Fundamental Coincidences in Spider-Man 3

Coincidence can ruin a movie by making the plot less believable, yet it is one of the few things that many movie watchers will let slide, even as you shrilly point it out to them over and over again outside the movie theater. Screenwriter John August takes a look at last weekend’s big show, Spider-Man 3, and points out glaring “Fundamental Coincidences” that make the plot feel less cohesive. I’d past in an excerpt, but he has some minor spoilers of the plot, so I leave the choice up to you. (I haven’t seen S3 but I still didn’t feel ripped off by his spoilers, but then again I know most of the plot already.)

Being a snooty backseat director, fundamental coincidences tend to drive me crazy. I can put up with a lot of unrealistic physics and such, especially in a popcorn movie like Spider-Man, but when things happen that make no sense simply for the sake of moving the plot forward or making an excuse for a cool action scene it gets under my skin. I thought Spider-Man 2 was better than the first one, for instance, but that scene where Doc. Ock throws a car into the coffee shop at Peter Parker’s head because he wants to talk to him was supremely irritating. Just call his cell, then throw the car.

The perils of coincidence [JohnAugust.com]