"Spider-Man 3" reviews thread.
 

Since the movie is only 2 weeks away now and I just found this excellent review at IGN. I thought it was time to devote to the reviews of industry and us.

IGN: Advance Review...

I liked it... lots of brutal action this time around. Had they not changed the ending from the first few drafts, there would have been some explanations for some of the character's actions earlier in the film. I think people wanting to see Venom will be happy.

I enjoyed it a great deal. Douche Bag Peter and the whole segment of his emo stage had me laughing. The action in the film is pretty much in your face from the get go and should satisify anyone who was coming in for the battles. Some fights were pretty much crazy to follow.

MJ was really protrayed pretty bad in the film. While her attitude is somewhat justified Gwen came out shinning as a better choice for Peter.. Which they really didn't spend that much time introducing or fleshing out. She was simply replacement material in the event of dunst not coming back. Who knows.

I would say that folks should read Spider-man: Blue before or after going into the flick to get some understanding on Gwen Stacy in some true fashion.

Over all it was a pretty awsome film and had more battles I could even remember. Venom will be a good pay off for those going in for him.

This is what has me really not wanting to see this film... How much of this is in the movie? I know Parker always struggles in the comics with his alter ego which is understandable, but the way Maguire does it in the films just ruins the movies for me (well 1 & 2 anyways).

Most of the advanced-reviews listed on RottenTomatoes could be written by anyone who has seen the publicity shots, the trailer, and the first two movies. They don't actually SAY anything about the movie.

"Spider-Man 3 an astonishing crowd pleaser"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070421/...spiderman_dc_1

I didn't care for it much. Spiderman looked like spawn for some reason.

maybe to avoid spoilers?

The emo stage doesn't last that long so it's not much of a big deal. Though it's pretty much a switch when you know the costume is effecting pete's emotions one way or another by his hair.

:lol:

"ey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

So I assume you’ve seen this already.

I’m not sure how that’s any different than what we’ve been hearing since even before SPIDER-MAN 2 came out, but some people in talkback seem to think it’s “breaking news,” so there you go.

What I’m fascinated by right now is the huge range of reactions we’re hearing as reviews for SPIDER-MAN 3 come in right now. The trades went head-to-head today, with The Hollywood Reporter pretty much gushing, while Variety could barely restrain their (pardon me) venom.

Even among our readership, presumably the exact audience that this film is supposed to reach, there seems to be a divide already springing up. One friend of mine IM’d me last night to compare it to BATMAN FOREVER, while another friend could barely catch his breath as he described everything he loved about it.

Check out these two reviews for a sense of what I’m talking about:

Hi, Harry. I lucked into a L.A. press screening of Spidey 3 and figured I'd pass my thoughts along. In short, it's a worthy entry in the series...although I think most will agree that it's also the most flawed.

The first half of this film is pitch-perfect...better than Spider-man 2. All the characters are in top form and all the action/drama/comedy works beautifully. But major problems surface in the last half when it all comes together. Eddie Brock/Venom is completely shoe-horned into the film as fan service (I heard Avi Arad forced it on Raimi). The film has way too much on its plate, so many subplots and characters come up short in the end. It's still the first good comic book franchise to get to #3 (sorry fanboys, X3 was soulless crap). Here's a rundown:

What works:

The action: Pretty obvious. Raimi knows how to stage chaos.

Peter-Harry relationship - Perfect. It's the real soul of the movie. Gives us everything we ever wanted after the end of Spidey 2.

Peter-MJ relationship - I never fully bought it in the first two films. We got a lot from Peter, but not much from MJ. Here it's believable on both sides. Good stuff.

The Sandman - A great villain! Thomas Haden Church gives him a real emotional edge. Sandman's birth scene is actually quite beautiful. Even the whole "Uncle Ben killing" angle (which I hated from the previews) worked pretty well in the final product.

The "Oddball Apartment Girl": Screw Dunst, I had a serious thing for the cute manager's daughter in Spidey 2. Personal preference. Glad she's back.

What doesn't work:

The pacing: Everything moves perfectly until the third act of the film, then its a mad-dash to wrap it all up.

Eddie/Venom - Short-changed beyond belief. This was a subplot that needed its own movie, pure and simple.

Gwen Stacy - Why the hell is she here? To make MJ jealous, I guess. They set her up like she's an important character and she just disappears from the movie.

Emo Peter - For the most part, Peter's dark side was well handled, but there are moments when Raimi goes way too over-the-top with it. Especially when it comes to the jokes.

Overall, I enjoyed it. There are serious problems, sure, but we also get some of the best moments in the franchise. Fans should be happy.

Call me Sirand.

The “Dark Peter” stuff is what I’m hearing the most complaints about. But this next guy... he doesn’t hold back at all. Check this out:

Hey Aintitcool…Dojo here. I attended a press screening of Spiderman 3 tonight at the Grove in LA Thursday night and all I can say is…

…I need to be consoled… I need to be held… I feel so alone… so cold… so betrayed… so misled…

…by the creators of Spiderman 3.

He danced? Venom died? Harry’s Butler saved the day? What film did I just watch? What monstrosity did I just witness?

I am a film geek and a comic geek- but above all- I am a Spiderman geek. I started drawing comics myself because of Spidey, I met Stan Lee when I was 9 at a bookstore in DC and had him sign my Marvel Universe book “Excelsior!”. I was Spiderman 3 years in a row for Halloween and consider him to be my favorite hero of all time.

Spidey means the world to me- and my world crumbled tonight. The film had some wonderful moments don’t get me wrong. I agree with a lot of the positives listed in some of the reviews above. Franco was awesome, Dunst even brought it, Bryce was beautiful- and Topher as Brock was great…but as Venom, was far from convincing. They didn't even have him refer to himself as plural...and his voice wasn't alien or snakelike- it was just Topher Grace's voice. So it was like "Hey, you wanna kill Spiderman? I'm just a dude!"

They took what should've been a GIANT inner conflict within Peter Parker and watered it down to a Saturday Night Fever throwback of Pete walking down the street snapping his fingers and oh yeah, the aforementioned dance number.

I've always had a problem with the cheese level Raimi has brought to certain scenes- and people always say "But Spiderman always had a sense of humor!". I'm talking about a sense of humor...I'm talking about a DANCE NUMBER in the MIDDLE OF SPIDERMAN 3.

That's how they chose to portray his cockiness? His newfound arrogance?

The symbiote was taking over and turning his heart cold in the comics...it was rendering him ruthless, it was convincing him that his darkest desires were right and just- and in the film...HE DANCES!!! Oh yeah, and accidentally hits MJ. He also takes out Sandman (or sort of almost takes out Sandman...but not really cuz he's Sand...man...

AND...AND! Ben was killed by Sandman, right on- toss that in last minute for good measure. Take back the engine we've been running on, PETE'S been running on for years now- just to make us care a little more about this villain even being in the film. I call BS on that claim, Sandman killed Ben by accident...BS! This is Spiderman people, not Days of our Lives.

Oh but Venom dies, yes Sandman stays alive to be forgiven by Peter (great message however severely out of place when tacked on to the end of a poorly constructed mess of a film). Venom however goes out...and goes out like a B! When will filmmakers learn? This is an entire universe you are
messing with. Just because you are the current team in charge of the franchise- doesn't mean you can muck about and re-arrange just to make your version of what millions know to be true. Don't kill the biggest arch-nemesis a character has. Put him away, lock him in Arkham (Batman
style) but don't incinerate a villain who was only onscreen for ten minutes anyway.

VENOM. Dear VENOM. I'm sorry you weren't scary, I'm sorry you weren't even imposing. I'm sorry they reduced all that you are to virtually nothing. I'm sorry you went out in a non-descript construction site. I'm sorry they didn't give Eddie enough depth and back story to really create a true
enemy. I'm so sorry. I can only hope that in ten years there can be a re-boot of the franchise under the guidance of someone who believes that what the comics have done needs to be watched and read closely.

This movie had all the makings of a bad Soap Opera, memory loss, love triangles, supposed deaths- cheesy jazz clubs with bad extras filling out the background.

Who the F was Bernard? Could the writer not think of ANY OTHER WAY to exonerate Pete in Harry's eyes? Seriously, expositional character number 103

Bernard : You know Harry, I don't talk much...but when I do...it's because I need to tell you that Peter didn't kill your Father...I know this- you didn't know this?

Harry : Sweet- I'll go help Spidey now, thanks random dude!

Done and Done. Screenwriting 101.

I liked the way Harry and Peter were going at each other early on in the film, the rivalry- the lies, the relationship sabotage- that had great depth and momentum to it. They just didn't go anywhere with it, they just let it fizzle and sputter to nothing.

The audience I saw it with was let down. No claps, no whistles when Venom came on the screen- well a few claps, that quickly died out in dismay.

When the film ended, there was an air of "that's it?" filling the auditorium. People shuffled out heads hung low, no one's mind blown- no one's faith restored, no one's excitement level beyond the excitement they had to tell their friends they saw Spiderman 3 way early.

I love Sam Raimi, I really do. I wanted to love this film, I really did. But I cannot deny how many wrong decisions this team made from a technical perspective, a story perspective, and a creative perspective in how they tried to illustrate this story arc.

I hope that people see through the fanfare- and can be honest with themselves as comic fans and as Spidey fans- that while Peter may have forgiven Ben's murderer for what he did...we should NOT forgive what these filmmakers have done to these wonderful characters.

-Sincerely, Dojo"












review from variety

"The three main recurring characters get stuck in a rut and the same can be said of the film itself in "Spider-Man 3." After the significant improvement of the second installment over the first, new entry reps a roughly equivalent dip in quality and enjoyment, with Spidey now giving off the faint odor of running on fumes. This devaluation shouldn't hurt at the box office, at least at first, as the vast majority of the fans who turned the first two into $822 million and $784 million worldwide grossers, respectively, will cram multiplexes around the globe to see the first blockbuster of the summer.

A sense of strain envelops the proceedings this time around. One can feel the effort required to suit up one more time, come up with fresh variations on a winning formula and inject urgency into a format that basically needs to be repeated and, due to audience expectations, can't be toyed with or deepened very much.

Big problem with third Spideyis the script, the very same element that elevated the second yarn. Four years back, vet scenarist Alvin Sargent, with a story assist from Michael Chabon, enriched the premise from all angles -- emotion, humor and villainy. This time, the magic has eluded Sargent and the Raimi brothers, director Sam and co-writer Ivan, the result being a story that would have provenmore satisfactory for a late '60s cartoon-hero TV show than for a new-century blockbuster.

At the outset, everything is so hunky-dory that New York City looks like Pleasantville. Thanks to Spider-Man, crime is virtually non-existent, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is a burgeoning musical theater star, and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), still studying science at college, is dorkier than ever.

But evil begins to reassert itself on several fronts. As Peter and Mary Jane gaze at the stars from their spider-web hammock overlooking the city, a modest "War of the Worlds"-like meteor crashes nearby and emits a gooey black silk that slithers and slides of its own accord.

A hard-outside/soft-inside criminal (Thomas Haden Church), who turns out to have been responsible for the murder of Peter's beloved Uncle Ben, escapes from prison and, through a process that defies comprehension but is undeniably eye-catching, turns into a shape-changer named Sandman who can blow through the caverns of Manhattan or become a giant hulk with fearsome pummeling power.

And then there is Harry Osborn (James Franco), who, still blaming Spider-Man for the death of his father, decides to emulate the great green one by engineering a new designer Goblin outfit and flying board and taking to the skies to avenge his old man.

Peter acquires yet another adversary in the person of Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), an aggressive street photographer who vies with Peter to capture the revelatory shot that will reveal Spider-Man for who he really is, a coup that will land the winner a full-time job from editor J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) at the Daily Bugle. The rivalry turns into outright war when Eddie morphs into one more Marvel supervillain, the fanged Venom, whose skills eerily match those of Spidey.

Early going is enlivened by a couple high-wire action sequences, a Goblin attack and especially a vertigo-inducing scene in which an out-of-control construction crane demolishes part of a nearby skyscraper, sending platinum blonde Gwen (Bryce Dallas Howard), a classmate of Peter's, heading toward the pavement, only to be saved at the last second by guess who.

But the dramatic temperature is brought way down by Mary Jane, who's become a real drag. Fired, in a poor scene, from her Broadway play, she pathetically begs for attention, becomes petulant when Spidey plants a public kiss on Gwen after saving her, then seeks solace from Harry.

In all his dealings with her, Peter still acts like the prim, naive high school kid he was when first seen in the series five years ago, as if he hadn't learned anything through all his subsequent trials. Scripting of the many domestic scenes between Peter and women, specifically Mary Jane and Rosemary Harris' Aunt May, is very dull and unimaginative.

Script's one big idea is to have Peter/Spidey explore his "dark side," a gambit of tiresome psychological value but with the obvious side benefits of temporarily suspending his goody two-shoes personality and giving him a new, black costume. All the ploy really amounts to is an interlude in which Peter struts around Gotham with a trendy new haircut ogling women and humiliating Mary Jane with some aggressive nightclub antics.

Given the setup, Spider-Man in the end has to contend with multiple villains in a gigantic action climax that, unfortunately, is too reminiscent of the first film's Roosevelt Island episode thanks to the similar imperilment of Mary Jane. Still, Sandman is a strange and visually interesting baddie endowed by Church with a melancholy undercurrent.

Grace, who could plausibly have played Spider-Man himself, provides a spark with something extra as Spidey's first major adversary his own age.

Technically, pic is fully on a par with the previous entries, which means the visual effects will have fans wide-eyed throughout. "

They just be hatin', yo!

"Spider-Man 3" Web ticket sales top predecessor
1 hour, 4 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Moviegoers are buying online tickets to "Spider-Man 3" at a faster clip than they did for its blockbuster predecessor almost two weeks before that film hit theaters, top online ticket sellers said on Monday.

Movietickets.com reported that Spidey 3 tickets are selling at three times the rate of "Spider-Man 2" at the same time in the sales cycle and are "tracking to beat all expectations."

"Spider-Man 2" was the third-highest grossing film of 2004 and grossed about $784 million at the box office.

Fandango.com shows the new film is selling four times faster than did the previous movie in the franchise and accounted for 47 percent of all ticket sales early in the day on Monday.

The new film, produced and distributed by Sony Corp's Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment Inc., has sold out dozens of the thousand or so midnight showings scheduled for May 3, said Fandango spokesman Harry Medved.

"Spider-Man 3" debuts in theaters on May 4 with the original cast of Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco reprising their roles. The movie had its world premiere in Tokyo last week and is currently on a world tour that culminates with the global debut in early May.

The film kicks off a potentially lucrative summer season for Hollywood studios and movie theaters, with the third installments of the "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" series of movies also slated for May. The summer season often accounts for as much as 40 percent of annual ticket sales.

The first two "Spider-Man" movies together grossed roughly $1.6 billion at global box offices. The new film, which cost $250 million to $300 million according to news reports, could be director Sam Raimi's last about the web-crawling superhero -- a factor that may be driving early ticket sales, said Fandango columnist Richard Horgan.

"Raimi is a beloved director of this kind of material ... and people are really getting the sense that he is really going to top himself. He is going to go out with a bang," Horgan said.

Horgan cautioned that while online advance sales do not always track box office sales, he said the film could be "an absolute monster."
____________________________

I guess we'll see how front loaded this will be and then how its legs will hold up after Shrek the 3rd opens May 18 and PotC3 on May 25. It will be a huge 2 weeks for Spidey before any competition steps up! :eek:

Personally, I think Shrek is going to suffer being placed between Spidey and Pirates.

Yep. I think Shrek's business will be hurt the most. I can't imagine it passing part 2's $400+ million gross.

By the way, this story says Spidey 3's budget could be a whopping $350 million, which puts it #1 as the most expensive movie ever made. That doesn't count advertising costs. http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archi...rs_on_spid.php

These reviews be full of spoilers yo. Maybe a little hint in the thread title or at least some use of the black bars.

That said, seems like this movie is going to be the thrill ride I want. FWIW, we got two other movies of character development, so in the third one they can just let the action take center stage.
Also, I think it is obvious to anyone who has been following the series and Raimi that Venom was shoehorned in to please certain fanbases. I didn't really want him, but since he's there....!

Review: "Spider-Man 3"
By Garth Franklin
http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/spiderman3.php


With great money comes great accountability, not to mention a greater need to please everyone. Unfortunately this approach ultimately undermines the third "Spider-Man" film from reaching the heights achieved by the first two. Make no mistake though, "Spider-Man 3" is still a solid Summer movie with some glorious set pieces, even if its bones are beginning to creak.

In spite of its inherent clumsiness and disappointing villain, the first "Spider-Man" remains a great crowd-pleaser with an excellent origin story and more life and energy to it than pretty much any comic book movie made before or since. The second in 2004 pulled off the rare feat of being a better constructed film in every way - a far better realized villain, richer characters, better action, etc.

Yet much of the energy that was a hallmark of the first film was missing, replaced by repetitive scenes of tedious teen angst about a superhero struggling to balance life, love and work. It may have been more accurate to the character in the comics, but all the self-pitying frequently made the film's first two acts stall both our interest and patience, before everything righted itself again for a rousing finale.

Now comes the third film which is as technically impressive as ever, but suffers from being simultaneously pulled in too many different directions. Even being an extra 15 minutes or so longer than its predecessor, the film still has to juggle three villains (Sandman, Harry Osborn, Venom) along with subplots about the rocky roads of new love, a "Superman 3" style 'dark personality' subplot, the ongoing Harry-Mary Jane-Peter love-hate triangle, not to mention giving time to a half dozen other characters both new and old.

In "Spider-Man 3", Peter and Mary Jane are in love and he is on the verge of asking her to marry him. His lack of comfort about being Spider-Man in the last film has given way to a mildly cocky arrogance which he enjoys indulging in. She on the other hand is undergoing great difficulty as her Broadway debut is trashed by the critics and cut short, forcing her to be plagued by self-doubt. Peter's expanding ego isn't exactly helping her feel better either.

Other factors come into play - Harry Osborn, armed with a variation of the Green Goblin armor, is still out for revenge over his father's death. Flint Marko, an escaped convict with a connection to the death of Peter's Uncle Ben, becomes caught in a scientific experiment and turns into a shape-shifting sand creature. Eddie Brock, a cocky young reporter with no scruples, sets out to take Peter's job at the Bugle. Finally, a mysterious symbiotic black substance from a fallen meteorite clings to the Spider-Man suit and causes Peter's self-confidence to rise to new levels of arrogance.

Throw in both blond classmate Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) and a charming amnesiac Harry to serve as romantic foils for the couple, the alien goo becoming the villain Venom in the last half-hour (disappointingly realized too), numerous action set pieces, and scenes for regular characters like Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson, and you can see why that even at 140 minutes, there's simply not enough time to cover all the bases comfortably.

Surprisingly the film does manage to wrap things up by the end, so much so that it feels like an 'unofficial end' to the series in some ways with no cliff hanging stories left to resolve. Yet how most of these are resolved is done in some rushed and often unsatisfactory ways and that's where "Spider-Man 3" falls apart. The elements are there for some great drama, but they're never developed enough to become involving, and often awkwardly mix rather than cohesively gel.

The hook this time is not only multiple villains, but a darker story for our hero - Maguire who once again comfortably inhabits the character. Unfortunately he also displays a surprising lack of growth in the role, playing him with little difference than the way he he did in the first film - this is despite the events of the first two films and his general experience as an actor. An awkward and naive school kid is believable, the same for someone pushing their mid-late twenties - ehh, not so much.

It's more noticeable considering that Dunst, and more notably Franco, show distinct improvement in the way they handle their roles - in fact their scenes together ring with more genuine appeal than any of the tedious domestic squabbles that Maguire and Dunst's scenes together devolve into. Neither are particularly strong actors, Dunst playing Mary Jane as somewhat petulant whilst Franco's "I'm an evil guy now" scenes seem more fitting for soap opera than block buster territory.

Yet both work their personal stories better than Maguire. He is given the overused subplot of exploring his bad side (the red kryptonite in this case is the black suit). By a bad side though it means several scenes of rather cringe-inducing dancing on the street or in jazz clubs, a shorter temper and a 90's alternate rock hairstyle (seems that bangs mean bad-ass).

The rest of the cast do surprisingly well, but struggle with limited screen time. Even with the weakest writing yet for the character, J.K. Simmons as the Bugle's loud-mouthed editor J. Jonah Jameson remains a highlight. Same goes for Bruce Campbell, this time armed with an atrociously fun French accent, as a maitre'd who gets the best comedic moment in the whole film. James Cromwell is so barely in it he's not worth mentioning, same for the great Dylan Baker even though he gets the most screen time yet as Dr. Conners.

Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy serves as a fun new female role and imbues her character with a fresh optimism and a welcome charm. Not faring so well is Thomas Haden Church, not so much his fault as the writers. A little bit of retroactive continuity is pulled off to get Peter emotionally invested in stopping The Sandman, but it feels like a cheat - and isn't helped by the fact that Marko is portrayed as little more than an unlucky thug who regrets his actions but doesn't feel the need to apologize for them.

Their attempt to give him dimension is shown in only two scenes - an early visit to the wife and child he left behind, and the ubiquitous emotional plea for understanding in the climax. Beyond that he spends his time mostly as a shape-shifting CG sand creature who serves only as a bland foil in some well-shot but repetitive action scenes. Kudos though to the effects people as his haunting 'rebirth' scene as a monster is the film's strongest visual effect both technically and emotionally.

Topher Grace is, well Topher Grace. He does surprisingly well as the arrogant Eddie Brock, pulling off that bravado and lack of morals that comes with self-confident youth. His turn as Venom however isn't so effective. Fans dying to see the mega-mouthed alien creature only get a few glimpses of his full guise, more often though it's Grace's face grinning madly shoved on top of a tentacled CG black mass. Venom's initial birthing scene in the church is a well handled effect, as is its earlier 'slinky from hell' black goo form which is surprisingly creepy.

The action is pretty spectacular. At some times, most notably the big fight scenes, the action becomes too frantic with the frames shot way too close-up which makes things a little confusing. Yet the sequences are staged well, notably the early Peter vs. Harry fight along with the film's most effective scene - a vertigo-inducing sequence with Gwen in peril when a construction crane goes haywire. Less successful is the later scenes with forced crowd reactions and somewhat murky action mixed with some seemingly rushed CG effects.

The big finale at a construction site is let down by a truly annoying British female reporter character giving the blow-by-blow description of the action happening. It's one of several very odd choices by Raimi and co. to obviously help explain or brush over the numerous plot holes on offer. Harry's never-before-seen butler pops up at just the right moment to serve as Basil Exposition with crucial back story information (why he kept the information to himself all this time is never explained). The Venom-Sandman alliance is born not through a genuine need but purely to have them fighting together in a scene.

Scenes like this are too numerous to mention but all tie back to the script. Time and obvious passion was invested into the first two films, care taken just as much in their pre-construction as there was in its actual production. That's just not the case here. Those involved are still at the top of their game, but there's a notable lethargy and lack of real purpose to it all, more of a need to incorporate story elements (like Venom whom Raimi is quite obviously not a fan of) in order to both appeal to a wider audience and sell more toys. It's a dangerous path to tread, one that nearly killed the Batman film franchise back in the 90's and deliberately killed the "X-Men" films last year, and whilst Spider-Man hasn't gone down that path yet - it is certainly leading in that direction here.

"Spider-Man 3" may not reach the heights of the first two films, let alone the transcendent macabre aria of "Batman Begins" or the near perfectly-balanced symphony of "X-Men 2," but in spite of it being the closest thing this franchise has had to a mediocre entry - it's still good enough to show up how laughably bad the likes of "Ghost Rider" and "300" are, and more on target than some other misfires of late (I'm looking at you X-Men & Superman). Raimi and gang have gone out colorfully, but it's now time to give the webslinger a rest before coming back fighting sometime next decade.

This is my favorite/the most promising review I've seen so far. I never thought I would say this, but I actually do now believe I'm going to like it more than I liked 2...

http://www.scifimoviepage.com/spiderman3.html

How does Christopher Young's score compare to Danny Elfman's?

I really couldn't tell that it wasn't Danny Elfman since his themes are used so much in the movie.

Anyway I enjoyed it very much. I didn't feel the 3rd act was as rushed as others have stated, but I was dissapointed in the lack of development for Venom. Topher was the wrong choice for Eddie Brock IMO, he just came off as a weasle. I understand why they threw him into the movie but I think they totally wasted the character. They should have just used him in the next movie or not at all. I still enjoyed the movie...not as good as 1 or 2, but not even close to being a bad flick.

"Topher Grace is, well Topher Grace. He does surprisingly well as the arrogant Eddie Brock, pulling off that bravado and lack of morals that comes with self-confident youth. His turn as Venom however isn't so effective. Fans dying to see the mega-mouthed alien creature only get a few glimpses of his full guise, more often though it's Grace's face grinning madly shoved on top of a tentacled CG black mass. Venom's initial birthing scene in the church is a well handled effect, as is its earlier 'slinky from hell' black goo form which is surprisingly creepy."

A few of my pet peeves (some are spoiler intensive):

This bugged me too, but then I guess I don't really know what Venom is supposed to sound like. I did see that animated DVD that came out a few years back but don't remember what that version did.

86% thus far with 14 reviewers weighing in:Tomatoes...

I always figured Venom sounded like Eddie Brock, but a little more theatrical.

Looks like they cut out a lot of character development. Director's Cut DVD!!!

DarkHorizons asked director Sam Raimi about the Spider sense in a recent interview.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/spider31.php

Ooh! I was hoping we'd see her again.

Kind of like when Sylar uses the voice.

I didn't think the manager was cute.

(However his daughter on the other hand...)

Holy crap! Howard Stern saw a screening of it yesterday and was raving about it for about half an hour today. Says everything about it was perfect and he can't wait to see it again. He gave it 7 stars out of 4. Said it was one of the best movies he's ever seen.

rotfl that voice is so g'damn awful.

This is good news for comic book geeks because Howard's a big one.

Well, Roeper didn't like it. And he liked the first one and thought the sequel was probably the best comic book turned film of all time.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/...spider.article

'Spider-Man 3' sets records
Film debuts overseas, rakes in dough
By IAN MOHR

"Spider-Man 3" set records Tuesday in every one of the eight Asian territories in which it bowed.

Sony estimated that the pic hit ¥415 million ($3.47 million) in Japan in one day, beating "Spider-Man 2's" $3.43 million. The first "Spider" took in $2.9 million in its first day in Japan in 2004.

In Korea, latest pic also beat out one-day marks for its predecessors, taking in 3.2 billion won ($3.46 million), Sony honcho Jeff Blake said.

In Hong Kong, "Spidey 3" was the biggest opening day of all time, with $HK7.5 million ($958,984), besting previous record holder "Kung Fu Hustle."

Pic was also the biggest ever opening day of any film in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. In Taiwan, it marked the biggest weekday opening ever.

Euro markets should report their tallies by tomorrow.

Blake said the pic is exceeding expectations in all its Asian action by beating the first two in the series.

Wow, it's currently at 71% on RT. I know they have about 150 more reviews to go. But as of now, 32 Fresh, 13 Rotten. Won't stop me from seeing it. I'm just surprised. Could be the one (so far) with the largest number of bad reviews.

Means little to none. It's like saying Episode I was going to be great because Harry Knowles liked it and you know, he's a huge nerd so he should know.

I enjoyed Spider-man 3, but just saying, decide for yourself and not because some other nerd may have liked it.

Loved it. Definitely my favorite of the 3 (C- for 1, B+ for 2, and A- for 3). The action is fantastic, for the first time I truly felt the Peter Parker story line worked well and integrated into the movie as a whole, acting all around was great (loved seeing so many characters return). As mentioned, the action is much more in your face this time around, which works very well with the darker storyline. Gwen wasn't as tacked on as I thought she would be, Venom delivers (Topher works well as Brock), and Church is fantastic.

To me it was by far the most satisfying film both emotionally and viscerally. It also had the best humor.

Some minor complaints


Look forward to seeing it again on Imax. Very entertaining film that doesn't feel overstuffed at all - quite the accomplishment considering how many characters are effectively integrated into the story.

Just a very satisfying movie and close to perfect summer blockbuster fare.

yeah i was surprised I thought for sure it would thumbs up

he quoted on rottentomatos.com
"
It’s as if director Sam Raimi felt he had to give us more of everything, and in the process lost sight of what made the first two films so enjoyable."


From what i seen in previews I think Venom looks disappointing.