I saw Spider-Man 3 aka Kingdom of Heaven Theatrical Cut-syndrome

[The Fake Shemp]

So I saw Spider-Man 3 and the verdict is?

It's entertaining.

I probably rank it lower than the original and it definitely falls far from the sequel, but it's definitely entertaining and there are some original moments of Raimi inspiration that rank in the all-time awesome meter of awesomeness.  Peter getting it on with his bad Disco Stu self was a stroke of genius.  The fight that Harry and Peter have in the mansion is pretty awesome and one of my favorite moments of the Raimi trilogy.

Thomas Hayden Church and Topher Grace came ready to play, and both shine in the way-to-small screen time as Flint Marko and Eddie Brock.  I feel especially bad for Thomas Hayden Church, who outdoes every other actor in any scene he is in and is criminally underused.

That brings me to my next point.

There's a chunk of this film missing.

And I'm not saying that because I want to excuse the most poorly edited Spidey aventure yet, but because I know there's a ton of footage missing.  There's leaps in the film that are so unlike Raimi that I am sure there is missing footage.  There is tons of scenes from the trailers and spots that aren't even in the movie.  Usually, there might be on or two tops, but I can name maybe five scenes off the top of my head that aren't even in the theatrical cut!  There are well documented cameos that I remember hearing about (where is Chris Tucker?) from pre-production that aren't in the theatrical cut.

This not only smells of Arad and Sony forcing characters into this universe, but smells of something worse - studio forcing Raimi to cut out a ridiculous amount of footage to shorten the already lengthy running time in hopes of breaking box office gold.  And I think the short and thick of it is that American audiences are tired of the near three hour epic, despite the fact that the additional footage would help this film tremendously.

I think we'll sit back and review this film about a year or two from now once a SPIDER-MAN 3.1 DVD or something is released in a completely different light.  I enjoyed what I saw.  It was worth seeing on the big screen.  But there's a good film buried somewhere in there and I think we'll probably see it sooner than later.

[Scurvy Stan]

That was a lot of stuff to cram into one movie. They should have trimmed it before they even started shooting. They should have just left the whole brock/venom crap out. I blame internet fanboys for this.

[TVC15]

Oh god, Willco. 

[The Fake Shemp]

That was a lot of stuff to cram into one movie. They should have trimmed it before they even started shooting. They should have just left the whole brock/venom crap out. I blame internet fanboys for this.

I blame Avi Arad for the inclusion of Venom, but I'm telling you - there's a lot of Eddie Brock stuff cut out.  I just got off SHH! boards and they cut out a ton of stuff with Sandman and his family, including his little girl at the finale (hello - this would've made sense, Sony!).  And Brock with Gwen Stacy.  And Brock/Peter interaction.

This stuff would've benefited the movie immensely.  As is, we're left with a sub-par Spidey outing 'till the inevitable Spider-Man 3.1 DVD.

[Fresh Prince]

Blame it on the studio of course- this ins't some Indie flick. If Raimi wanted he could of cut Sandman and focused more on Venom like the studio (and a lot of people) wanted instead of having a bet each way.

[The Fake Shemp]

Uh, not really.  Raimi is a big director, but it was either jump ship or kind of do want the studio wanted.  And I'm not even talking about inclusion of Venom.

I'm talking about the severe cutting of this film.  There's so much crap missing.  Where did it go?  To the bank, that's where it is, so Sony could increase the amount of people in and out by reducing the running time.

[Scurvy Stan]

I would have liked to see more sandman stuff, that did seem really lacking. You don't need to have high profile villians to make a movie work well (ie: batman begins) imo.

[Fresh Prince]

Meh. Still could've been better with one less villain. It still doesn't explain the cheese though.

[drozmight]

Sam Raimi's best was and still is The Quick and the Dead.

[TVC15]

Sam Raimi's best was and still is The Quick and the Dead.

Evil Dead 2 is still absolutely untouchable.  He was still outside the system and totally hungry. . .and it shows.

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, I agree with TVC 15.  Although, I think A Simple Plan was pretty inspired.  I really dig his Spider-Man work, but I can't even really argue that Spider-Man 3 is worth much more than a matinée ticket.  If I don't see a legitimate director's cut on DVD, I will probably not purchase it either.

[Solo]

What would you give it out of 10, Feder? I want to compare it to my 6.5.

Also, I totally love that you, I, and Cheebs are in agreement over the greatness of disco Stu. Scene of the year, without a doubt. I also felt that the Harry/Pete mansion fight was easily the best in the film. That was another of my beefs: there were more action scenes in this film than in the first 2 combined, yet non were half as memorable as either the bridge scene in 1 or especially the train scene in 2.

[Cheebs]

Spidey 3 is not nearly as good a super hero film as 1 or 2. But Raimi's style and the fun he had in the movie was impossible not to smile at and just eat it in.

The actors got into the sense of fun as well. James Franco "distinguished mentally-challenged" character was so over the top, but it was a blast.

[MrAngryFace]

They shouldnt have even called him venom, they shoulda called him, space alien thug. He has nothing of Venom's personality. This movie is crap, and exceeded by the middling X3.

[Cheebs]

They shouldnt have even called him venom, they shoulda called him, space alien thug. He has nothing of Venom's personality. This movie is crap, and exceeded by the middling X3.

the word venom was never in the film

[MrAngryFace]

but he's sold as venom, im not going to let them go on a technicality.

[The Fake Shemp]

What would you give it out of 10, Feder? I want to compare it to my 6.5.

Probably a 7.  Maybe a 6.5, but I don't think it's that bad.

Also, I totally love that you, I, and Cheebs are in agreement over the greatness of disco Stu. Scene of the year, without a doubt.

Totally saved the film for me.  Dark Peter was Raimi having fun and I wish there was more of it.  Also, James Franco being a jerk was great too.

[Error Macro]

Sam Raimi's best was and still is The Quick and the Dead.

Joking, right?  Right? 

[Cyanista]

Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness remain Raimi's best outings, despite how much I love Spider Man.  I really sort of wish someone else had directed this trilogy.

[Solo]

What would you give it out of 10, Feder? I want to compare it to my 6.5.

Probably a 7.  Maybe a 6.5, but I don't think it's that bad.

Also, I totally love that you, I, and Cheebs are in agreement over the greatness of disco Stu. Scene of the year, without a doubt.

Totally saved the film for me.  Dark Peter was Raimi having fun and I wish there was more of it.  Also, James Franco being a jerk was great too.

Yeah, seems like the only time Raimi was having fun during the whole film. Also, word on James Franco, which is another thing you and me and Cheebs agree on. Franco gave the best performance of 3. Maguire was on fire as emo Pete, but that was far too short of a sequence.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I dug it.
I dug the Saturday Night Fever stuff, the enthusiatic Topher Grace parts, the always great Daily Bugele parts, James Franco's Jeckyl and Hyde stuff, the outstanding Bruce Campbell cameo (I would totally buy into a Bruce starring Inspector Clousou movie), and some pretty decent superhero mash-ups.

Is it great, naw.  Its still better then the majority of the recent spate of Superhero flicks, and I didn't feel let down, despite not liking it as much as the previous films.  And considering we've got a third overlong Pirates film, a possibly PG-13 Die Hard, Rush Hour 3, Fantastic Four 2, and assorted other shitty movies, Spider-Man 3 might be the best blockbuster flick to play this summer by default.

at least until The Bourne Ultimatum comes out.

There are well documented cameos that I remember hearing about (where is Chris Tucker?) from pre-production that aren't in the theatrical cut.

if his part consists of him getting eviserated by Venom, then then S-M3 goes up a whole letter grade.

[ToxicAdam]

You're freaking high if you think the average movie goer would sit through 3+ hours of Spiderman. What, so Sam Raimi can keep hammering home the same plot points in scene after scene (ala SM2?). Or maybe shoehorn in more clever stunt casting to wow the nerds? He probably would have just added a 4rth villain (Hey, Gwen Stacey is the Black Widow!) if that were the case.

Look, the scope of his movie was too much. It's not the studio's fault he chose a script this ambitious.

[BobbyRobby]

I love the scene where harry and mj are making an omelet and start doing the twist

[Cheebs]

I love the scene where harry and mj are making an omelet and start doing the twist

all the dance numbers are good

[BobbyRobby]

I don't understand why they wouldn't use the astronaut they introduced in the previous film as a plot device to bring the suit in from space, rather than just have the thing randomly fall from the sky. That was my first gripe with the movie when I still had hope it would be good, but soon after I just realized the entire movie was ridiculous and tried to enjoy it for what it was.

Franco was on fire.  My only problem with the second movie was him moping around pissed off, so it was nice to see him in good spirits.  Topher was funny, and the cocky Peter sequence was awesome.

Edit: Here's the best scene in the movie if you don't plan on seeing it. http://youtube.com/watch?v=60eS23UgpbU