The dilemma of Sam

You thought he wouldn't. You prayed he wouldn't. But to no avail. He did. He did it again. I'm talking of a director who, in making the third in a trilogy of movies, lost the fundamentals ( experimented too much ? ) that gave his earlier films cult status. In 1979, he started off the iconic horror series EVIL DEAD before totally losing his way. Fast forward to 2007, and you can't help but wonder if it's the same thing with Sam Raimi's latest - Spiderman 3.

Here too, once more you find yourself wondering myriad questions - like what was the director aiming for, who to root for, who the real villian is, and most importantly, who's the real good guy ? I mean, the worst thing any of the villians do in this edition is morph a picture of Spiderman !! Oh ya, sure - they threaten to throw Mary Jane off a building - yawn. Which super villian hasn't ? I mean, you see the hotties Spidey's giving up for her ( esp when he turns cool in black ) and you wonder if Peter Parker ought not to be throwing her off the ledge himself. But then, that's a theme I've been asked by MARVEL COMICS not to share with in public in case they need to use it in Spidey 4.

But yes, Spidey does lose his way , both in the film and as a film. Too many subplots, too many loose ends, too much romance are some of the obvious culprits. Then again, who's to blame for that ?
I found the 3rd installment more a showcase on Peter Parker than Spiderman. If anything, the Spidey sequences and even the villians seem thrown in, just so that the graphics team have something to do. And that is the tragedy of the movie - because you took an awesome theme, you took the best of the remaining villians and then you chose to focus on Mary Jane ! The otherwise fearsome Venom here is reduced to a nameless thingy with 15 minutes of screen time... 15 minutes !! Heck, the butler got more time than that ! The battle between the two is all too short, and sadly, very abrupt. The evil Spidey angle, such an awesome concept, is also undone by a weak script as is the role of poor Sandman - which leaves me and many others with the most scary question - who's left for Spidey 4 ? That old geezer/ bank robber, the Vulture. Heaven forbid !!
I mean, you just used up all the best villians - they all know who Spiderman really is and anyway, most are dead. Where to from here, then ? I don't know, but I do know the answer to my own earlier question as to who to blame for the gaffes that marred this otherwise decent film.

Think about it - a 2 and a half hour long movie which has the hero dancing, 2-3 girls pining after him, many villians with physical deformities ( that's putting it lightly !!! ) , buddies turned foes, flashbacks, a villian jumping onto a blade to save the hero from getting stabbed, a prolonged death scene, a patriotic flag flying in the background... don't you see, Ladies and Gentlemen ? Some idiot gave Sam Raimi too many Bollywood DVDs to watch in these last 3 years. That's what influenced him so much. Damn you, Dhananjay Venkata Ramaswamy Cheriappa Kumaramangalam Aiyar, or whoever you really are. Leave the nice Hollywood man alone and let him make movies the way he used to.

Anyway, do I recommend this movie - Of course, I do. Maybe not so much for Spidey as for Peter Parker. To know how he's been since we last left him. Besides, there is some great comedy one liners typical of the nerdy Parker, some awesome action sequences, some cute romance, lots of tears, religion, family values, songs ... DAMN YOU AGAIN, Dhananjay Venkata Ramaswamy Cheriappa Kumaramangalam Aiyar !!! It's all your fault.

Themes for Spidey 4 - personally, I don't see how they'll better the graphics alone so my personal suggestion - work on teaming up, MARVEL. Get Spidey with Daredevil ( hey, even Ben Affleck needs a job.. he's a dad, guys ) or if budgets allow, the FANTASTIC FOUR ( opens up a whole new avenue of better villians ). Because I don't know if the audience will appreciate another Spidey solo..

Me, I have my own dark side to rip off as events initiated long back come to a close - await the next post for more revelations.