Turtle-Man
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After seeing Spider-Man 3, I find that my mind is doing the same thing it was doing this time last summer when I saw X-Men 3, which is thinking of ways to make it better. Of course, it's totally pointless because the movie's already out, and it's totally unfair because the writers had a difficult job, and I probably couldn't have done much better if it was my job. But I can't help it. So I might as well share some of my ideas with you guys.
First of all, here's some of the things I WOULDN'T change:
-The cast. I was okay with Topher Grace as Eddie; clearly they want to represent Eddie as the dark side of Peter, which was fine; as cool as a villain as Carnage is, I could care less if he appears in the sequels or if Grace would have fit that role better. Bryce Dallas Howard was fine as Gwen, even if she didn’t do much. Tom Haden Church did very well as Sandman. And the always reliable James Cromwell comes through as Captain Stacy, even if he had even less to do than his daughter.
-The action scenes. The effects and the fights were top notch, with Spidey defeating Venom a high point.
-The Peter vs. Harry subplot. They’ve pretty much been building up to this for the last two movies, so it was good to see it pay off, and to see these two former best friends trying to kill each other. It felt a little awkward at times, but I survived. And I did dig the team-up at the end; it gave us more action and let Harry die a hero.
Now, here's some problems I had and how I'd fix them:
Problem #1: Flint Marko’s transformation into Sandman and the appearance of the symbiote are way too contrived. Flint, the guy who really killed Uncle Ben, just happens to stumble onto this test site and gain superpowers, while the symbiote appears out of nowhere.
Solution:
-Flint Marko, still in jail, volunteers for an experiment that will pay for his daughter’s treatment (which we will just call “the Sandman experiment”.
-A lab is analyzing a strange black substance brought back from the moon on a mission led by John Jameson (mentioned but not seen). That lab is in the same building as the Sandman experiment.
-The black substance is stored away. The Sandman experiment commences, but something goes horribly wrong. Cue awesome and scary transformation scene as Flint is atomized and the lab goes completely haywire and a fire breaks out. The whole building blacks out, including the floor with the black substance. When the emergency power kicks in, the black substance is gone.
-Spider-Man arrives to help get the doctors out of the burning lab. During this time, the black stuff attaches itself to Peter without him noticing.
Okay, so that connects the two origins together and gives us some motivation for the appearances of these two new villains. Problem #1 is solved.
Problem #2-3: So Peter gets into a fight, accidentally hits MJ, and decides that that’s the last straw and he must get the suit off. Boo hoo. Oh, and Gwen has nothing to do AT ALL.
Solution: Spidey, in the black costume, catches up with Sandman on a rooftop and beats the crap out of him. Sandman strikes a chimney and cracks it. Spidey goes into a rage, determined to take his revenge for Uncle Ben. He is so preoccupied with beating Sandman that he doesn’t notice the collapsing chimney. (The next bit is straight out of the comics). The chimney falls. Captain George Stacy is there to push a kid out of the way of the falling debris, and is crushed. Spidey turns and realizes what has just happened. He abandons Sandman and goes down to the street to find George underneath the debris. Dying, Stacy tells Spidey that he knows he’s really Peter, and to look after Gwen. He dies.
Sandman escapes, only to be caught by a special SWAT team armed with water hoses and liquid nitrogen tanks to put him on ice. He is apprehended and taken to prison (we’ll come back to that).
Jameson, the public, and Gwen all savage Spidey for the captain’s death. Peter, devastated, realizes that the black costume has turned him into a murderous monster, and goes to the bell tower to get the suit off. After that, I say he heads to a scrapyard to take out his frustrations at his utter failure as a hero before falling into MJ’s arms.
Pretty heavy, huh? I can’t help it, I’m very proud of that one. After that, there would have to be about 15 or 20 minutes without any action at all, to allow the characters to come to terms with Captain Stacy’s death and give the audience a chance to rest before the big finale.
Problem #4: Sandman and Venom just happen to meet on the street and decide to team up.
Solution: Remember how Sandman was apprehended? He’s cooling his heels in a special prison, until Eddie comes along,(using the symbiote’s disguising powers to infiltrate the place) and breaks him out.
Quick short action scene, a little less happenstance. Problem #4 is solved.
Problem #5: Gwen and MJ both need more to do.
Solution: Sandman and Venom kidnap both MJ AND Gwen (duh!).
I like this one. Gwen doesn’t have much experience as a damsel, so MJ could try to keep her calm, and we get some nice chemistry there.
Problem #6: Every villain knows Spidey’s identity by the end of the movies.
Solution: Sandman never finds out. After the big battle, Spidey merely gives Sandman an address. Sandman goes to the address and Peter is there. Sandman explains what happened that night (pretty much the same as in the movie), and Peter forgives him.
I have a few other ideas for scenes, but that’s pretty much the gist of it. Any objections or any other ideas, let’s hear ‘em.
Problem #7: Eddie just happens to go to the SAME church Spidey's in AT THE SAME TIME. Coincidences flood the plot.
Solution: We get to know Eddie's personal life more. His failures as a person, his depression, and possible family problems are revealed to the audience. He contemplates death, and begins walking down a dark street (slightly drunk, and carrying a gun). Earlier in the film, Symbiote Spider-Man beat Eddie to a pulp for doctoring that photo of him.
As he walks down the street, he spots Spidey swinging into the church. Rather than kill himself, he realizes he can take his pain out on Spidey. He then decides to take Spider-Man's life. He blazes into the church. Just as he does this, though, the symbiote attaches to him. Eddie drops the gun, and transforms into Venom.
Oh, and they should've kept Harry for Spidey 4? How? Harry just suddenly made a jump from shouting "NO!" at the mirror to wanting to kill Peter. What they should've done was to keep Harry contemplating what to do. On one side, Peter is his best friend, and he doesn't want to hurt him. On the other side, his father lost his life to Peter. Throughout the course of the film, he'd be conflicted, upset, confused, and full of rage. He begins to distance himself from Peter as the Symbiote takes control of him. At one point, Harry drowns himself in alcohol, and causes an uproar in a bar (revealing his hatred). By the end of the film, he sees Spider-Man as a murderer (the death of Captain Stacy, and the monstrous Symbiote Spidey), and decides to avenge his father. More plot development, fewer villains.
