They could have started by not having so many villains. The movie should have had one actual villain (Venom), and one secondary villain (Sandman) to push the plot along. The entire sub-plot with Harry Osborn should have been jettisoned. It didn't add anything of actual value to the story and it just muddled things needlessly. I say that reluctantly because I like the character and the actor both quite a bit, but that's not enough justification to include him in the movie.
They also should have dropped the entire so-called sub-plot with Gwen Stacy, or else really explored it. A string of scenes showing two characters together does not constitute an actual sub-plot. I think that the writers simply chickened out. They wanted to show that Peter was *capable* of being a jerk, but not actually deal with the repercussions of it on either of the woman that he emotionally abused in this story (MJ and Gwen).
The real story here was that Peter Parker wanted to marry MJ but wasn't yet ready. He wasn't mature enough. He was too enamored of his own flashy Spiderman persona, and too much in love with the public acclaim and adoration. His ego would be his downfall personally (with MJ) and as Spiderman (with Venom). Venom thrived on all of Peter's worst faults, so Venom should have been the primary villain of the piece, not just a flashy after-thought.
I would have made Peter's battle with Venom the focus of the movie, and I would have made the entire story far more serious and dark. But then, that would probably have put off a lot of the audience, who expect Spiderman movies to be all 'feel-good' and sweet. In my version, Peter would have become infected by Venom virtually at the start of the film (not...what? 20+ minutes into it?). They should then have shown us progressively how Venom was affecting Peter's personal life (by causing him to reject MJ, seduce Gwen, humiliate Brock, etc) and his Spiderman life (by causing him to become increasingly more violent as he tracks down the Sandman). He should have pulverized the dickens out of the Sandman but then been so personally revolted by what he'd done that he frees himself from Venom...only to have to face it again when Brock willingly (not accidentally) becomes Venom. Then Peter/Spiderman would have had to face off essentially against a mirror of his own darkside by battling Brock/Venom. He'd win, of course, because he's Spiderman, and he's a good man. Then he could have gone back to MJ at the end, chastened but more mature, and apologize for being an immature asshat and ask for her forgiveness, and for a second chance. Then MJ could have accepted his apology and they could have actually verbally affirmed their love for each other at the end.
Instead, we had Peter Parker never actually say, "I'm sorry that I was being such a complete arrogant, immature jerk." And we never got to see MJ decide to forgive him, or tell him that she forgives him. They just had Peter show up and start dancing with her in the bar as a substitute for an apology, which was (IMO) a cowardly, immature thing for the writers to do, all things considered. Argh, but this movie made me so mad! It was bad on so many levels!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-05 07:14 pm (UTC)They also should have dropped the entire so-called sub-plot with Gwen Stacy, or else really explored it. A string of scenes showing two characters together does not constitute an actual sub-plot. I think that the writers simply chickened out. They wanted to show that Peter was *capable* of being a jerk, but not actually deal with the repercussions of it on either of the woman that he emotionally abused in this story (MJ and Gwen).
The real story here was that Peter Parker wanted to marry MJ but wasn't yet ready. He wasn't mature enough. He was too enamored of his own flashy Spiderman persona, and too much in love with the public acclaim and adoration. His ego would be his downfall personally (with MJ) and as Spiderman (with Venom). Venom thrived on all of Peter's worst faults, so Venom should have been the primary villain of the piece, not just a flashy after-thought.
I would have made Peter's battle with Venom the focus of the movie, and I would have made the entire story far more serious and dark. But then, that would probably have put off a lot of the audience, who expect Spiderman movies to be all 'feel-good' and sweet. In my version, Peter would have become infected by Venom virtually at the start of the film (not...what? 20+ minutes into it?). They should then have shown us progressively how Venom was affecting Peter's personal life (by causing him to reject MJ, seduce Gwen, humiliate Brock, etc) and his Spiderman life (by causing him to become increasingly more violent as he tracks down the Sandman). He should have pulverized the dickens out of the Sandman but then been so personally revolted by what he'd done that he frees himself from Venom...only to have to face it again when Brock willingly (not accidentally) becomes Venom. Then Peter/Spiderman would have had to face off essentially against a mirror of his own darkside by battling Brock/Venom. He'd win, of course, because he's Spiderman, and he's a good man. Then he could have gone back to MJ at the end, chastened but more mature, and apologize for being an immature asshat and ask for her forgiveness, and for a second chance. Then MJ could have accepted his apology and they could have actually verbally affirmed their love for each other at the end.
Instead, we had Peter Parker never actually say, "I'm sorry that I was being such a complete arrogant, immature jerk." And we never got to see MJ decide to forgive him, or tell him that she forgives him. They just had Peter show up and start dancing with her in the bar as a substitute for an apology, which was (IMO) a cowardly, immature thing for the writers to do, all things considered. Argh, but this movie made me so mad! It was bad on so many levels!