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05 August 2008
Ohhhh, Spidey what happened? Washed out!
0 of 1 found this helpful The first two Spider-Man films, taken together, play like the first two acts of a longer film with an overarching story about Peter, MJ, Harry and how they grow and change because of that spider bite. This film should be the dénouement, the payoff for all that intricate setup. That is there, but sadly it’s buried in an overstuffed, overlong movie that tries to do far too much far too quickly.
We’ve had about 4 hours to get to know the main characters and through deft storytelling and a sensible decision to set a 1 per-movie limit the villains of the films have also been filled in rounded characters. That goes out the window with Spider-Man 3.
Perhaps the film’s biggest problem (of, sad to say, many) is a glut of new characters in what is, for a story so dense, a very brief running time. This time there are three villains to contend with. Harry Osborn’s character has been one of the most interesting in the series and James Franco’s performance has grown film to film and shown Harry’s transition from a high school kid striving to be normal to a man consumed by hate and vengeance admirably. Here we finally get Harry suiting up as the new Green Goblin… well, sort of. Again the design is botched and there’s little to identify Harry with any persona, he looks more like he’s suiting up for extreme sports than anything. The battle itself though, some effects wobbles aside, is excellent. It’s punchy, mobile and exciting and the personal conflict is strongly felt because both Harry and Peter are unmasked for the duration. It arrives only about 12 minutes into the film and it’s something the rest of the action struggles to meet
The major villain is Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman. The character’s look and powers remain faithful to his comic book origins but the alteration of the backstory surrounding Uncle Ben rings completely false and though it doesn’t quite make bobbins of the first film it comes dangerously close. Church is pretty good and he gives Sandman heart as well as menace but he doesn’t really have enough screen time to engender audience sympathy the way Alfred Molina did as Dr Octopus. It’s well worth mentioning though a fine performance in a one scene cameo from Theresa Russell as Sandman’s wife.
Finally there’s Venom. The fan favourite was included in the film at the last minute thanks to constant badgering of Sam Raimi by exec producer Avi Arad. You can tell. Eddie Brock is a laughably thin character; his motivations lack any weight and his appearance as Venom happens only in the final half hour of the film. I’m with Sam Raimi on this one; I’m not a fan of Venom but if you ARE going to use a character so iconic you should treat him better than as a third string villain with ten minutes screentime.
This, however, is not the end of slate of new characters. There’s Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy. Gwen, in the comics Peter’s college girlfriend, who died in the single greatest comic book ever written (Amazing Spider-Man 121) has been included here as… I give up… I don’t know what purpose she serves that couldn’t have been served by an existing character. She’s there to make MJ jealous, but really, rather than use another fan favourite character so poorly why not call more extensively on Mageina Tovah, whose turn as Ursula is a small joy in both sequels?
Then there’s James Cromwell as Captain Stacy who, if possible, is even more pointless than his screen daughter.
With character having been a particular strong point of the first
05 August 2008
The Bourne Disaster...
1 of 1 found this helpful It's not been a good summer. It began with the crushing disappointment that was Spider-Man 3 and it ends with the crushing disappointment that is The Bourne Ultimatum.
For the record I really loved the first two Bourne films but just give the edge to Paul Greengrass' superb sequel over the Doug Liman directed original and with Greengrass at the helm again and much of the talent from the previous films returning I'm really at a loss as to how it went wrong this time out.
There are several big problems. Firstly there's the story. Part of the fun of the Bourne movies has been that we've discovered the story with Jason Bourne, been thrust inside his amnesia but as it has unfolded that story has always been easy to follow. That's not the case here, the story is so murky that I found myself lost several times . Worse though is that I didn't especially care where things were going as right from the off this film feels overfamilliar. Greengrass hits all the same beats as in the last two films but is unable to up the ante in the way he did so well with Supremacy so here it just comes off as 'we're 45 minutes in, better have a car chase'.
Even more disappointing though is that Greengrass squanders what assets the film does have (fantastic stunts, punchy fights) with a camera technique so irritating it took me completely out of the movie. Okay so it's not like Identity and Supremacy were the most sedate movies in the world but Ultimatum's camera moves around so unrelentingly that not only does it detract from your understanding of the movie but if you get seasick you should be warned to avoid this film for the good of your health. This and the almost ludicrously fast pace of the editing renders what would otherwise be a brilliant fight scene in the middle of the movie utterly unintelligible and irritiating.
It gives me no pleasure to say this about The Bourne Ultimatum. I want it to be a better film, the cast deserve a better film and all are on fine form. Damon is a great actor and he's grown into this role in completely convincing fashion. He provides one of the best moments of the whole trilogy after that pivotal fight when his silence says more than any line could have. It's nice to finally see Julia Stiles get something to do in these movies and she acquits herself well, but sadly vanishes from the film in pretty short order. Strathairn and Allen also cintribute strong turns that resist action movie cliche.
Sadly though it's not enough, the technique drowns what might have been a fun action film and the hard to follow story means that this third film never engages like the first two did, what a terrible shame.