I love you, Sam Raimi, and I
love Spider-Man, but 3 was...
Well, I don't have to say it.
Here are my notes, if you care
to listen.
1. Too many characters. Either
this is a story about Pete and
Harry as the antagonist, or it's
about the black suit. The
Sandman should have been
cut or held for four. I realize
you needed him to enrage
Peter into jealousy, and thus
enhance the use of the suit
and also see what this does to
a man, but it was too
complicated. You could have
accomplished that with Harry.
The love triangle was great.
Use jealous. The revenge/we-
never-caught-the-killer stuff
was weak. The film ’s theme
was diluted because you used
the "kitchen sink" approach.
That never works. Rookie
mistake.
2. Mary Jane had an
interesting story line that was
neither explained or followed
through. Did Harry force her
to say she was in love with
someone else, or was she
actually falling back in love
with Harry? That kiss seemed
convincing to me. That said,
the ending wasn't as sweet as
it could have been because
this wasn't made clear. Of
course a girl would dance with
a guy who saved her life, but
what's she going to do after
that? Call up Harry's cousin
Rich Johnny when things get
rough? Come on MJ, we need
a little more clarification on
intentions.
3. The black suit came from
outerspace. So? What does
this have to do with anything?
I know. I know. You're going
to say that sometimes things
don ’t need to be explained. I
agree. But I thought, and tell
me if I'm wrong, that conflict
should come out of character.
If this is true, Peter should had
done something boastful (as
I'm assuming his tragic flaw
was pride) in the beginning,
i.e. when he's on the web with
MJ and they're stargazing, she
could say, "I'm thirsty" and he
could say, "Don't get up." He
could web some change into a
coke machine (nice product
placement) and then use a
treetop to pop the top, this
causes the switch to flip on a
lab experiment (use your
scene from sandman and
scrap that story line), which
makes the goo drop from
whatever experiment they're
doing. (Here ’s where you also
set up the bell stuff… it was
too easy that he went to the
church. Not explained, so
therefore not anticipated and
therefore no tension). That
way, his use of Spidey-powers
to showboat drink acquiring
would have caused the goo to
drop and hence, propelled us
into plot with meaning and
substance. Meanwhile MJ is
put off by his boasting. You
know how chicks hate macho
moments on dates. It blows
the romance. And here we go.
It ’s minute 6 and the story is
off and running.
4. The editor was a great
character. You started with
his heart attack problems, but
you don ’t pay this off, and
there was a perfect moment.
When Mean Peter shows up
with his feet on desk, you
could have had the editor pass
out. Would have been funny,
and arc-completing.
Otherwise, setup was never
paid off.
What do you think? I love you
Sam. I think Spider-Man 1 is
the best super hero movie of
all time. Excellent job!
