Just watched all 3 back-to-back.....

IGN wrote up a perfect description of just how well these three films work together as a trilogy.

Spider-Man has always been a metaphor for a boy's transition into adulthood - not only in the physical sense, but through the increasing burden of responsibility, a theme which is continually hammered home through the events in the first (and, most especially, the second) film. If Peter Parker's discovery and subsequent mastery of his sudden pubescence is explored in the initial chapter, the second explores the initial resistance that so many young men have to the responsibility of impending manhood. Uncertainty, confusion, rebellion and refusal abound in the second chapter, which - in good comic-book form - ultimately concludes with Parkers inevitable acceptance of this rewarding, albeit heavy, mantle. The third film closes this thematic trilogy with the former adolescent battling the moral and emotional temptations inherent to the power of advancing age. If the acceptance of responsibility marks the plot of the second film, then the search for wisdom underlines the third.

Thankfully, these life-lessons are framed within the pastiche of Parker's seemingly endless line of nemeses - the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Venom and, perhaps most importantly, a "new and improved" version of the hover-boarding Goblin in the trilogy's final film. Whether it's striking a balance with love (through Mary Jane) or friendship (through Harry Osborn) - or finding some truth within himself, battle by bloody battle - Parker, as Spider-Man, is continually tested into discovering the ideal version of himself. This often comes at a painful price, but is ultimately not without its rewards.
Click to expand...
 
Oh that makes it sound Oscar worthy.
 
Well, I just finished watching them all. It was very fun. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Makes me anxious to see where SM4 is going to go.
 
Blader5489 said:
IGN wrote up a perfect description of just how well these three films work together as a trilogy.
Click to expand...

Thats a great analogy of the trilogy as a whole, and its very true as well, the way Peter, Harry and MJ grow through all 3 is really good to watch, and i hope they keep this going for Spidey 4.
 
1. Power & Responsibility
2. Choices & Sacrifice
3. Revenge & Forgiveness

4. Redemption & Hope (?)
 
Here it is:

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/833/833499p1.html

I think it is a very good review and not mindless whining about dancing or no Venom. I finally saw SM3 again (I'll have to wait a few months before I can do a back-to-back deal and even then it will probably be just one a day) since May and I think the absence of hype has revealed the awkward structure is even worse than I remembered.

BUT, it also showed that the movie if taken on its own terms does achieve what it sets out to do for the most part. Taking away the hype shows me that Venom does indeed work in the capcity he is used in the film and makes for a good thematically main bad guy, but the hype surely was disappointed due to him being in only one fight. The dance scenes pace better when you realize that it is the last comic relief (for the most part) in the movie because as soon as Peter hits MJ outside of a JJJ joke the movie never relents again for the rest of the picture and ends on a very somber/quiet and serious note.

I still think the dancing went a little too long in the movie overall, though. And I think a toned down version of just the jazz club would have been better with a comical black spidey montage of kicking ass instead of dancing (the answer to the "Spidey arrived" montage at the beginning of the second act of SM1 as opposed to trying to one up the humor of the Raindrops sequence in SM2, which backfired on them).

And then of course from there it is still suffering from pacing problems. Up and through the restaurant scene the movie moves perfectly well like the first two but as soon as the symbiote is introduced it loses it's footing and I"d argue doesn't find it again until Harry shows up for the Battle Royale. In pieces Peter going dark and attacking Sandman works, Harry's arc is great, the dancing by itself is successfully funny and the birth of Venom scene followed by Peter and Aunt May's talk flows remarkably well. But as a whole they feel disjointed and disparate and repeat viewings only draw more attention to this. Also, poorly conceived scenes like "The Team-Up," the butler "enlightening" Harry, and the reporters interrupting the climax at the most critical moment (including going completely away from the action and into a newsroom for crying out loud) still don't work properly with cohesion. On the other hand once Harry shows up the movie for the first time since the 1 hour mark finds its footing for a great climax and a very good denounement. It is not as good as SM2, but that is because the poorly stuctured SM3 is not nearly as engrossing as SM2 was and it works better than the resolution of SM1 with the gag inducing Peter/MJ scene at Uncle Ben's grave.

On the whole it is a lot of fun and immensely entertaining with a great movie hidden in there that you can see in the first hour and presumably the movie Raimi set out to make before studio/producer interference. Because of this the movie is too bogged down with characters and subplots that all feel truncated (especially Sandman).. But the movie still has a lot of pathos and focus on characters/interaction. So, despite these problems it holds up MUCH better post-hype than Transformers of the summer action movies and was likely the best in that company save for the FLAWLESS Bourne Ultimatum.

As a trilogy I say it is solid but went out on a stumble that it barely caught itself from falling flat on its face (a la the Matrix, X-Men and Pirates trilogies) but surely not in the realm of the original Star Wars trilogy, Back to the Future, Lord of the Rings or even the weak centered (as in 2nd film) Indiana Jones.

Spider-Man:
8.5/10-- but an A- curve for timing and innovation in the genre.

Spider-Man 2:
9.5/10-- Solid A and a classic as far as I'm concerned.

Spider-Man 3:
7/10-- B- inflation mostly because of fandom, but the number is accurate (IMO) and the movie is not without merit, despite what internet fanboys and sheepish audience members may lead you to believe. But easily the weakest in the series and inherently flawed. Still, very entertaining with at least an attention to character that seems missing from most summer tent poles this year.

Here's hoping they come back and do 1 more (WITH LIZARD) and go out on a higher note than SM3, though.
 
....Did you just say Back to the Future had a better part 3 than Spider-Man?
 
Easily. Part III of BTTF was better than the second as well. ;)
 
I don't know why people hate Back to the Future Part III so much...I enjoyed it.

Now, Pirates 3 is a third movie that absolutely sucked.
 
Spider-Fan said:
I don't know why people hate Back to the Future Part III so much...I enjoyed it.

Now, Pirates 3 is a third movie that absolutely sucked.
Click to expand...
I thought Pirates 3 was not bad. Pirates 2 is still my favorite though.
 
Mr Jide said:
BTTF 3 sucked donkey balls and so did POTC3.
Click to expand...

BTTF III is cool because its more of a return to the original fomula of part I...no time travel hopping...just one time that BOTH Marty and Doc have to adjust to.

I still like II better because it had a more complicated plot though.

POTC III was a disappointment.
 
I never knew so much hate for BTTF III existed until these internet forums. It is a good movie that is very well put together and has a nice easy going plot. The end with Marty debating to go out in the showdown and "Clint Eastwood is the biggest yellerbelly this side of the Mississippi" followed by the fun twist on Leone cliches was classsic.

The train scene worked and Doc finding lvoe was a nice touch. Also it went out on a great ending. While I thought the storyline for BBTTF II was good, the movie was incredibly uneven and all the alternate 1985 stuff just didn't come together well at all and the future was only...meh. It just felt too '80s in that movie in the beginning. Once they went back to 1955 it found itself again but...it suffered from being in post while III was going into production and even Zemeckis admits it is the worst of the three.

It kind of is to those two as SM3 is to its other two films in the trilogy. ;) :p

As for POTC3...wow that movie did suck. It just was an incoherent mess that failed to successfully conclude any single character or subplot in the film that gave new meaning to overstuffed narrative.
 
Grievous said:
I thought Pirates 3 was not bad. Pirates 2 is still my favorite though.
Click to expand...

I loved POTC 1&2...but 3 was terrible. CotBP is the best of the series, imo.
 
The first POTC is still the best, but I really enjoyed the third one. The second was cool but I just hated how there was no resolution.

The first one, even though it had its mythical curses and what not, still seemed to be "real", where as the second two just got way too fantasy and too Disney for my taste...if that makes sense.
 
Never seen any of the BTTF movies. Go figure.
 
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