Terrific trilogy - the objection

 Well, here I am again returning from another unexpected hiatus.  When life hits, sadly it takes me away from my blog life.  But perhaps you saw my blog content from last time about the Spider-Man trilogy and you had this objection: “Wasn’t the legacy of that trilogy tarnished because Spider-Man 3 wasn’t very good?”  This is a common objection.  Many do not regard Spider-Man 3 very favorably.  But this film is vastly underrated.

On the one hand, I would certainly agree that this third movie is far from perfect.  I could go into my list of details that still bother me about this movie to this day.  But even with all its flaws, Spider-Man 3 is not the disaster that some believe it to be.  Let me just dive in.

There was an important development that altered the course of this film.  I’m referring to studio interference.  A producer told Director Sam Raimi to incorporate Venom into the film.  Venom is an intriguing villain, but the problem was Raimi didn’t know much about the character, and he didn’t particularly want to include him in the film.  But it really wasn’t a suggestion.  By the way, you can check out this information from this source: 

“Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 – the almost perfect finale” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkRRMOcmgoc

I can emphasize for Sam Raimi.  I know if someone were to ask me to write about something I didn’t really want to write about, it would be difficult for me.  Yet somehow, Sam Raimi made it work.  Whatever you may think about Topher Grace and his Venom, the whole story line was what Raimi was forced to do.  I’m in agreement with the assessment made of Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3 from the just-cited source when he states:

“I genuinely love everything about Eddie in this movie.  I love Topher Grace and how he plays him.  And I especially love the way Sam [Raimi] envisions that character.  Eddie represents a Peter without morals…He’ll do anything to get what he wants…the entitled brat with absolutely no sympathy and absolutely no understanding of people.”  He goes on to say, “Raimi was pushed to do Venom, so he did the Sam Raimi version of Venom…He turned Eddie Brock into the sleaze ball reflection of Peter.  And used Eddie to showcase what Peter could become if he gave into these emotions he is tempted by throughout the film.”

Let me briefly address the elephant in the room: it’s difficult to watch Spider-Man, the consummate superhero, choose to go down the wrong road in Spider-Man 3.  The symbiotic alien entity that bonds with Peter makes him angry, egotistical, and violent.  He does things that make us cringe and gasp.  And this descent makes us uncomfortable.  In part, I think it’s because we know that if Peter can succumb to his dark impulses, anyone of us can.  And yes, this certainly includes me.  Without God’s grace in my life, I shudder to think about where I could be today.

I want to devote an entire blog to the climatic finale of Spider-Man 3 in my next blog (hopefully not in November this time).  But I need to say one more thing.  After Peter finally sees what he has become, he is able to free himself from the alien suit.  However, he doesn’t seem to know how to proceed.  He is weighed down by his guilt and shame; that is, until his Aunt May gives him wise advise.  “You start by doing the hardest thing,” she states, “you forgive yourself.”  What follows is example after example of pure forgiveness on display.  It’s unlikely that we will ever see a superhero movie again that clearly shows the beauty of forgiveness.  That’s why I will always love Spider-Man 3.

To be continued!

Kevin