So the new animated Spider-Man series debuted on MTV tonight. And since nothing else is going on right now, here's a completely unhelpful AND biased review.
They showed the first two episodes tonight, which gives people a pretty nice idea of what the series is all about. Good decision there.
The series is set around Peter/Spider-Man, Mary Jane, and Harry Osborne (Green Goblin's son) in college.
To be honest, the series premiere didn't feel like one. It felt like I stumbled into the middle of a season. Apparently, the series is based on events following the Spider-Man movie, so you have to see the movie in order to understand the continuity of the series. But it doesn't tell you that. Hell, I didn't figure this out until the middle of the first episode, after Harry made an easily-missed, subtle reference to Spider-Man killing his dad. (Although, this also happened in the comic. But I find it hard to believe that MTV said, "Let's base the series on the Spider-Man issues of the '70's! Screw the million-dollar-grossing movie AND it's lucrative licensing!")
So, yeah, unless Harry dons the guise, this means there's not going to be a Green Goblin saga.
Most important on my list of stuff to discuss: the visuals. It's done with CGI (uh... at least that's what I was told). But, unlike other CGI cartoons, it's made to look like it was drawn.
The best way I can describe whether or not you'll enjoy the visuals is like this: If you liked how Zelda: The Wind Waker looks, then hooray! If you didn't, then, well, you're an asshole.
The show's visuals have more in common with Wind Waker than with, say, any other CGI cartoon or movie. Personally, I like Wind Waker's style. So the CGI is right up my alley. But I can understand why it would turn off a lot of people.
And also like Wind Waker, the animation is pretty fluid for the most part. I only noticed a couple of times when the characters got heavy and looked like they were moving through Jell-O. The fight sequences don't suffer from this, though. What they do suffer from, however, is Matrix Syndrome. Lots of slow-time sequences, especially in the second episode. And that pisses me off.
And Mary Jane got some serious back. Whoa!
The writing is pretty good. The stories/plots themselves are decent, if cliche (a rich guy hires an assassin to capture Spider-Man for his rare animal collection? *yawn*
). You won't get anything innovative, but you also won't get anything downright stupid (I'M TALKING TO YOU, X-MEN: EVOLUTION! ).
The characterization is pretty good. As a Spider-Geek, I already have a deep fondness for the characters. And they're used decently here; they stay true to their comic/movie counterparts. No "Mary Jane is suddenly a whiny bimbo slut because that's what'll appeal to viewers" crap. (Although, okay, I'll admit, the interactions between Mary Jane and Harry were my least favorite parts of the episodes. Their dialogue is VERY trite and annoying.) My only complaint is that Harry's hatred for Spider-Man seemed a bit forced.
Actually, I got more attached to the villians than to the heroes. Either they seemed to have way more personality or it's just that, since they were the focus of their specific episode, they got more time in the spotlight to be fleshed out.
I said the plots themselves weren't stupid, but there were a few key moments in each episode that are. I yelled at the television at least twice. Once, during the second episode when Mary Jane escaped from her captor. I don't want to spoil it, but it's one of those Spartacus "the Roman citizens are wearing watches" moments. Nothing devastating, but still annoying. The first episode, though... Oh, man. Check out the first punch thrown in the fight between Peter and the rich preppy kids. I want to hit someone because of that.
And another thing I thought was weird: The show seems to be aimed at adults/teenagers. There isn't cursing or MTV''s usual "HEY, LOOK OVER HERE FOR SEX!" antics. But in each episode you actually saw at least one person get killed. They shy away at showing actual blood, but you still see the actual murder.
Anyway, long review short: B-
Or C-, if you hate the animation style.
It contains all the things I hated about the movie, with the exception of Peter and Mary Jane's casting. I like who they got for the voices, especially Peter's (*cough*Doogie Howser, M.D.*cough*). Conversely, it contains all the strengths of the movie and most of the things that make Spider-Man so likeable. However...
While it's a good show and I'll definitely watch it again, you can get a WAAAAY superior version of this story in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man. This show is the Gus Van Sant version of "Psycho" to Ultimate Spider-Man's Alfred Hitchock version (that was a stupid analogy; I hope it made sense, though).
On top of this, Sunday brings the debut of "Banzai!" Yay!
And one of these days I'll get around the seeing Hulk, dammit. And Pirates of the Carribean. And League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And Legally Blonde 2.
But, wait, there's more! The classic Star Trek action figures come out on Tuesday! This is a great week for geeks.
"Geek week?"
Nah...
They showed the first two episodes tonight, which gives people a pretty nice idea of what the series is all about. Good decision there.
The series is set around Peter/Spider-Man, Mary Jane, and Harry Osborne (Green Goblin's son) in college.
To be honest, the series premiere didn't feel like one. It felt like I stumbled into the middle of a season. Apparently, the series is based on events following the Spider-Man movie, so you have to see the movie in order to understand the continuity of the series. But it doesn't tell you that. Hell, I didn't figure this out until the middle of the first episode, after Harry made an easily-missed, subtle reference to Spider-Man killing his dad. (Although, this also happened in the comic. But I find it hard to believe that MTV said, "Let's base the series on the Spider-Man issues of the '70's! Screw the million-dollar-grossing movie AND it's lucrative licensing!")
So, yeah, unless Harry dons the guise, this means there's not going to be a Green Goblin saga.
Most important on my list of stuff to discuss: the visuals. It's done with CGI (uh... at least that's what I was told). But, unlike other CGI cartoons, it's made to look like it was drawn.
The best way I can describe whether or not you'll enjoy the visuals is like this: If you liked how Zelda: The Wind Waker looks, then hooray! If you didn't, then, well, you're an asshole.
The show's visuals have more in common with Wind Waker than with, say, any other CGI cartoon or movie. Personally, I like Wind Waker's style. So the CGI is right up my alley. But I can understand why it would turn off a lot of people.
And also like Wind Waker, the animation is pretty fluid for the most part. I only noticed a couple of times when the characters got heavy and looked like they were moving through Jell-O. The fight sequences don't suffer from this, though. What they do suffer from, however, is Matrix Syndrome. Lots of slow-time sequences, especially in the second episode. And that pisses me off.
And Mary Jane got some serious back. Whoa!
The writing is pretty good. The stories/plots themselves are decent, if cliche (a rich guy hires an assassin to capture Spider-Man for his rare animal collection? *yawn*
). You won't get anything innovative, but you also won't get anything downright stupid (I'M TALKING TO YOU, X-MEN: EVOLUTION! ).
The characterization is pretty good. As a Spider-Geek, I already have a deep fondness for the characters. And they're used decently here; they stay true to their comic/movie counterparts. No "Mary Jane is suddenly a whiny bimbo slut because that's what'll appeal to viewers" crap. (Although, okay, I'll admit, the interactions between Mary Jane and Harry were my least favorite parts of the episodes. Their dialogue is VERY trite and annoying.) My only complaint is that Harry's hatred for Spider-Man seemed a bit forced.
Actually, I got more attached to the villians than to the heroes. Either they seemed to have way more personality or it's just that, since they were the focus of their specific episode, they got more time in the spotlight to be fleshed out.
I said the plots themselves weren't stupid, but there were a few key moments in each episode that are. I yelled at the television at least twice. Once, during the second episode when Mary Jane escaped from her captor. I don't want to spoil it, but it's one of those Spartacus "the Roman citizens are wearing watches" moments. Nothing devastating, but still annoying. The first episode, though... Oh, man. Check out the first punch thrown in the fight between Peter and the rich preppy kids. I want to hit someone because of that.
And another thing I thought was weird: The show seems to be aimed at adults/teenagers. There isn't cursing or MTV''s usual "HEY, LOOK OVER HERE FOR SEX!" antics. But in each episode you actually saw at least one person get killed. They shy away at showing actual blood, but you still see the actual murder.
Anyway, long review short: B-
Or C-, if you hate the animation style.
It contains all the things I hated about the movie, with the exception of Peter and Mary Jane's casting. I like who they got for the voices, especially Peter's (*cough*Doogie Howser, M.D.*cough*). Conversely, it contains all the strengths of the movie and most of the things that make Spider-Man so likeable. However...
While it's a good show and I'll definitely watch it again, you can get a WAAAAY superior version of this story in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man. This show is the Gus Van Sant version of "Psycho" to Ultimate Spider-Man's Alfred Hitchock version (that was a stupid analogy; I hope it made sense, though).
On top of this, Sunday brings the debut of "Banzai!" Yay!
And one of these days I'll get around the seeing Hulk, dammit. And Pirates of the Carribean. And League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And Legally Blonde 2.
But, wait, there's more! The classic Star Trek action figures come out on Tuesday! This is a great week for geeks.
"Geek week?"
Nah...
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
and i got a spiderman tattoo oohhhh i love me some comics!
Anna