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The Now-Released Spider-Man 3 Thread

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I thought it would be better to start a new thread away from the old Spider-Man 3 speculation thread in order to talk about the new movie, which I just got back from seeing at the midnight showing. It was a great atmosphere. I never went to any of the Star Wars prequel openings, but this felt like the same kind of vibe I'd heard about. The only people who were there (and there were lots of them) were the ones who were really into this. Lines were out the door, people were being herded into different theatres, people were trading tickets to be in the same theatre as their friends. Employees frantically checked tickets to make sure people were where they were supposed to be.

After sitting for what seemed liked forever, the lights suddenly came on, and two guys came in. I thought that there was a projector death, and that the movie was ka-put. In fact, the guy even made it seem like that by starting out, "I have some bad... just kidding." Besides plugging the nearby GameStop's new shipment of Wiis, he was holding two Spider-Man dolls: the regular Spidey and the Symbiont Spidey. He asked who bought the largest sized popcorns, and I eagerly held mine up. He started to say, "Now if the bottom of your bucket says..." but by that point I had already looked at the bottom of my bucket and, to my surprise, written in marker on the bottom was "S2". "...S1 or S2, you win one of these." Nobody had the S1, but I excitedly cried out that I had the S2, and I was thrown the Symbiont Spidey who was my partner for the duration of the movie. That was great. And now, spoiler time:

*SPOILERS*

This was certainly a darker Spidey movie than the other two, in most parts. Peter is downright vicious at certain parts. But on the flip side, some of his evil antics are downright laughable, as he turns into a disco-dancing emo kid. While I enjoyed that montage, the "Raindrops" montage in the second movie still wins it for me. And, as television and movies have proven countless times, black eyeliner is the source of all evil. It worked for Captain Kirk, and, as soon as Peter turns to his dark side... BAM... he suddenly has black eyeliner. A little bit campy, but I forgave it. There's always been a slightly campy, irreverent undercurrent to these.

Gwen Stacy... totally useless. It seemed like her only purpose was for the moviemakers to say to the comic book fans, "Hey, Gwen Stacy's in the movie!" Of course, she couldn't have the kind of role she had in the comic books. They missed that boat by about two movies.

Harry... wonderful. I loved everything about his side of the story, and all of his seeming deaths and seeming recoveries and seeming hope was just so tormenting. How I wished he could have stayed happy and oblivious and continued to make omelettes. But Norman just refuses to actually die, continuing to possess the same mirror that Harry broke in the last movie (magically repaired) and give him Satanic messages. At one point, I just wanted to yell at him to just go away and die already, so we could all be happy. But then there wouldn't be a movie, and Harry's arc wouldn't be interesting. It was heartwarming to see Harry and Peter playing basketball and having the same friendship they had at the beginning of the first movie. It was wonderfully exhilarating to see Peter as Spider-Man and Harry as the New Goblin fighting side by side against Sandman and Venon, even though I knew Harry wouldn't make it out of it alive. And... he didn't. But at least he was able to redeem himself.

And as for Peter and Mary Jane... a hell of a lot of problems could have been avoided had they just been honest and open with each other like healthy relationships should work. But, no, they kept pretty much everything from one another, and it totally screwed them over. But once again, had it not been like that, there would have been no plot.

One thing I love about this series is its sense of continuity. Nearly every peripheral character that had a reason to be there was there again... all the members of the Bugle staff have been in all three movies. Mr. Ditkovitch and his daughter Ursula are back. Uncle Ben and Norman make cameos again (it's amazing how many different things they can have dead characters do, even though it's pretty much the same stuff over and over again). Dr. Connors is still doing his thing. Even the "killer" from the first movie comes back again. I found that very helpful to get right back into it.

Overall... I don't know. It ended rather downbeat, which isn't bad. I really want to see it again. The thrill of the experience is still with me, so I can't really objectively say, but, for right now, I'm very pleased. But... if Barnard, that damned butler, had been a little more forthcoming with information in the previous movie, he could have saved us from a lot of heartache. But once again, no movie...

So, yeah, go see it and add your thoughts to mine!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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i thought it was a joke, and a horrible movie. after the first two this one was an extreme let down.
nice guys finish last
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I didn't like a single thing about the flick until halfway through it, when it started to be funny enough that I liked it. I liked the effects a lot, I liked Topher Grace and Thomas Hayden Church, I liked the ridiculous Peter-Parker-playboy sequence. I didn't like the god-awful fucking dialogue that ran for the whole movie. And I didn't like that this was at least two movies crammed into the space of one.

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My initial thoughts are about the reverse of the second movie for me. All of the spider man battling villain scenes were great, but I didn't like the character drama. The character drama was way too simplistic and tried to handle too many things to the degree where it all became way too contrived in the way it unfolded, and that bugs me. I also think Peter Parker cried a bit too much. The evil parker was campy, but it also had its humorous side which was good. All in all, i think I liked it, but I care more about the characters and was let down on that end. I still like the second movie the best out of this series.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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I don't understand how someone can say that the second one was good. It was 2 hours of Peter being a confused wimp, and Mary Jane trying to figure out who she loved. The raindrops scene was beyond stupidity, and Mary Jane running from the church to Peter's apartment was beyond being cheesy. I think the third is better. Yes, it was horribly edited, but if you have read the book you relize this can be fixed with a longer running time. There was a scene of Sandman breaking into a doctors office to ask him to save Penny. The doctor says the research is more than Flint can afford. But Flint gives the money from his bank robbery to the doctor. The doctor refuses and Flint slams him into a window. The doctor then agrees to help Flint but says that he needs more money. This scene explains Sandmans motives better. This scene was shot, but for some reason didn't make it into the final cut. Also, in the book during the fight at the construction site, right as Sandman is about to kill Spiderman the doctor and Marko's family show up. The doctor says that he tried but could not find a cure for Penny. Penny asks Marko why he is doing this and it makes Marko feel guilty. He gives up and Spiderman tells him to go be with his family. That is a better way for Sandman to exit the story, and gives better closure to the story of Penny. In the movie Penny is in one scene and you never find out whether she is cured or not. But besides these problems I still think the film was the best one of the three.


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I loved the Raindrops scene personally. Hell, it's actually my favorite sequence out of the entire series.

But, yeah, Sandman's importance really diminished about halfway through the movie. His motivation just... died, and he just showed up from time to time to cause trouble. But in a way I was kinda glad because he seemed like something of a peripheral character, and it left more room for the more important things to play out.

I think it was something of a case of too many villains, and I actually thought that Sandman was dead when Peter flushed him away in the subway station. I mean, he didn't really do much after that anyway, and it seemed about time for Brock to actually do something. Hell, they gave Harry two fake deaths in that movie. I seriously thought he was dead when he, I don't know, blew up. But then they just didn't even follow it up, mention, or even allude to Harry again until Peter seeks out his help at the end of the movie. I seriously thought he was dead for about half an hour. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It was kinda cool to be so low-key, but, at the same time, just like when I thought Sandman had died, it seemed like they were rushing a bit to tie up the multiple plot threads that they had left dangling by having so many concurrent plots.

But, still, I enjoyed it overall.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Heh, the second movie is hardly awesome in every respect for me. For instance, practically all of the scenes involving Spider Man jumping from building to building or fighting villains were terribly boring (which is no small thing). But, the acting was great and the love story focus was very good as well. Watching Peter explain how he didn't stop his uncle's murderer to his aunt was a fantastic scene for me. Also, sure, Peter was wimpy at points, but his life was falling apart around him and the loss of his powers worked in a cheesy way that seemed to fit real life in a lighthearted sense. Otherwise, what was the raindrops scene? I'm not remembering anything like that at the moment. Heh, oh and how could you hate the wedding scenes?!! Those were freaking hilarious with Mr. Jamison! Mary Jane's slow-mo run in the gown was the perfect way to end that. I found it extremely fun to watch. Overall the movie is still my favorite. This third movie has the best combat scenes and social effects though. I liked watching the three-villain climax a lot.

Otherwise, does anyone else think that the lady who plays Aunt May is fantastic? I'd consider her the best performer in this whole series of movies.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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From what my friends tell me of the comic books, it was supposed to be like this. But the middle of the film with Peter acting all kooky was just too over the top for me. It went on too long and it just felt like we had entered a completely different movie. The jazz club scene capping it off was beyond overkill at that point.

And is it just me, or did the line, "now I'm gonna kick your little ass" seem totally unfitting for this movie to anyone else?

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Aint seen it yet. Dont know if i will even bother, because i didnt really like the first two movies. Although a lot of guys are saying the film is absolutly fantastic.

Im just curious if the "dark" spidey is or has any connection to Venom in the end?
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Spoiler:

I think Venom is shortchanged in this film. He had a scant few minutes at the end and they totally KILL HIM!! Sure it was a fun battle to watch, but . . . .

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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Zion, this is my favorite line: "I protected you in high school, now I am gonna kick your little ass." And then Peter does that little fake shudder. Also, I loved when Peter was standing over Harry in the Goblin's liar and he says " Ahh, is little Gobwin jr. gonna cry?" And Peter's jazz moments (besides the piano moment) beat the crapt out of the raindrops scene anyday. I just can't stand the song "Raindrops" or whatever it is called.


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Just got back from seeing it. Man, it was pretty awful. I really liked it from the start, up until about the Harry kidnaps Mary Jane scene, and from there it got pretty bad. The whole evil Peter thing was WAY too over the top. Just terrible. All the dialogue during that section was just painful. The others had plenty of campy moments in them, but I have cut them plenty of slack and still enjoy them both a lot. But this...

The raindrops scene in the second one was awesome. I love that seen. It was purposely campy, but other than the music it wasn't so retarted. The jazz scene was beyond campy. I don't even see the two scenes as comparable. I did like the beginning and the end of this movie though. It was just that mid section that totally lost it.

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot. I hate how in just about ever scene with Venom talking he had Brock's head, I also hate his constant refering to himself as "I", that was an extreme oversight in the writing. In the comics he always refers to himself as "we".

But on the upside, the Bruce Campbell appearance was pretty cool.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Originally posted by: C3PX
Just got back from seeing it. Man, it was pretty awful. I really liked it from the start, up until about the Harry kidnaps Mary Jane scene, and from there it got pretty bad. The whole evil Peter thing was WAY too over the top. Just terrible. All the dialogue during that section was just painful. The others had plenty of campy moments in them, but I have cut them plenty of slack and still enjoy them both a lot. But this...

The raindrops scene in the second one was awesome. I love that seen. It was purposely campy, but other than the music it wasn't so retarted. The jazz scene was beyond campy. I don't even see the two scenes as comparable. I did like the beginning and the end of this movie though. It was just that mid section that totally lost it.

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot. I hate how in just about ever scene with Venom talking he had Brock's head, I also hate his constant refering to himself as "I", that was an extreme oversight in the writing. In the comics he always refers to himself as "we".

But on the upside, the Bruce Campbell appearance was pretty cool.


The Jazz scene's stupidity serves a purpose to the story. This scene lets the audiance know that the suit is amplifying traits that were weak before. The suite is giving him a major confidence boost, and the audience needs to see that. Yes, Peter looks beyond stupid strutting around the city, but that is from the audiences point of view, not Peter's. Because of the suit Peter thinks he is invincible and that no matter what anyone does it does not matter because he is better and stronger than them. If Peter would have not had the suit's influence he would never have strutted around the city like that. The audience has to realize how bad the suite is affecting him, and it all culminates to the point where he hits Mary Jane. Had you not preceeded this scene with something silly and light hearted it would have made the moment when he hits Mary Jane less dramatic. To know what drama is you have to know what the opposite is and that is humor, and this is exactly what the Jazz scene was.


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The jazz scene wasn't humor at all. I didn't find it funny in the least. I appreciate what they were attempting to do by having Peter strut around town like an idiot. I totally get the point about trying to show how the suit is influencing him. I just thought it was poorly done. During those scenes my friend leaned over and said "Wow, did they just completely give up on this thing halfway through?" He voiced exactly what I was thinking.
Sean's comment is exactly how I felt through the rest of the film.

"You know who dies in this movie?










The fanbase."

Very true. My friend who went with me to see this (he is a huge marvel comics fan, and really liked the first two Spidey films) said that if they milked it enough to make a Spidey four that he would definitly be waiting for the DVD release so he could rent it rather than even bother with it in the theater. He is definitly part of that fanbase which no longer shows signs of a pulse.

When I first read Sean's death of fanbase comment I thought he was joking and being a little too hard on the film, but now that I have seen it, I realize it is actually a real spoiler. Sean, how bout putting some spoiler tags on that comment, you wouldn't want to spoil the ending for anybody.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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I smell a fan edit in the works.
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Oh, that Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head song. Sure, it was weird, but the lighthearted effect it provided worked just fine for me. I also thought the evil-Peter-walking-through-town scene in this new movie was pretty funny too.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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maybe someone should start a thread for spiderman 4, what is already known as well as rumors etc.

Lame that there won't be a Hobgoblin villain in 4, maybe the sinister six?

the fact that with one they started out with mary jane instead of gwen stacy was dumb, from what i've heard she was peters first love, he was married to?

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I can't speak for the leter comic series, but of the originals he and Gwen never married. She was killed by the Green Goblin though in a scene very similiar to the one with Mary Jane at the end of the first Spider-man movie. I always though the blond haired Dunst would have made a good Gwen. Gwen had a pretty pointless role in this, but I guess it was cool to give another original comic character an appearance.

This is the end of Sam Raimi and Spider-man isn't it? Am I wrong in thinking that he said this would be his last? I think Dunst said she didn't want to do any more either. If they do make a fourth it will be a bit different. I'll sure miss the Bruce Campbell cameos.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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The first time I saw it, at a press screening (I write for the Denver Post's Colorado Kids) I had mixed feelings about it. Then I went to see it again on Saturday, and liked it a million times more. It could be my favorite in the series. It's such a deep, multi-layered movie, and never drags or feels gimmicky. Having never read the comics, the minimal appearance of Venom didn't bother me. I just love this movie, and its such a perfect ending to the series. I hope they don't make a fourth one, because I don't want them to spoil the ending.
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I was disappointed in the campiness of "evil" Peter, as well - it reminded me too much of Superman III. Then Venom, who is my absolute favorite Spidey villain ...

--SPOILERS--

... gets 2 scenes, 50% of each with Topher Grace's face plastered over the REAL one, and then he BLOWS UP. I was furious.

Other than that, fairly good - Harry's arc was fantastic.

But it really should have been Harry, Venom and The Lizard, if they needed a third villain at all, but I think Harry and Venom with a SUBSTANTIALLY larger role should have been it.
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Being more of a fan of the REALLY old stuff, I was very happy it was with Sandman (looked spot on!), though he is one of those kind of pointless villians (like the Vulture, Shocker, Electro, Kraven, Etc.), where Doc Ock and the Green Goblin were much more mainstream. Like Ash, I really didn't like Tophar Grace face poping our every time Venom said anything, and what was up with those teeth? Looked like the ones you can get from the $1 store. I really wished the Lizard would have come up. That probably would have been more exciting than the Sandman.

Did anyone else think the solution for the sybiote getting to earth was a bit too simplified. Especially with it landing right next to Spidey. And Ash, even though they killed off Venom (which did suck) don't forget that tiny little piece in Dr. Connor's lab (maybe Carnage will be in part 4, but I really hope not!). I really thought they would let Brock live so they could potentially bring him back.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Well, this is a movie based on a comic book, so it's completely... um, plausible that he could come back.

And it's also a Spider-Man movie, which means that since he's a dead character, he'll have to return for flashbacks.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.