NOW SHOWING AT THE LAKE
If you have $5.50 (never pay full price for movies or appliances) budgeted for a movie at the Lake Theatre, I would spend it on Waitress rather than Spiderman 3. But I’m guessing most of you will go see Spiderman 3, so let me tell you about it.
Do you remember the first Jordan Bulls championship when Mike and the boys defeated the Lakers? That was good stuff because the whole experience was new and the outcome was uncertain, but eventually all those later championships, while satisfying, were never as good as the first one. But then one championship followed another, and it got just a little predictable. Sure, the Bulls might lose a game or two, but we all knew that eventually the Bulls would be world champions, and we would be celebrating in Grant Park in June.
Spiderman 3 is kind of like that. We know Spiderman (Toby McGuire) and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) will have their ups-and-downs, but in the end, Spidey will prevail. Oh, look there’s Spiderman swinging down the canyons of New York. Why, Spidey and Mary Jane are having difficulties in their relationship. Oh, no, there are some imposing villains that the Web Slinger will have to vanquish. You get the picture. Been there. Done that.
That’s not to say that the makers of this movie haven’t tried to change things up a bit in this one. There’s some black gooey stuff from outer space that turns Peter Parker into a bad guy-Anti-Spider Man. It is kind of fun to see Peter Parker morph into a slick playboy with a bad haircut. I couldn’t tell if I was supposed to believe the transformation was genuine,or to laugh at it. I laughed. The bad Peter Parker was mean to Mary Jane, and I can tell you I didn’t like that at all. I also didn’t like it when Mary Jane sang.
Now these Marvel Comics Superhero movies are similar, and I’ve seen them all (Yes, I saw Electra). They are only as good as the villains. Here we have three villains. The black gooey stuff gets on Peter Parker’s rival Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), and he turns into Venom who has fangs and a Pez-like head. Then there’s Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) who looks like the Hulk except he’s brown and granular instead of smooth and green. Finally there’s the Green Goblin’s kid, played by James Franco, who is just a bad actor.
I am sure you get my drift here. The Spiderman franchise is running out of gas. I get it that Spiderman is torn between being a superhero and Mary Jane’s boyfriend. People have to choose between career and love all the time. If you go the superhero path, there will be a lot of night work, danger and a need to protect your identity. If you go husband/father, then you will have to just not answer every cry of distress-or move to Metropolis or Gotham City. It is hard, Spidey. Just get on with your life, will you?
So if you liked Spiderman and Spiderman 2, you’ll probably like Spiderman 3. If, on the other hand, you think a skinny dude in a full-body leotard fighting a 100-foot guy made of sand is stupid, Spiderman 3 may not be your best bet.
Go see Waitress.
