Critics
As I mentioned in my last post, I went to see Spider-Man 3 on its opening night at midnight. I came out of the theatre wowed by the spectacle I had just beheld. I'm a fan of comic-book movies, even though I never had the pleasure of reading the comic books themselves. My collection of such movies includes films like Hulk, Batman Begins, the X-Men trilogy, and Daredevil and Elektra among others. I tend to prefer Marvel over DC, but whatever… that's not all that important really.
Recently it seems the most recent installment of the Spidey series hasn't gone over too well with the critics. Here's a sampling of the “blurbs you'll never see on the SM3 DVD”:
Bloated and stupid, this movie is so bad you can't even review it.
…so dopey and forgettable and crafted out of second-rate cheese.
Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 makes just about every wrong move in the sequel playbook…
Hmm. That's not good at all. Seems the critics just didn't enjoy it as much as I did.
But you know what? Screw them.
When I go to the movies, my goal is to be entertained. That's it. That's my only expectation. Entertainment. Whether it involves spending nine dollars on a ticket stub and trying to avoid the snack counter like the plague, or pulling a DVD case off its shelf and popping in a disc from my own collection, movies exist solely for entertainment. I don't go into movies with some expectation of high-class work. I don't have a list of things the movie needs to do to be good. I expect them to have a plot that works semi-plausibly within my suspension of disbelief. That's about all there is to it for me.
So what I don't get is what the critics' problem is. I mean, I understand it's their job to watch hundreds of movies and comment on how well they were put together. But really… I think they've lost perspective. They get to watch hundreds of movies, and get paid for it. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me, ignoring the obvious fact that they have to watch lots of bad movies too.
If I come out of a movie entertained, then I count that movie as good. It may be better or worse than some other movies I've seen, but as long as I've been entertained, I'm happy with it. Sure, some movies have bad plots. Some have bad acting. Unfortunately, some have both. For some movies, the combination of thin plot, bad writing, and less-than-phenomenal acting spells death for the movie. We see this all the time — movies that never make it onto the big screen and end up on the discount racks at your local Blockbuster.
But you know what? If a movie manages to have a semi-decent plot, decent writing, and decent actors to deliver those lines, I'm satisfied. That's all I need — entertainment.
So what's wrong with critics? Did they just lose their sense of fun?
RUMandCOKE said,
May 9, 2007, 5:04 pm
I don't know what those critics were thinking. It is a great movie. It has drama, humor, action. What else do you need? I dont think it could have gotten any better. Especially the scene with the suit. Oh man I still get chills when I see that part. And Venom. Plus the movie is even better on the Imax. You can actually see the contacts in peoples eyes. Definitly worth going 2, 3, 4, 5, 13 more times.
Sam said,
May 10, 2007, 4:08 am
Orgasmic.
Plain and simple.
It made me tingle in all the fun ways.
But, when Tobey becamse all emo, I couldn't stop laughing. I kept telling Diem “OMG He's /sooooo/ EMO!”
Plus you have to like Topher as Brock. Now that was a great casting call.
Kate said,
May 10, 2007, 4:56 pm
I've not seen the movie myself, so this may be a moot point to bring up, but what I've heard from people who have is that the acting is horrible. I really wasn't impressed with Toby (or Tobey?) whats-his-face in the first two, and Kirsten Dunst, hmmm, not the greatest actress to ever work in Hollywood. I only leave this comment to suggest why some people may not have liked the movie… I'll let you know if and when I see it what my take is.
Tigerblade said,
May 10, 2007, 5:35 pm
It's true, the acting got a bit stiff at some points during the movie. The chemistry between Peter and MJ hasn't been terrific throughout the three movies (MJ and Harry had good chemistry much of the time, as did — oddly — Peter and the landlord's daughter Ursula), but c'mon people… it's a comic book movie.
And yes, Sami, Topher Grace was a fantastic pick for Brock. He's been wasting away on That Stupid 70's Show (I'm pretty sure that should have been the name of that show) so to see him in a real role was nice.
RUMandCOKE said,
May 10, 2007, 8:13 pm
The casting was great. Topher Grace plays an amazing Brock. I have to say, that was one of the other reasons i was excited to see the movie. Great actor playing Venom. I thought the whole dancing/emo was a good change from the drama. Its good to have a little comedy every once in a while. And we all knew, based on the comics, that Peter and MJ dont get together. He belongs with Gwen. So you get to see a real relationship there. The good times and the bad. Thats what made the chemistry between them interesting.
Tigerblade said,
May 10, 2007, 8:29 pm
Uh… dude… Peter and MJ do get together. Go do some reading on Wikipedia. Gwen may supposedly have been Peter's “first love” but MJ ends up being Peter's wife in the comics. I mean, it doesn't happen in this movie, but there's plenty more time for that to happen with three more movies on the way.
Speaking of, confirmed villains for Spidey 4 are The Lizard and… and… CARNAGE!!! Yeah, that's right. Carnage. Schwiggity-schweet.
RUMandCOKE said,
May 11, 2007, 2:57 pm
I guess they do get together. But what i was trying to say, is that he belongs with Gwen and not MJ. They are better together. She is his first “True Love.” I just think its better as Peter and Gwen, not Peter and MJ.
Kate said,
May 14, 2007, 8:27 am
Thanks for the spoiler warning. It was so nice of you to think of that for all of us who haven't seen the movie to warn us your posts give away some of the plot. Oh, wait. There was no warning. Thanks.
(Yes, I could easily know what happens if I read the comic books - I don't).
Tigerblade said,
May 14, 2007, 9:32 am
What spoiler? That Peter doesn't end up with Gwen, or that Peter is supposed to (in the comics at least) marry MJ? I didn't really say anything about what happens in the movies, so… I'm confused.
Or were you expecting MJ and Peter to get married in this one? My guess is that they're going to put that off as long as possible and milk the relationship for a few movies.