FACE-OFF: SPIDER-MAN 3 VS. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

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http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/fo-face-off-spider-man-3-vs-x-men-3

In last weeks Face Off, X-Men 2 scored a sweeping victory over Spider-
Man 2. People love their Wolverine, lets see how this weeks match up
pans out.

When you clicked on the link to this Face-Off you were probably
thinking to yourself, what the hell is Huffman thinking? And I answer,
this week in a last move to take advantage of Spidey week I've chosen
an approach to the Face-Off column never before attempted...taking two
films that were pretty much universally panned and letting you the
readers decide which film is the bigger heap of shit. I'm sure there
are redeeming qualities about both these movies, but tonight we don't
care about that. Let's get cracking.

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/fo-face-off-spider-man-2-vs-x-men-2

WTF #1

The main complaint against Spider-Man 3 first and foremost is its
overkill in the villain department, and the butchering of their
stories as a result. We all know how too many interweaving storylines
can make a film muddled and the proper development for all the
characters you're trying to juggle leaves a lot to be desired. The
third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 comes to mind. Leaving
a certain character that director Sam Raimi didn't want to have
anything to do with to begin with out of the fold would have given
more screen time to a more intriguing villain and that of the one they
had been developing for two movies. Although, something in the writing
fucked up Harry Osbourne this time around anyway. X-Men 3 I think
suffered the same problem as far as character development but part of
that situation was a bit more complicated. Two key characters were
killed off in this film, one was due to the actors availability and
one...well I don't know to this day how the f*ck they justify that
decision, but the inclusion of both of them would have added so much
more emotional weight to the story which is exactly what this film
needed. Even with those said characters gone there was so much talent
wasted due to the enormous cast. Alan Cumming didn't return as
Nightcrawler for this very reason.

WTF #2

Let's speak on Venom for a minute, the black sheep of the film. It's a
well known fact Raimi didn't wish to include the character at all in
the film and the casting of the character and the writing of the
character seemed like Sam's fuck you to the studio. I've seen some
people these days commending Topher Grace for doing what he could with
what he was given, and while I can agree with that...it doesn't change
the fact that the character didn't belong in the first place. Fangs?
Really? The symbiote just magically finds it's way right into Peter
Parker's path? Really? The second films climax teased us quite
brilliantly with the Dark Phoenix story. Did it deliver? I can't speak
for the rest of you, but in my opinion not quite. It seems for the
most part that this particular story focused more on the physical
prowess of the character rather than the emotional potential the story
could provide. Again, outside influence affected this but because of
that the story suffered. To be fair on this end, Famke Janssen did
bring her A game in terms of her performance and in the third act
there were some touching moments between her and Wolverine.

WTF #3

Peter Parker you emo, hair partin', John Travolta channeling son of a
bitch you. If you wanted to get all depressed it would have been way
more compelling to watch you go on a drug binge believe you me. We got
a 'Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head' sequence in the 2nd film to
foreshadow what we would be forced to deal with as Parker dealt with
his inner turmoil in this film. It started off well enough I guess
with the cliche one tear scene, but we all know what happened after
that. I shudder at the memory. I couldn't find any other WTF moments
that would match to the emo Parker I just discussed so for this
section I'll talk about what could have been with this third
installment. Bryan Singer ditched this project in favor of Superman
Returns (aka the boring POS) but worked on a treatment for a third
film that relied of course heavily on the Dark Phoenix story with the
inclusion of Gambit (reportedly casting Keanu Reeves) and the Hellfire
Club. Bottom line, among film lovers Brett Ratner isn't exactly known
for quality and I believe the quality of the film would have had some
hope if Singer would have finished what he started. NOTE; Matthew
Vaughn also believes he could have done an infinitely better job. I
tend to agree.

CRITICAL RESPONSE

Spider-Man 3 has a total rate of 63% with the majority of its negative
attention being focused on the muddled story and the lack of balance
that ensued. Fair argument, way too much was going on to make a
balanced story and the script was too much of a piece of shit to be
anywhere near a saving grace. You can have a packed cast and make your
story work, X2 proved that. I think Sam Raimi was backed into a corner
by the studio with this film and unconsciously the film suffered as a
result. Which is a shame. X-Men 3 garnered an overall approval rating
of 57%. What is fascinating is the 'two thumbs up' rating from Ebert &
Roeper praising its high abundance of action and excitement to make up
for its lack of emotional investment. To me, this was the final
installments weak point. Where X2 lacked in action, it made up for in
character development and exploration of its deeper themes which is
what I think could have saved this film from its negative backlash
from fans.
SPIDER-MAN 3

So there you have it, Spider-Man 3 was a nail in the coffin that came
out of nowhere in Sam Raimi's Spidey universe. I had hopes that the
fourth film that was being developed could have been a redemption of
sorts but alas it wasn't meant to be. But as this Face Off states
there was a whole lot of redemption to be had. Do you disagree? In
your eyes was X-Men: Last Stand the bigger abomination? Let us know.

If you have an idea that you'd like to see in a future FACE OFF
column, feel free to shoot an email to me at paulh...@joblo.com
with your ideas and some ideas for the critique to base your ideas
off. Thank you and in the meantime...