Spider-Man 3 is Good (and always has been)

Spider-Man 3 is the best movie that Spider-Man ever made. Since it’s release in 2007, critics have spent countless hours analyzing every frame, every scene, every line of dialogue in search of its many subdue themes and messages. Like Garfield, Spiderman 3 is a film about layers. On the surface, it’s your typical thrill-a-minute blockbuster with cutting edge special effects. But upon further viewing, you start to understand this is merely a facade. A false attempt to placate a broader audience. In superhero movies, you can only tell two different stories, really. The origin story, or a story about heroes learning to work together as a team. Spider-Man 3 shatters expectations by not giving you the rise of Spider-Man, but rather the fall. Peter Parker becomes tangled, if you will, in a web of violence and deceit and ultimately becomes the villain. The movie starts with Pete. He sees his best friend James Franco, and he clotheslines him down an alley and kills him. Then we’re introduced to Sandman, who we learn is a great father, trying to save up enough money to pay for his daughter’s surgery. So, Spider-Man gets wind of this and kills him in a sewer. Then the city throws a parade for Spider-Man and he kisses some bimbo, right in front of his girlfriend. Then he meets this guy(Eddie Brock), who is actually his biggest fan. Up to this part, I kind of figured that “Maybe Spider-Man is just having a bad day.” We all know he’s a good guy at heart. But then, fucking stupid ass James Franco starts being alive again. So, Mary Jane dumps Spider-Man, for no good reason. And then, she says “she’s seeing another guy.” Spider-Man, in a state of such distraught and fragility, goes to the only guy he thought he could trust, James Franco, who goes: “I’m the other guy.” Fucking backstabbing piece of shit James Franco. Now, this scene is essential. Peter looks back into the cafe and that little bitch, winks at him and then boom. Like that, he’s gone. Now the question is, where the hell did he go? The truck takes like one second, to go in front of Peter and then he disappears. This is where I realized that James Franco is actually hiding under the table. Think about it. Naturally, Spider-Man slams James Franco into a wall and then chucks a fucking grenade at his head. Then we cut to Spider-Man being fed a plate of cookies, and he says: “You got any with nuts?” Ursula replies: “I have some nuts. I could make some.” To which Peter replies: “Go make me some.” “Go make me some cookies with nuts in them.” Now, this is actually a very clever scene, when you think about it. In life, there is such a rich variety of cookies. Peanut butter, chocolate chip, mint cookies, oatmeal raisin. But director Sam Raimi, has Spider-Man consciously choose nut cookies to signify that this man has gone nuts. You have the scene where Spider-Man is pointing at various women on the sidewalk. Now look at the gesture he is making with his hands. He is saying to these women, “you’re safe now.” But in Spider-Man 4, I will shoot you with a pistol. But it’s not until this moment, where we, the viewers, see that faint flicker of hope, within Peter, snuffed out. He changes his hair from the normal way to his evil hair. This is when the Spider-Man, that I knew who had lost Uncle Ben, who’d defeated Bonesaw. this is when he had become truly lost. Spider-Man 3 tells a dark story that confront the audience with very serious questions. And for this reason, I think it became a very divisive film. It’s a movie from a different era, where artists were encouraged to take bold risks, uninhibited by close-minded executives. And I sincerely doubt we’ll ever see Marvel, reach these heights again. Like Alfred said: “with big power comes big responsibility."

The funny part is that even without the symbiote, the basic story of his ego and pride taking over was all gonna be in there, according to Sam. The symbiote merely enhanced this!

I've seen the movie plenty of times, and I've watched dozens of videos of people discussing it. Some blasting it, some defending it... But no one I have ever seen has made the biblical connections and symbolism in the film before. This is a truly brilliant observation, and really changes the way I see this movie. Great job Ben. Can't wait to watch it again with a new perspective.

The “He’s still out there” call back to the episode of caravan of garbage did not go unnoticed. Gorgeous stuff

Always love the SM3 appreciation, it was my favorite when I was a kid and I still love it whole heartedly. Everybody gets the theme wrong though. The theme is forgiveness. Harry forgives Peter. Peter forgives Flint. Mary Jane forgives Peter. It sets it up not only over the course of the whole movie, but really it started with the death of Norman. Incredible movie

I like that we are in a time period right now that we're all starting to enjoy campier movies that we all thought were bad 10+ years ago. Also great video overall!

Man it seems like Ben just is SUPER positive about literally everything

The fight sequence between Harry and Peter at beginning is gold! The Spider-Man life crashing into his Peter life in the middle of the street. Peter having to Spider-Man it up, with no costume. Being forced to realize his friend wants to kill him. Peter desperately trying to cling onto that wedding ring while trying to cling on to his life. Masterful!

"Investing too much energy into disliking a movie's flaws can sometimes prevent us from seeing the actual value of the thing itself." I wish everyone could take those words to heart. I've said for years the reason so many people hate some things is because they just want to, or think they're expected to hate something, and then they refuse to be entertained by something good. It's a real pain to see good movies go down the drain because people wanted to be so hateful.

Fun fact: When Sam Raimi asked Christopher Young to score Venom's theme, he asked him to make it as "demonic and devilish as possible."

J. Jonah Jameson also represents truth in this film. The truth that Spider-Man is a MENACE!

“It’s always more interesting to look at the film itself, rather than what the film isn’t or was it supposed to be” Maso in shambles

I like it despite its flaws. Imo it’s one of the Spider-Man movies that feels most like a comic book.

Between this, the bi Fast and Furious reading, and some of your Mr. Sunday Movies videos, you really nail the "pop culture rescue" video essay style. Whether or not I agree, it's so engaging to watch someone unabashedly gush about something, especially something often maligned. I love challenging criticism that builds up rather than tears down.

My guy referenced Sex Education, Uncharted 4, and Before Midnight in the timespan of 30 seconds and his argument hit different. Love your videos, Ben! Keep up the good work.

I rewatched the whole trilogy a few weeks ago and was expecting the third one to blow. But then I was like, this is actually pretty good. It’s definitely the weakest in the trilogy but it still does interesting things with the storylines and characters from the other two movies. Raimi was still able to deliver a fun and satisfying story despite the studio meddling. Now that some time and franchises have passed since Spider-Man 3, people are looking back and appreciating what is great about it.

It's always a good year when Ben uploads

Wasn't expecting both a Raid: Shadow Legends ad and an analysis of scripture in a Spider-Man 3 essay but I'm loving every second of it

Another little detail is that in this movie, Eddie Brock is an active sociopath if you stop to analyse his behavior towards people. His first scene he is basically taking pictures of the woman the supposedly loves (Gwen) while being dead cold about it (and even introducing himself to her father), he also doesn't even seeks to help her in any way after Spider-Man saves her, just goes takes pictures of Spider-Man because its his major interest. He also actively has a lot of charisma and speech skills that allow him to almost right away get a job by talking with J.J Jameson and just didn't got it because of Peter. There's also the great element of deceiving, lying and doing anything he can to get what he wants. Eddie also is vengeful, after Peter reveals him as liar, instead of trying to repent from his mistakes, he actively seeks revenge, so much so that he literally goes to a Church beg God to kill Peter. Venom never made Eddie evil, it just gave the means for a desire he had to revenge against Peter.

I know I'm in the minority here, but the third one has always been my favorite. Not because it's the best (IT'S NOT) but because it's just so fun. It's the kind of movie that I'm always down to watch regardless of my mood.