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May 06, 2007
Saturday Night Double Feature
Spider-Man 3
The first Spider-Man was such fun. I enjoy Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man – endearing, believably nerdy and awkward, and completely human. I do not recollect Spider-Man 2 with enough precision to say exactly why, but that film bored me (in spite of Tobey), and I was reluctant to invest in the new one. Color me pleasantly surprised. Here’s a film that’s action-packed in a good way (read: interesting) and a surprisingly sophisticated bit of filmmaking to boot. It actually uses multiple subplots to explore a theme. I KNOW! Now, the theme may be too simplistic to merit being explored via multiple subplots – wouldn’t everything be better if we all just took a little time to listen to each other? – but, hey, it’s not a summer blockbuster if it doesn’t beat you over the head with something. I’m proud of this film for having a theme to wield.
Vacancy
I found the previews for this to be both intriguing and puzzling. It looked scary, but I worried that there wasn’t enough premise to make a film. How long could I stay interested in the adventures of two people who are, in essence, stuck in a hotel room? The filmmakers did a lot right here. The film clocks in at an almost shockingly short 80 minutes, and the taut script hits an excellent balance between character development and action. Yeah, that’s right: character development. One of the keys to a truly good horror film is to have a decent story even if you don’t have the psyhos or supernatural elements, and this film manages it. The Foxes are a couple in crisis – together for this car ride back from celebrating the wife’s parents’ wedding anniversary, an event they didn’t want to ruin by announcing their impending divorce. When their car breaks down and they end up in the motel, the audience is already wishing that these two could just figure out how to communicate, and events soon force them to do just that. The other thing to love about this film is that it doesn’t take a lot of cheap scary shots and doesn’t artificially draw itself out, especially at the end, where so many horror films (thank you, Carrie) lose it. Spider-Man 3 was fun; this one has quality. Take your pick, watch them both, or save yourself for the release of 28 Weeks Later this Friday. Personally, I like to watch them all.
Posted by adrienne at May 6, 2007 01:59 PM
Comments
I'm guessing the quality actor/actress helped.
Posted by: tonderdo at May 9, 2007 11:11 PM