Spider Man 4

News of Spider Man 4 has recently been released.  Reading about it I remembered that a few posts ago I wrote about Toy Story 3 and cited the Spider Man franchise as an example of why not to make trilogies.  I don’t think anyone out there would argue that Spider Man 3 was in any way comparable to the first two installments, which leads me to believe that there are two possible reasons that this fourth movie is going to be made. 

 

First, it may simply be a way to rake in more cash.  Even with its negative critical response Spider Man 3 still made money and the studio knows that regardless of quality, a fourth film will probably do the same.  Add to that the fact that director Sam Raimi’s recent film Drag Me To Hell (which I haven’t seen yet but am planning to) was well received but underperforming at the box office, and it may be that cast and crew are hoping to prove their financial viability. 

 

On the other hand, Raimi is a capable director and more often than not his films succeed in telling compelling stories.  If the Spider Man franchise has a two-for-one track record it seems likely that the next one will make up for previous problems.  So, the second reason this film might be moving forward may be a desire to correct the errors of Spider Man 3 and avoid ending the saga on such a sour note.  Lets hope that this is the case; its likely to be a blockbuster in either scenario, but Raimi’s Spider Man universe has so much potential that it’ll be painful to see anything less than a return to full form.  

Toy Story 3

I haven’t seen Up yet, but I did just watch the trailer for Toy Story 3.  Obviously, there’s a lot of potential there. The first two films in the Toy Story franchise were truly amazing.  Plus, trilogies are always great.  Things just seem to go nicely when the go in threes. 

 

However, trilogies can often be dangerous, and I hope Pixar Disney doesn’t botch it up.  Seriously, a number of famous franchises would have been better if they had just stopped.  For example, Spider Man 3 was so bad it not only ruined two hours of my life but also caused me to retrospectively doubt my love of Spider Man 2.  Return of the Jedi, while rounding out the Star Wars story, is fairly hollow when held up to The Empire Strikes Back.  And lets not forget the godfather of all botched trilogies, The Godfather Part 3.  Why didn’t Coppola just end it with Part 2?  How did anyone think that following up one of the most highly esteemed films of all time with mediocrity and boredom was a good idea?  How did they think following it up at all was a good idea?  As it is, the whole series is forever remembered by its high points and its low points. 

 

Given Pixar’s record, its unlikely that there will be as wide a disparity between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 as there is in the Spider Man or Godfather franchises.  On the other hand, even if Toy Story is only as good as, say, Cars, it will still be a huge let down.  Lets hope that Pixar isn’t just in this one for the money and that the curse of the third sequel doesn’t follow them as it has with so many others.