Mrs. RC and I took in a viewing last night and it's by no means a bad movie. When it's good which is about 75% of the time, it's pretty good. When it blows though, it blows pretty bad. Keep in mind that I love Raimi's almost campy sense of humor, so things like "dark" Peter Parker dancing down the street didn't bother me.
The effects are great, most notably the Sandman's birth which is perhaps the most emotional scene CGI has been able to render thus far.
The story is okay, though hard to swallow from a reality point unless you've read a lot of comic books. Parts of it play like a bad episode of Days of our Lives . . . from 1983. Amnesia, career fallout, doctored pictures, villain team-ups, and the "real killer" showing up. It's pretty juvenile, which of course would be fine if at other times it wasn't trying to be so serious.
I think there was a lot of studio pressure on this one. You feel the places where Raimi really wants to cut loose and then you see how maybe someone came in and said, "We should tone this down so nobody with a promotional tie-in gets pissed."
So, the good:
--Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy and the whole MJ/Gwen jealousy thing which was a staple of the Spidey comics I read when I was seven.
--Sandman, though he gets big, huge, and monstrous and was nothing like that in the comics, which doesn't bother me really, but it's a weird characterization for a villain you're trying to make sympathetic. You'll understand when you see it.
--Venom, who is handled ten times better than he ever was in the comics. Raimi's horror roots try to shine through here, though again, somebody at the head of Sony probably had to clamp down on it.
--"Dark" Peter Parker . . . This is where a lot of folks are going to disagree with me, but nerdy Peter Parker getting turned dark by the black alien goo and trying to be a darkly cool guy (but still kind of nerdy) is the best part of the movie. He struts down the street a'la John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, and does a goofy dance number with Gwen Stacy to make MJ jealous.
--There's a kick ass, low key fight between Harry and Peter that takes place in Harry's penthouse. No grand sweeping wide shots, and no CGI. Just a lot of combat and wire work that's the best fight of the film.
The Bad:
--The writing. It's too much for one movie. Things happen too fast and too slow and the pacing is just devilishly off. It's a big disappointment since the last movie was paced almost perfectly.
--The ending. Though are a few satisfying moments, it's also pretty weak with too many villians and plot threads to tie up in about twenty minutes time.
--Raimi's GOP sensibility. He gave money to Bush's '04 campaign I just found out, which makes Spidey's gratuitous stop in front of an American flag in the middle of a fight really unbearable to deal with to. There are a few other moments like this, but that's by far the worse one.
Overall there's a feeling of sloppiness form a story point of view, as if too many people we're putting in their two cents. That said, it's still a pretty fun movie.
