to battle Spider man, evil never has really needed an excuse. The comics Green Goblin started on very basic principles, trying to become rich and powerful.
I felt his whole "choose your own way" motto was also a clear definition of why Goblin was doing this: because he wanted to. Every Spider man villain in the movies relies on the power of choice what determines who they are, not motives or greed or power, it's all a matter of the choices they make.
That's why I was never bothered with why Goblin fought Spidey, or why Harry flip flopped with being a bad guy or a good guy, they made the choice. In fact when you look at it in the long run, every villain was given the same "gift/curse" that Spider man was given and they all made a choice.
The whole power responsibility thing comes back, and it's because people will choose to be evil that makes them so interesting. The so called "corn" was NOT the movie's fault, in truth, it was everyone's fault. After 9/11 all of America started joining hands and positive reinforcement has popped up in every form and way.
The trash scene along with every shot of Spider man behind the American flag was for positive reinforcement, something that movie people felt we needed, whether we wanted it or not, and I don't blame the movie for that. I also just want to wrap up that the actors really have, in my book, made a difference as they progressed.
Franco in particular, he was a little tame in the first film but he really became the Harry Osborn the comics had created and I thought he especially was impressive returning to his "darker side" when he was messing with Mary Jane and Peter, and their very interesting fight in Harry's mansion with the "booming" climax.
Maguire I love mad props to, more so then Dunst because he made Spider man a geek through and through, something even the amazing 90's series cartoon managed to accomplish. You could tell he was a nerd and a tragic hero at the same time, even when Peter went bad and did all those dark "cool guy" poses and struts.
That to me really sold his portrayal of Parker because in truth: what other kind of dark nature do you expect to see from ma geek? Whew, that's enough of my 2 cents, more like 600 cents by the looks of it
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