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Critics underwhelmed by "Spider-Man 3"
2007-05-04
Sony Pictures spent more than $250 million making "Spider-Man 3," but all it got was a loud yawn from some major critics on its opening day. The superhero saga, which debuted across North America on Friday, is on track to become one of the biggest box offices successes of all time. But tell that to the Washington Post or New York Times. "Plain awful," said the Post. "Plods along," said the Times. "Pure camp," said Richard Roeper at the Chicago Sun-Times. To be fair, a majority of critics did like the movie, According to Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com), a Web site that aggregates reviews, about 62 percent gave it the thumbs up. But the first two films in the series earned almost unanimous praise. And the favorable critics were sometimes begrudging or proudly contrarian. Newsweek said the "ambitious mishmash" was the "nuttiest" in the series. Rival newsmagazine Time liked it for reasons that might disgust the young male moviegoers that studios crave, noting, "It sets a world's record for so-called tough guys shedding tears." The Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE).-owned studio need not worry too much. The critics couldn't unleash enough venom on such recent releases as "Norbit," "Wild Hogs" and "Ghost Rider." But moviegoers ignored them, and those movies all managed to top the charts with big numbers. "Spider-Man 3" has a good shot at being the biggest- grossing film of all time. Industry observers believe it could break the three-day opening record of $135.6 million set exactly a year ago by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." At the very least, Sony just hopes to beat the $114.8 million start for "Spider-Man" in 2002. The second one opened on a Wednesday, which makes direct comparisons difficult. "Spider-Man" grossed $403 million in North America, about $30 million more than the 2004 sequel. The second film cost about $200 million to make, nearly double that of the first. Sony says the new one cost $258 million, although the Hollywood gossip machine places the figure about $100 million higher given that the film finished months behind schedule. As with its predecessors, "Spider-Man 3" stars Tobey Maguire as both the titular crimefighter and as earnest newshound Peter Parker, and Kirsten Dunst as his disenchanted girlfriend, Mary Jane. Sam Raimi directs. Spider-Man gets to explore his dark side, thanks to some extraterrestrial black goo that infects his personality, and to combat three villains, played by series veteran James Franco and newcomers Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace. His nerdy alter ego must also fight to keep Mary Jane. This was all too much for some scribes. The New York Post said the 140-minute film was "overly long and complicated," while Entertainment Weekly said it was sometimes a "dispirited spawl." And these were friendly reviews.
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