I think they're great too, especially the second.

I'm pleased with Venom overall as well, I was anticipating a more cartoony style, and am glad he didn't go that route.

Venom looks as awesome as I could have hoped, I just would've liked a whiter, more defined spider on his chest and back.

Granted, it's just being picky.

Don't get too excited about his appearance. I read the novelization myself last week and he is pretty much....

[spoil]Just there for the final fight[/spoil]

REVIEWS!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32293

Thanks man, sounds good thus far.

http://media.movies.ign.com/media/041/0 ... ids_1.html

7 movie clips on IGN

Ain't It Cool has some more reviews and some of them are negative. I understand where some of the negativity comes from with a scene in particular

[spoil]When Peter is completely changed by the symbiote, he goes to a jazz club with Gwen to make Mary Jane jealous (Mary Jane works at the jazz club). Peter uses his powers to dance really well. It seemed kinda dumb in the book and I'm guessing by some of the reviews it doesn't come off too well in the movie either.[/spoil]

Here is another semi-negative review.

entertainment.timesonline.co.uk /film_reviews/

So basically, Raimi lives up to my expectations and drops the bomb on the most fool-proof storyline of the spider-man mythos.

I get it.

Spider-man dancing. Spider-man strutting to the tune of 70s music.
Raimi trying to be funny throughout the film...

These films are disasters.

I guess you'll be ecstatic to know that the landlord's daughter is back with milk and cookies.

Why do people find these movies good again?

Big disappointment. At least George Lucas learned from Jar Jar Binks and basically eliminated him from the series.

And who the JJB of the SM movies?

The entire cast.

"Do you want some chocolate cake?"

She's hot if you ask me, what's the problem with her?

Yeah, she's moley and boney. The new hotness. I want to connect the moles.

i'm liking everything i see so far.

i'm not really much into reading reviews until i've seen the film for myself.

Thomas Hayden Church as Sandman looks ridiculous. He needs to close his mouth and quit showing off his teeth. That character should have been written out entirely in favor of Venom in my opinion.

Coming soon has posted Raimi's comments on Spider-Man 4

And also he confirms
Spidey 4, 5 and 6

"At the Los Angeles press junket today, Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi confirmed that Sony Pictures is doing a 4th, 5th and 6th installment of the popular franchise.

We'll have his exact words shortly, but Raimi said that he hasn't had time to think of any involvement and he doesn't want to presume Sony would want him to direct.

He said there has to be a good story to tell and that "it'd be very hard to say goodbye to 'Spider Man.'"



Also, SuperHeroHype had an interview with Raimi and talks about incorporating Venom into the story:

"Once we finished the story, Avi our producer and partner and the former head of Marvel comic books, said, "Sam listen, you are so aware of all of these '70s villains, but you really need to incorporate Venom into this story because the fans really love Venom and don't be so selfish with villains that you know and love." So I said, "okay." I didn't understand that much about Venom because I hadn't really read as a kid. So I went to school on Venom and Avi taught me a lot about Venom and then Alvin Sargent, our screenwriter, he really was the voice of Venom and the writing of the screenplay and he showed me who he was. Then Topher Grace brought another life to the character until finally I had to go to school on all of these people being my teacher as to who he was and trying to satisfy the comic book fans and incorporate Venom into the story."

More of the interview can be found here

Tobey just signed on for Spidey 4. So says TMZ.com. I guess he likes making a living after all.

Got a link? Just checked and couldn't find it there.

it's on their main gossip page.



they're usually pretty quick and accurate with the celeb gossip.

Hmm, weren't these the same reporters that stated Toby was no longer going to be playing Peter Parker/Spider-Man?

Fuck Raimi and Tobey.

Reboot the franchise.
Do it right.

Unable to compute, opinion not valid. Please restate request.

Inteligence level below normal, leave forum.

with all due respect to TMZ, i'll wait for SHH to confirm it, or at least post it on their headlines. they have a way of checking if there is some weight to a piece of news or if its just full of air.

LOL give it up dude. Listen to yourself. Refuckingboot a franchise than has made BILLIONS worldwide? Are you on crack?

CoGro look you're pratically the only one who's whinning and bitching about the damn movies. As you can see there are others here who enjoy the fucking movies so quit pissing in our cereals. If you want to bitch about the movies do it else were for fuck sakes. It's getting old that almost every other post you say, "Reboot the series!" "These movies suck!".

You're starting to sound like the fucking fannerds of Star Wars that say, "Lucas raped my childhood!"

As PerfectCr suggested give it up dude. Let those of us who enjoy it, enjoy it.

If a no-name on an internet messageboard is seriously hampering your enjoyment of anything you should examine your priorities.

To say that because I don't like something you like my opinion isn't valid sounds just as rediculous as any of the half-joke half-bitter comments I've made about this series. I have the right to take part in intelectual and non-intelectual discussion of anything on this messageboard if I wish, so I will act accordingly. In recent posts, I have chosen the latter. When I see the film, I will probably shift back to the former.

Now, continue enjoying your overrated series which has raped my childhood.

This is what the message boards are all about. People from both sides trying to speak their minds. I have no problem with people disliking it. Everyone can't like these movies. I love them, but I'm not saying they are without their problems. I haven't found a superhero movie yet without something to whine about. Maybe Batman Begins is as close as it has come for me to perfection. But it still isn't my favorite comic book movie (X2).

You sir, are correct.

I guess, in the end, I'm a Spider-Man fan. I'm glad they made movies about him. These movies however are a pale shadow of what made me a fan of the character. A complete re-boot of the franchise would be unthinkable in marketing terms, and because of the bucketloads of money involved will never happen. But it would be like Christmas presents on your birthday from strippers wrapped in money to a lot of fans, though. I am one of those fans.


Agreed, 100%. Hell, I can't think of any movie I didn't pick on a little bit. Parts of these movies are fantastic. Even though I don't like them, I can see why other folks do. I just think those folks are being cheated a little bit too, compared to what could have been. But you could go on forever with that about anything.

Pic removed.

Sorry, bv - I never looked at the full image. I thought your pics only related to the figures and not the display.

There's a great scene in the animated series where the symbiote, speaking as Venom, tries to appeal to Peter's intelectual side and condemns him for rejecting an opportunity to gain a superior understanding of the universe through the alien.

actually, here it is along with part of the episode:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJYmOT8q ... ed&search=

something I haven't heard anyone talk about is if Venom speaks in this movie?? I'm going to be pretty pissed if it's all a bunch of growls and hisses. I want some "We are Venom!" snarled at peter dammit.


Oh, and I posted that pic of Venom a month ago E Chu Ta. Go read the other pages

Is Brock even called "Venom" in the movie?

Thanks for the clip CoGro - that was actaully pretty good. I never knew Hank Azaria did the voice of Broch/Venom in the Spiderman series.

That was a great series. I love how Venom torments Peter. It looks like all he does in this movie before he's killed is force a final showdown by kidnapping Mary Jane, which is just a retread of the endings for the last two movies.

That's exactly what happens, so basically, Raimi misses the point of the character entirely and lets down every fan who loves Venom/Brock.

And to comment on one of the above posts - from a review I read Venom DOESN'T TALK in this movie, he just speaks in Topher/Eddie form when the symbiote retracts. Also, he doesn't refer to himself as WE (eddie and the symbiote) as he's supposed to. He calls himself 'I'. Another sign of Raimi knowing shit all...even though it's well known he hates the character.

Hm, interesting finds. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that Venom is apparently going to have such a small role in this series, but I'm holding out hope that this will be a very good film.

As for my opinions of the movies, I really have hated a few chunks of these movies, mostly centering on Snaggletooth aka Mary Jane--as for the action, I'm not a really sophisticated or knowledgable Spidey fan, so I've just enjoyed the pace and CGI. There have been some truly horrible comic movies, such as Elektra and Ghost Rider, and, at least to me, the first two Spideys have been above average. However, as Starkiller stated, discussion and debate is no fun when all sides agree, and nothing CoGro has written has struck me as spiteful, it's just another opinion, which is as justified as my own.

I recommend watching the Symbiote saga from the animated series to anyone foreign to the subject matter. Sure, it's a cartoon, but it's a very good adaptation of the comic story. It's an example of how you can change plot material for the sake of relative believeity and re-interpretation while maintaining the integrity of the story.

Clearly I've struck a nerve with some people here, so that should basically sum up my feelings towards the Spider-man films, and adaptations in general.

It's not how the suit attaches itself to Peter Parker, or how Octavius becomes Doc Ock or even whether or not Spider-man's web shooters are mechanical or organic, it's about understanding the motivations of these characters and then bringing them to life in the cinema. There have been some very high points of this series, it's just that most of them are included in the first half in the first film.

It's like this: You can play with subject material within a medium if you're staying within the boundaries of the genre, once you start crossing those lines, you lose the audience's suspension of disbelief. In my opinion, Raimi has breached that line. He added a ton of unnecessary camp to the second film and not only did the pacing suffer, but the quality of the story. By all accounts, I'm hearing he's done the same with the third film and this is a particularly dark story-line. So as a fan of the comics, the character and good cinema in general, I hope people could intelectually understand my qualms with the way these films have been conceived.

I'm not trying to directly insult anyone in this forum, but most people aren't artistically inclined enough to notice faults in production quality, or are entertained easily enough that they don't care about the technicalities that define the difference between a 'good' and 'bad' film as long as it gives them cheap thrills. Spider-man's iconic status, its appeal to a broad demographic and it's simplistic and entertaining premise has made the films immensly successfull. If you're content not reading into the fine details of what made this character and his world so special to so many fans, then these movies would have been fairly enjoyable. If you wanted more from them, ie: a sharper represention of the characters, the tone and the mythology then, like me, you've probably been disappointed with a lot of directorial and story-related decisions.

This is ALL I've meant to say, in all seriousness. I should think I reserve the right to hold decent standards for films I eagerly anticipate and when those expectations are betrayed, I also feel it to be my prerogative to criticize their shortcomings.

What about those of us who don't carry the comic book baggage? Can we enjoy it?

I'll say this about the whole Venom saga for Spider-Man 3: Blame Avi Arad for him even being thrown in. The Producers and Sam Raimi both agree that they had a story in place already using Sandman and Goblin, Jr. as the villains in this movie. Avi Arad came to Sam after reading and demanded he put in Venom. That's how Venom became a 15 minute character in this movie.

What Arad should have done since it seems that Raimi will hit the road after 3 (just my opinion, but it looks like the Hobbit could be in his future), is introduce Brock in this movie, have the symbiote bond with Peter, and at the end of the movie Peter realizes that the symbiote is bad. Like everyone was saying early in development of the film, Venom would show up at the end and be the villain for 4. That way, Raimi is out of the picture and Arad can have the next story/screenplay writer fill up an entire movie of Venom. Plus, you would do away with the "killing the villain by the end of the movie" solution.



Perfect: If the movies are the way you know these characters, I have no doubt that you will love this movie. Saturday Night Fever Peter Parker and all.

EDIT: Since we are on the subject, here is the new TV spot for Venom.

[video width=425 height=350]http://www.youtube.com/v/idPpiH7rBIs[/video]

Starkiller, I was under the impression that this is exactly what happened in the movie, Venom just gets intro'd at the end as a set up for 4. I haven't been keeping up with the many spoilers so I didn't realize he was going to actually fight and kill off venom in this. That is way too fucking much for one movie. They are going to introduce 3 new villains in one movie, and I assume wrap up the stories of all 3 villains? early on I had heard sandman was defeated and something along the same lines for goblin.

The one good thing this franchise has accomplished is make it successful enough to continue on with other producers and actors once all of the current ones move on. I had heard dunst wanted out after this one, and I also thought tobey wasn't sure about doing more, and previous posters have said that sam raimi is moving on. Hopefully this is all the case and we will see people more able to bring stan lee's vision to the screen

Stan, unfortunately not. What you see of the symbiote falling on Topher in the church is almost 2 hours into the movie. Venom is only in the final fight based on the novelization and the reviews I have read so far. More spoiler below:

[spoil]In the novelization, Peter realizes that the symbiote is affected by sound. Venom is slithering off of Eddie and all that is left is a smoking skeleton. In the novel the symbiote says something to the effect of "Don't hurt what you can't kill". Peter then sends some ringing steel rods through the symbiote and the creature melts into thin air.

Don't hold me to this information because I am at work and I don't have the book in front of me but that is what I remember from it.[/spoil]

If Venom was well developed, I wouldn't mind killing him in this film. I don't foresee a Carnage film in Sony's future, so there would be little reason to keep him around, unless of course you put him in a mental institution with a plan for the character to return in a 'final standoff' with Spidey down the road.

Well, I think it depends on the character I guess. I'd have been pissed as hell if Singer would have killed Magneto by the end of X-Men. McKellen does such a wonderful job as Magneto that I think keeping him around for sequels is a great idea. But then again villains like the Green Goblin and Sandman can finish a character arc in one movie. I think, if done right, Venom (or Doc Ock) could have been an adversary to use over multiple films. The problem is that Arad wanted him now and Raimi didn't want him at all.

The Spiderman cartoon was the shit. I remember the Venom arc because I caught the first couple episodes rerun about 5 times, and never saw the end until a year later.

I have to say that I'm not a fan of the Raimi films. They're allright as action pieces, but other than that, I think they suffer from a lot of the problems the SW prequels faced. They just don't have the lightsabers and spaceships that make those films repeatedly enjoyable. I've always been curious as to why the critics have never caught on to that.