Film Reviews - "Spider Man 3" and "Are We Done Yet?"

It's been AT LEAST 20 years since I'd been to a drive-in movie (the last time I was, for trivia purposes, was Stephen King's "Firestarter" with a late showing of the Mr. T classic "D.C. Cab". But a combination of really wanting to see this film (Spidey, that is; not "Are We Done Yet?") on opening weekend, really nice pre-summer weather and the need to do something a little different prompted me to head to East Gwillumbury (about 30 minutes north of where I live, but well worth the journey).

The first thing I noticed is that, if they haven't already, someone's going to run over one of the kids running around in the parking lot. Seriously! Between people not knowing where they're going, and kids who were like, playing football and frisbee while vehicles swerve around them in less-than-optimal lighting conditions, it's an accident waiting to happen. I WAS pleased to learn, however, that drive-ins no longer require to hook up audio boxes to your car antenna; it's now as simple as turning to a specific radio station. Amazing how far technology has come in just two decades.

Anyways... the movies. In short, Spider Man 3 didn't quite match what I'd expected from the first two films. There were some great elements here: the trio of villians had a lot going for them, Topher Grace was excellent as upstart photographer/prick Eddie Brock (and later Venom), and Tobey McGuire played emo Peter Parker quite well.

That said, there was just TOO MUCH going on at any given point. Three villians. Two love interests. Peter Parker trying to patch up his relationship, aid his friend and battle his inner demons, often all at once. They could have easily taken one of these subplots (and here I'm thinking Sandman) and saved it for Spider Man 4. The film overall was just a little too ambitious, and it suffered as a result.

Would I recommend it? Sure. As far as comic book movies go, this franchise has been much more consistent than, say, Batman (which had a fantastic debut in 1989 and just fell off the wagon after that, with a few exceptions) or Superman (meh). I just think Sam Raimi could have done better with what he had, especially given that this may end up being the final installment.

As for "Are We Done Yet?", should I really review this one? Shockingly, most of the cars had left by the time this one started, so we were able to move up from the 10th row to, I think, the 2nd or 3rd and get a better view. I guess if you like ultra-predictable family comedies that star Ice T as the perpetually disgruntled head of household, and the guy from Scrubs (forget his name) as the wacky handyman, then you probably won't be terribly disappointed. Otherwise, don't even bother with it on DVD. I'm just waiting for the third installment in this series "Are We Dead Yet?".