More often than not sequels are made for making money by cashing in on the success of a hit
movie. I am glad to see that the Spiderman series is an exception and the director and writers have taken care to not only establish S-3 as a full-fledged independent movie but also to weave it as a part of the ongoing series. Maintaining a balance between the two is a tough job and I must commend the S-3 team on a very successful execution of this project.
The movie starts
with a recap of previous two movies with stills from them shown during titles. Throughout the movie also that continuity has been maintained. Just as part of real life, events happen, things go forward and yet there is a reference to the past. A lot of events have not been crammed into one movie and as a result
enough time and effort has been spent on all of the events, making each of them
worth viewing.
The movie moves
at a nice comfortable speed, never having a slack period and never rushing off
too fast to understand or enjoy.
The best, by far
the best, part of the movie is its characterization. Each and every character from the main leads Peter Parker and Mary Jane to the butler employed by Harry
Osborn, has been cast perfectly and I, at least, have no complaints from any of them as regards acting. Every person has done their job very well and it is not only a tribute to the actor but also the director and casting director that 1)they selected the right person for a role 2) the character has been portrayed
in sufficient detail to bring out their inner conflict or their role as a real-life person.
It is this characterization which has elevated Spiderman series above the level of a
comic/animation and made it a full-fledged feature film with some fantasy elements involved. It is the human elements in the story that always lead the
movie, Peter’s pride, his vanity, MJ’s troubles, her career, her love and jealousy, Harry’s evil, friendly, positive, negative personality, these things come out and create events for us to watch. You don’t find sequence after
mindless sequence of action just to please the kids. Oh, there are a number of action sequences in the movie, but they are all justified and have their own place in the screenplay. While kids will immensely enjoy this movie, Spiderman 3 is a movie that grown ups can also watch and enjoy.
Music. Oops! Sorry! English movies don’t have songs like our Bollywood movies. :-)
The stunts are an integral part of a fantasy movie like this and they are not only seamless
but thoroughly enjoyable because of their speed and some amazing cinematography.
A philosophy of life has been imbued in the play of the movie and the writers have carefully not only kept them an appropriate length but also taken care to insert them at just the right point in the story. “I guess one person can make a difference!” and “You always have a choice!” are examples of the kind of philosophical gems you would enjoy in the movie.
An element of
comedy also has been maintained throughout and I am glad to say that the director has not tried any cheap stunts to make people laugh. The comedy is usually either situation-based or character-based and always funny, at least once.
My favourite character in the whole movie has to be J. J. Simpsons, the NY publisher, owner of Daily Bugle. He is so true to life in his manner and personality that it’s hard to believe that he’s just an actor!
I am one of the bad people who don’t mind watching pirated DVDs or downloaded movies. But I usually do that for movies that I know I will never go to watch in a cinema hall. So, I can argue that I am not harming the industry as they will never see my 2 bits for that movie anyway. Having said that, I have no hesitation in N declaring that Spiderman 3 is one movie that I watched on the big screen, and should only be watched on the big screen. But having watched it once, I do plan to buy an original DVD for it once it comes out. Those stunts do deserve a real, original print!
To reiterate, don’t go to watch it as a fantasy/action movie, watch it as a real feature filmNand you will also learn something from it, same as I did.
Do please voteNand comment on the review. I would like to know what I did wrong. :-)