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I gotta say, I don't quite get it.

Spider-Man 3 came out about a year ago now, and still there are thousands, if not millions of film fans who seem to have forgotten Samuel Raimi's previous efforts. I for one loved Spider-Man 3, and know many people that did as well. Some of my cowriters here didn't, but that's to be expected, I'd say. But with the film still having a 61% positive rating on RottenTomatoes, you wouldn't expect people to consider it the overwhelming catastrophe they seem to. Anyone who knows me knows that the critical consensus means nothing to me, but even those like me that love the film seldom stand up for it when it's being bashed so harshly in film junkie roundtables (and I've been party to many of them). Regardless of what that film did or didn't do, I think it's time to take a look at Sam's track record prior to Spidey 3.

The Evil Dead, Crimewave, Evil Dead II, Darkman, Army of Darkness, The Quick and the Dead, A Simple Plan, For Love of the Game, The Gift, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2.

Without saying which of those I'm referring to, I can tell you all without hesitation that at least 5 of those films are flat-out 4-star movies for me. I've seen them all 2-15 times and have enjoyed every single viewing of every single one more than thoroughly. Even Crimewave, which few have seen and even fewer have enjoyed, I find great enjoyment in even after several repeated viewings. The fact of the matter is that he's the only filmmaker I can name who I've seen more than 10 films by at least twice, and have been thrilled by them all each and every time. He's got a flawless record in my book, and even if you don't agree with me on all of the films, I doubt many of you agree with this fellow from the IMDb boards:

jadefalcon-1: "Will somebody please stop Sam from working in film please?"

Mr. Falcon states passionately in his entry that he has given Sam chance after chance, and will be giving him no more. He refers to Spider-Man 1, 2 and 3 as "Butcherings," whatever that means, and he seems to think that Sam's producing career is a great indication of his abilities as a director. He cites David Slade's 30 Days of Night as a "Fiasco," and that we should "Just go see it if you havn't and you'll see," seeming to think that his word is irrefutable law.

Another user on the same boards states that Sam hasn't made a good film since Evil Dead II, but this presents a pickle with me. Like jadefalcon, this user gives positively no indication of why he feels the way he does about any of Sam's films. God knows I'll listen to anyone who gives me reasons to listen, but I refuse to respect a debater who doesn't back up his arguments when they're the focus of his work.

I've given my reasons for liking all of Sam's films time and time again, and they're not the point of this article. The point here is that I never heard any amount of this Raimi-hatred until well after Spider-Man 3 came out, and quite frankly, it's not fair. Even if they only like 5, give or take, of Raimi's previous 11 efforts, I find it hard to believe that many would condemn him as a no-talent hack. Hell, I only love about half of Tim Burton's works, but that doesn't stop me from calling him one of my favorite directors. The same goes for Guillermo del Toro and John Carpenter, among several others. To retroactively despise any artist after a half-maligned, half-trumpeted work just isn't right, and I seriously doubt many moviegoers absolutely hated Raimi's work from the very beginning.

Sam's always had an optimistic take on his future as an artist. After making Evil Dead II, he was interviewed, and had this to say:

"I feel that [Evil Dead II] was a good movie. It was okay. It was a fine movie to make when I was 26 and now that I'm 28 I wanna make a movie that's ten times better."

His next film was Darkman, which many would consider an inferior work, but really, the quality of Sam's work rarely dipped over the next 20 years. While not on a completely progressive upward slope, I have never, everr been disappointed with anything he's put out in my lifetime. As a matter of fact, the fact that he was able to make arguably the most expensive movie ever produced a short 25 years after his personally-financed labor-of-love shoestring horror flick, places him on a golden pedestal of American Dream Achievers, and he is and will always be, without question, my personal idol. I don't ask that of the American film going public, but I do ask that they give the guy at least one more chance before they damn him completely. Hey, have you forgotten about Spider-Man 2?

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Comments (2)

August 12, 2008, Lex Walker said:

First, 30 Days of Night was tripe. The acting was second-rate (Foster was good, Harnett phoned it in). But the hardest thing for me in 30 Days of Night was the writing. I'd read the graphic novel, and the great writing of the graphic novel got screwed over and what pieces they did use verbatim didn't translate well. Visually I thought it was great - every other aspect I detested, but I'm a writing perfectionist. As for Spidey 3, it was a highly anticipated movie of that summer - for me. I though Spidey 2 ranked (it still does) in the top echelons of Comic Book films. Molina, Maguire, Franco - all of the major players were right on. The third just lacked in comparison. Granted - it's still better than X3. But the writing off of Venom (by that I mean by making him much too small of a character and (supposedly) killing him). Finally we have the tired and atrocious love triangle. Drama added for the sake of drama. Instead of examining the symbiote-altered Peter (which would have added plenty of drama on its own, had they not made it so goofy) they piled on heaps of awkward puppy-dog eyes and fake crying. S3 wasn't horrible - but it didn't match or exceed the bar that had been set by the second film. Though that Jadefalcon guy's an idiot. chances are he hadn't even heard of Sam Raimi until Spidey 3. He's probably 14.

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August 12, 2008, Tyler Barlass said:

	I agree, I greatly enjoyed the first two Spidey flicks. I think the reason I disliked the 3rd so much was due to the fact that my expectations were much to high. And it goes without saying that the Evil Deads are legendary.
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