Spider-Man 3

Why is all the enthusiasm I had, for movies that I was once so excited about, leaving me? I gave up on X-Men 3 quite a while ago, but now I'm starting to have my doubts about Spider-Man 3 as well. It was looking so promising too. Sandman and Venom were all but confirmed, with the potential for a new and interesting take on latter villain, via the casting of Topher Grace, that I never felt was as strong as his popularity suggested. Plus, it was looking like Harry Osborn was going to assume the mantle of the Green Goblin. Did it seem kind of crowded? Yeah, but in a good way.

But recent news about the movie is getting me a bit distressed. Maybe it's just that I'm no fan of love triangles, but it seems a bit late in the game to be adding Gwen Stacy and her father, Captain Stacy. Adding Gwen Stacy now is just sending off major Superman III vibes for me. And then there's just the fact that I was never that big a fan of the character. She spent too much time complaining about Peter being a bad boyfriend and blaming Spider-Man for her father's death without actually doing something proactive like breaking up with Peter for never being around. It always seemed to me that the most interesting thing about her was that she died. But then, I'm not all that familiar with that era of the comic books (I'm planning on doing my homework though).

Mostly I just feel that this is crossing a line as far as cluttering up the story. I can understand having two main villains, because I never thought that Sandman or Venom were strong enough characters to be the sole villain of a movie. And having Harry become the Green Goblin is just a continuation of the subplot that ran through the last film as well. But Mary Jane and Harry Osborn should provide enough of a personal story for Peter. And the nature of the Venom storyline, with the symbiote costume, should do plenty to screw with Peter's personal life too. I could understand it if it was Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat, as she would present a temptation for Peter both romantically and as Spider-Man, as she's not exactly a good guy, but I fail to see what Gwen Stacy offers to the story other than being a secondary love interest. I'm curious if they plan on going with the Ultimate Spider-Man version of Gwen Stacy. I'm not a fan of Ultimate Spider-Man. I'm sure they are very good stories, but I already have a version of these characters that I quite like. I didn't feel the need for a new one (even if I have a problem with some of the stories). Also, as a long time fan of Spider-Man, I've kind of become attached to the supporting characters and villains as well, and many of them just don't resemble the original versions. There's more to a character than just the name. It always seemed to me that if you are going to completely change the character, you should change the name too. This is just a long way of saying that I'm not thrilled about seeing an Ultimate Gwen Stacy. The fact that I'm not impressed with the film version of Mary Jane doesn't give me much hope for the characterization of Gwen Stacy either.

It's amazing to me how two little characters can push me from being totally psyched about Spider-Man 3 to be kind of apprehensive. I was already concerned that the movie was going to be way too long, and now I'm afraid that too much of that time will be filled with romantic angst. I get enough of that from Smallville. And again, not a huge fan of love triangles. They so rarely work and often make characters that are supposed to be heroes too unsympathetic. Maybe if it was more of the light hearted love triangle that the comic books enjoyed, it could be fun, but seeing the first two movies I don't think that's going to happen. But I'm just going to have faith in Sam Raimi. Spider-Man 2 was amazing (no pun intended), so who knows what he'll be able to pull off this time around. The way he utilized his horror movie sensibilities in the last film makes me excited to see how scary he can make Venom. It could always be worse, too. Sam Raimi could have moved on to another project and Brett Rattner could have taken over directing duties and added a mutant hooker. And I have a lot more faith in Sam Raimi's ability to handle his ever expanding cast than I do in Brett Rattner's, because Raimi is talented. Plus, I look forward to any movie that has even a cameo by Bruce Campbell.