I’m the last geek on the planet to get around to seeing Spider-Man 3. And it left me frustrated, because you could take out about half the movie and be left with 2/3s of a good film!
I’m watching Sandman, and I’m thinking just how right they got it, how it all works and the effects look right and solid and they play him like a quiet, intent man quite well…. and then I remember that Ditko got it all right, too, and that’s with a few basic drawing tools and perhaps a day to do each page. He didn’t need to spend tens of millions on effects.
(Sandman is not my favorite character in the film, however. That goes to Ursula, the landlord’s daughter — who has been repeatedly good in the series, despite being utterly unnecessary to it. Sandman is tied for second place with Bruce Campbell’s maitre d’.)
The black costume stuff is badly launched and the Venom material… well, apparently putting Venom in there was the result of a push from the studio against Raimi’s instincts, and Raimi was right. It doesn’t build up much, and the character isn’t integrated into the feel of the
film.
And with 5 years since the first Spider-Man film, the cast is now getting a bit old for the age they’re supposed to be, and it shows. Tobey, who plays Peter, is 32. Kirsten Dunst, who is supposed to be the fresh young thing in the film, is 25 – lovely, but her experience is showing. And the gal they have playing Aunt May looks like an old woman!
