Spider-Man, Pirates and Surfers

So I just read some early reviews of Spider-Man 3 and apparently all is well. To say I am relieved is an understatement. For those who don't know, the shoot was actually kinda troubled. Considering they had a release date for the film locked before a script was written, and that there had been re-shoots, this is not a shock. Its got to say something that Sam Raimi is able to pull through the problems and deliver something that while long, around the 2 and a half mark, is apparently a streamlined fat-free epic of a movie. One with all the good stuff from the first 2, with added Defoe goodness, and also a more grandiose sense of storytelling, with multiple threads twisting and turning their way through and apparently all making perfect sense. Friday 4th May, it comes out, god willing I will be seeing it that day, I know Donna wants to see it so I'll have to get her in the right mind set for a long trip to the cinema, maybe with Spider-Man 2.1 which is out on DVD next Monday, so then I can have a review up on the Friday night or Saturday morning.
Contrasting with this, chud.com just reported that Pirates 3 is weighing in at 170 minutes. Even taking out credits, its gonna be over 2 and a half hours. Will it be needed? Fuck no. Pure speculation I know, but with Spider-Man 3 one gets the sense it is long because the story told requires the length. Pirates however, feels like it is alowing itself to over-indulge. The first two were long and didn't hurt their box office, but there is a lot you could take out of both of them, and this feels like it is self-conciously epic, it feels like it has to be because its Pirates Of The Carribean 3. I honetly think you could trim a lot of fat from the second film in particular and ram the 2nd and 3rd together. Of course they would never do that. Look at Grindhouse, piss poor second weekend has shown that two films in one may not work, for some bloody reason I can't get my head around (Seriously, I have it bad for Grindhouse at the moment), and two films = twice the profit, maybe more. Nature of the world I guess, tis a Capitalist society so to make money is an acceptable thing but what price a coherent movie and not a bloated beast which, judging by the second film which I don't think I will ever watch again, the third will turn out to be.
Still though, it won't be as bad as the cluster-fuck that will be Fantastic Four 2, a film which is being sold entirely on the prescence of a CGI creation and not the original cast. Early reports of this is that no matter how good the admittedly great teaser for the film was, its only 2, 3 minutes of film, and that this film is as much of a waste of time as the first. The question for this film is, why? They are taking a major risk with this one, the first did OK but nowhere near Spider-Man numbers and I believe the budget has been increased for this one. I will see it for the Silver Surfer but I may wait for DVD like the first one. I think I may not be alone but the Surfer is such an inherently cool concept that people will go see this for him. We all seem to focus on him as the main bad guy/ambivalent figure in this picture, but the fact is, he is CGI, CGI is expensive and they have a human bad guy, Dr. Doom, also in the film, although publicity material for this have not feature him extensivly. Rather than him not being in it too much, I think Fox are being clever on selling us on the idea that the Surfer is front and center, it is called Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer after all, but I get the feeling he won't be there too much. To be honest, I want this to work, Fantastic Four are a very good little property and it is nice that there is a PG superhero franchise that smaller kids can get into and the fact that co-creator of Twin Peaks, Mark Frost, was one of the credited writers of the first, and I believe second, had me intrigued and has me intrigued for the new one. Plus what I am hoping the film ends with. Again, for those who don't know, the Surfer is not really a villain, but a messenger essentially blackmailed into doing his job. By a big mother-funker by the name of Galactus...
What was meant to start as a little piece about Spider-Man, turned into a beast. Look at it as a metaphor for the increasing length of blockbusters. Or not. So, seeing The Lives Of Others today, will have a review up tomorrow, doing stuff tonight which inloved not sitting in with a laptop so I'll catch up tomorrow!