Oh right, so what was I doing spending my Labor Day morning in Ayala Center? Why of course, watching one of the first screenings of Spider-Man 3 on its worldwide opening day! A good three days ahead of its US release, I must add! The line at the ticket counter was almost as epic as the movie itself.
It brings me sadness, however, to I admit that this third outing is not as great a movie as Spider-Man 2. But then again very few things are. I loved Spider-Man 2 with the sort of childlike zeal that I didn't even realize was possible at my age. It's the same kind of admiration I felt for The Lion King and Jurassic Park, movies I fell in love with when I was 8. Everything about that movie just felt so right. It would have taken an act of divine intervention to live up to a benchmark set that high.
But Spider-Man 3 actually is a good movie, all things considered. It takes all the ingredients of the previous movies and multiplies them. More action, more humor, more heroes, more villains-- though not everyone will see this as a good thing. Some of the things worked out really well, like the special effects and action scenes and much of the humor. Some things didn't work out so well, like MJ's singing, or Peter's dance sequence (yes, really). And I kind of longed for a centrifugal threat like Doc Ock, rather than juggling the three or four villains along in the story.
I worry that if I elaborate on my thoughts and opinions much further, I'll be giving out a negative impression. For some reason it feels easier to point out the flaws rather than the positive aspects, so I'll leave it at that. In any case, this movie is sure to break all sorts of box-office records and kick a wide variety of ass.
Spiderman is awesome.I enjoyed the movie tremendously.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen it yet. Planning to though next week.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've appreciated so far in the prior two movies is that they've been true to the original comic book vibe of Spiderman. Spiderman was the first hero with 'everyman' problems. And in Stan Lee's world, the lines between the bad guys and the good guys are not as far apart as we like to think. For these reasons Spiderman grips me emotionally where Superman, Hulk, X-men, etc don't. (I will say that Christopher Nolan's 'Batman Begins' was a notable exception.)
What I'm hoping for in this last installment is a story that holds up to at least that level of measurement.