Spider-Man 3: Why the Backlash?

In a rare feat for Geneva, Spider-Man 3 actually opened here before the states, so of course I went to see it on Tuesday night. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, though it may be weaker than the second installment and is certainly no Batman Begins. I was interested, though, in what the public and critical reaction would be since I can rarely tell with this type of thing—the second movie is pretty campy at points after all, and everyone ate it up.

After reading a few reviews today and an online chat or two, it seems that people are really hating on this movie. I don’t really understand why. First of all, yeah, there are some pretty contrived plot points, but the movie is based on a comic book. A comic book whose main conceit is that a guy got bitten by a radioactive spider which gave him superpowers. So who cares if an asteroid conveniently crashes right next to him in this one? Or if the Sandman randomly stumbles into a particle accelerator experiment at night? Secondly, to the people who complain about the “dance sequences,” I would ask how better to convey the myriad of emotions they represent without making Peter an even more unsympathetic character. I could totally see that stuff appearing in a comic book. Peter’s a nerd, after all, so it’s not all that surprising that this would be his way of showing off or letting loose. I could go on.

But whatever.

Here’s a list of genre films I’ve seen that Spider-Man 3 is much better than:

• X-Men 3: United (or whatever the heck its lame subtitle was)
• Fantastic Four
• Batman & Robin
• Batman Forever (a movie I also actually somewhat like)
• Daredevil
• Spawn
• Blade
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time
• 300
• Hulk
• Superman Returns (which wasn’t bad, just unremarkable)
• Ghost Rider (okay, I lied; I haven’t seen this one, but there is no way it could possibly be better)

aaannddd, though not based on comic books,
• Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III


P.S. On an unrelated note, Monster Squad is apparently being released on DVD. For years I have been the only one who remembers this crappy (I assume, though I thought it was awesome at the time) 80s flick about neighborhood kids who gang up a la Goonies to fight just about every archetypal monster possible. Put it in your Netflix que this summer for a bizarre nostalga trip that, alas, will also not be as good as Spider-Man 3.

[UPDATE:]
I saw the movie again this weekend (continuing my unofficial streak of catching every Spidey flick twice in the theater) and I still think it holds up. Perhaps even better the second time around. I wonder if any other summer movies will have such deep messages about forgiveness versus revenge. Just saying...