James M's review of SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (1994)

 

Face front, true believers. 

It's your old friend, and I'm here with a review of the Spider-Man show that ran from 1994 to 1998. Recently, me and dad finished watching the show, and it was gorgeous for it's time. You can never go wrong with a fun superhero cartoon about the adventures and heroics of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes.

The show ran for five seasons before it was cancelled after the Spider-Wars two parter, which ended up serving as the grand finale to the overall show, and it was the last time anyone saw this version of Peter before he made a triumphant return in X-Men 97. Yeah, this show shares a universe with the other 90s Marvel shows such as Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, basically the original Marvel Cinematic Universe before 2008's Iron Man.

Okay, quick little summary of the series. 

After getting bit by a radioactive spider and losing Uncle Ben when someone broke into the house, Peter becomes the superhero Spider-Man and fights against crime, also leading to some complications with his personal life. As Spider-Man, he battles the likes of Scorpion, the Lizard, Kingpin, Doc Ock, Hobgoblin, Morbius, and various other villains. In his regular life, Peter works at the Daily Bugle and lives with Aunt May. Oh, and he gets a girlfriend in Mary Jane later on... until she falls into a portal during a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin.

Following this, Peter has a sort of relationship with the Black Cat aka Felicia Hardy, and, eventually, MJ comes back, but it turns out she was a clone. In the show's third season, Peter meets Madame Web, who tests him, which leads to many scenarios, including one from the comics where Spider-Man meets a terminally ill kid. 

In the final season of the show, Peter teams up with Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and Storm of the X-Men, a team he met earlier in the show, to fight against Doctor Doom and other villains on a desolate planet. This leads into the two-part finale, which is basically Into The Spider-Verse before we get Into The Spider-Verse, as Peter teams up with variants of himself to save the multiverse from Spider-Carnage. Long story short, the heroes saved all of reality.

For a show in the 90s, Spider-Man is well-animated, with plenty of 2D animation and an occasional inclusion of 3D animation, and no superhero project would be complete without any action and there is a lot of action sequences throughout the series with plenty of high stakes at times. As for the other characters, no offense to JK Simmons, but Ed Asner as Mr. Jameson is really good. The soundtrack kicks butt as well, and when the music kicks in during an action scene, that's when you know things get very serious.

 I say this would be my favorite show yet, and, despite certain issues in some areas, Spider-Man (1994) deserves a lovely 10/10. Oh, and if you don't know, Peter DID find MJ. How and where? We don't know. See you next time, true believers.

-James M

James M's review of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

 

Welcome back, true believers. We're diving into the Spider-Man multiverse again with the sequel to 2012's The Amazing Spider Man, The Amazing Spider Man 2. Released in 2014 with Andrew Garfield in the role, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't do as well as the executives expected. The situation was so bad, plans for a third film were scrapped and Andrew would never appear again for a good seven years until 2021's SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.

So, what's the story of the second and (for now) final entry in this Spider-Man duology?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 opens up sometime after the first film with Peter swinging through New York City as Spider-Man when he hears that a police chase after a criminal with a truck is in progress. He heads to the scene and confronts the villain who is Aleksei Sytsevich, a Russian bad guy who will become The Rhino in the future. During the chase, Spider-Man winds up saving the life of an Oscorp employee named Max Dillon, who is a big fan of the web-slinger and sees him as his best friend.

As Spider-Man pursues Aleksei, he gets a phone call from Gwen Stacy, who is at the high-school graduation ceremony and tells Peter to hurry up. Peter catches the Russian criminal and apprehends him, with that settled, he heads to the graduation ceremony in time to receive his diploma and kiss Gwen. However, he's unsure about being with her due to his promise to her dying father. So, Peter and Gwen break up and their romantic relationship stops... for now.

Meanwhile, Harry Osborn returns from a school trip abroad to find his father Norman Osborn dying and assumes control of Oscorp after Norman's passing. Peter meets with Harry to console him and they discuss Spider-Man, unaware that a couple Oscorp employees are tracking them. Max Dillan later heads to Oscorp, on his birthday no less, and is assigned to fix a power generator. As he is working, Max falls into a pool of electric eels and, while in a morgue, he transforms into Electro.

Electro heads to Times Square and draws some attention from everyone, including the cops, as he tries to feed off electricity from the city. Spider-Man shows up and tries to talk with Max, however, things go south when a sniper shoots at the electrified man and chaos ensues when Max unleashes his fury. Spider-Man saves some civilians and is hailed a hero, enraging Electro, who becomes a full on villain. His rampage is short lived thanks to Spider-Man's efforts and Electro is arrested.

Harry soon fears he will die after learning he's inherited a disease from his father and asks Peter to have Spider-Man give him his blood. Peter visits Harry as Spider-Man and tells him he can't give him his blood, mostly due to the danger that Harry could die. This enrages Harry, mostly given that he's afraid that he will soon die from the Osborn Disease any day now.

This leads to Harry getting desperate and turns to anyone for help, such as Felicia Hardy (actually Black Cat and played by Felicity Jones), but ends up being discharged from power. Desperate for help, Harry heads to Ravencroft Institute and frees Electro, who is being studied. The two break into Oscorp and Harry injects himself with spider-DNA, which nearly kills him if not for advanced armor that turns him into the Green Goblin.

Meanwhile, Peter decides he loves Gwen, who is about to attend college in England, and meets up with her right as she's leaving. Just as they're becoming a couple again, Electro starts messing with the power grid of the city and everything is downhill from there. Spider-Man confronts the returned Electro at the power station and, after a lengthy battle and with Gwen's help, he defeats the villain by overloading him. With the bad guy is defeated and the city safe, all is well, right...?

Nope. Shortly after Electro's defeat, Harry arrives on the Glider and, upon seeing Gwen, figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. The deranged Goblin snatches Gwen and tries to make off with her, but Peter confronts him and Harry drops Gwen. Peter catches her and they wind up crashing through a glass ceiling into a clock tower where the web-slinger and his old friend battle it out with Gwen's life on the line as Spider-Man weaves a web to prevent Gwen's fall.

The battle is intense and the soundtrack sets the atmosphere for it all as the clock gears turn, the stakes are high. Peter defeats Harry, but the clock moves and the web snaps, resulting in Gwen falling. With every bit of strength he has, Peter dives after her and spins a web to catch Gwen. However, despite managing to catch her, it is not enough as Gwen hits the ground and dies. Peter is distraught by his girlfriend's death and, let me tell you, Andrew knocked the ball out of the park with that scene.

And yes, its The Night Gwen Stacy Died brought to life in live action again. Only this time, there's no MJ in Gwen's place and neither is the action at a bridge. Following the loss of Gwen, Peter gives up on being Spider-Man for a time but eventually gains his confidence again right as Aleksei, the Russian criminal from the start of the film, breaks out of jail as part of a plot by an imprisoned Harry and the mysterious man from the end of the first film and becomes the Rhino before going on a rampage.

Spider-Man arrives when hope seems to be lost and he confronts the Rhino, who is using a robotic tank suit. The movie (and The Amazing Spider-Man series) ends with Peter swinging into battle with the Rhino as Spider-Man.

Despite its flaws, despite being a failure and the problems surrounding it, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a not-so bad superhero movie. The plot is compelling, the action scenes are decently choreographed and there is some great acting from Andrew, Emma Stone and all of the other actors in the movie. Its too bad the film didn't get a follow up, but at least we finally get to see Andrew again years later, and it is possible that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 might happen after all with all of the fan demand out there.

So, what's my score for the film?

8/10, the film isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Just ignore the box office results and ignore what the critics said, TaSM 2 is memorable as long as you can handle it. After all, the failure of a superhero movie is not the end of the superhero genre or the end of the world. People overreact too much. Now, I swing off into the multiverse and bid you farewell. See you next time, True Believers. PEACE!

-James M

James M's review of The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

 

Salutations once again, we're diving back into the Marvel-verse and swinging our way into the Spider-verse with 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Marc Webb. Enough delay, lets dive into this chapter of Spider-Man history, which came to be at a time when the fabled Marvel Cinematic Universe was getting off the ground.

In the year 2007, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 released, serving as the final chapter in the Spider-Man trilogy that had been five years in the making, and was a box office success despite mixed reviews. After the movie was out, pre-production began on a Spider-Man 4. However, being displeased with how Spider-Man 3 turned out and after being frustrated with Sony's meddling, Sam Raimi quit the project and Sony green-lit a reboot with Marc Webb involved with the project.

The result, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. The film released in the summer of 2012, shortly after The Avengers came out and its success kicked the Marvel Cinematic Universe & its popularity into high-gear, and this film was very successful. The movie's performance paved the way for a sequel that came out two years later, only for that one to flop badly and TASM wasn't thought of fondly for many years until Andrew Garfield returned to reprise his role in 2021's Spider-Man No Way Home.

So, what's the story of this movie?

The film starts off with Peter as a kid living with his parents, Richard and Mary Parker, until they head off and entrust Peter in the care of his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. (We find out in the sequel that Richard was working on a genetic experimental breakthrough at Oscorp and had to flee to avoid being bumped off.) Jump forward several years later and Peter (now played by British actor Andrew Garfield) is in high-school and has a crush on Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone).

One day, Peter goes to Oscorp and, during a tour where he meets Doctor Curt Connors, takes a detour into a room with radioactive spiders and gets bit by one. Shortly after, Peter starts developing powers. At school, Peter gets into a little fight with Flash Thompson and humiliates him in the gym. He meets up with Doctor Connors again and helps come up with a formula to limb regeneration, afterwards, Peter heads home and is lectured by his uncle for not being responsible.

Peter heads off to a store where a robber threatens the shop owner, only for Peter to not help him. Uncle Ben is nearby and runs into the robber as he's getting away, the thief shoots Uncle Ben and kills him, much to Peter's sad dismay. He then begins going after criminals after some time, but after a disastrous encounter with a group of bad guys, Peter eventually begins working on an outfit and a mask for himself. After enough work, his suit is formulated and Peter becomes the web-slinging Spider-Man.

Sometime after, Peter visits Gwen and joins her family for dinner, during which her father, Captain George Stacy, calls Spider-Man a dangerous criminal vigilante. Peter and Gwen talk on the balcony afterwards and Peter reveals his identity as Spider-Man to her, surprising Gwen as they share their first kiss. Meanwhile, Doctor Connors creates the formula and tests it on himself. Right as expected, his arm regrows. However, the formula has a sinister side effect as Connors transforms into a creature known as The Lizard and goes on a rampage on a bridge.

Spider-Man sees the scene and briefly fights with The Lizard before the reptilian retreats into the sewers. While visiting Doctor Connors' lab, Peter figures out that Connors is The Lizard after seeing a rat they used to test the formula on prior become a vicious creature. He tries to tell Captain Stacy, only for the policeman to dismiss Peter's claims, making a Godzilla reference when he asks Peter if he looks like the mayor of Tokyo to him. If only you tried to clarify everything, Pete.

The Lizard starts planning to mutate everyone in New York into lizards just like himself and eventually figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. One night, The Lizard hatches his plan and heads to Oscorp Tower to put his plan in motion. Captain Stacy captures Spider-Man, but ends up letting him go when he finds out who is underneath the mask. Gwen Stacy heads to Oscorp, willing to help Peter.

Peter battles The Lizard atop Oscorp Tower in a battle for the fate of the city and pretty much all of mankind. The Lizard unmasks Peter during the fight and taunts him, saying he's all alone with no parents and no uncle, until Captain Stacy comes in to aid Peter only for The Lizard to critically injure him. Peter stops The Lizard's plan and the reptilian creature turns back into Doctor Connors.

New York is safe, but at the price of Captain Stacy, who tells Peter to leave Gwen out of this with his dying breath. Gwen's father dies and Peter vows to keep his promise to him, even telling Gwen about it at one point. But a talk with Aunt May makes Peter reconsider. "If you are anything, its good." May tells him. The movie ends with Peter and Gwen attending school together. A post-credits scene shows Connors in prison while a mysterious man talks to him.

What do I think of this movie?

Well, overall, regardless of its flaws, its really good. My mother even said at one point that Andrew Garfield is her favorite Spider-Man and really likes The Amazing Spider-Man over the Sam Raimi films and the MCU Spider-Man. I actually do agree with many others that it is a good superhero film, its not too bad if you ignore the issues it may have. 

Andrew Garfield was a fine pick for Spider-Man and having him fight The Lizard in this installment was an alright idea. After all, Spider-Man 4 was going to see Peter fight The Lizard anyway and TASM is pretty much a fourth Spider-Man movie regardless of the continuity. And as for Gwen Stacy being Peter's love interest instead of Mary Jane Watson, that's fine, Gwen was Peter's girlfriend in the comics well before Mary Jane was Peter's love interest.

The Amazing Spider-Man has some fun action sequences and the tone of the film is quite interesting to take in, especially since it was apparently trying to emulate the tone of the well-received Nolan Batman trilogy. Marc Webb and crew set out to create an engaging Spider-Man reboot and they succeeded. Its an alright movie for its time with good acting, decent screenplay and engaging moments throughout. I give this film an 8.5 out of 10, go watch it if you want to see this. You'll not be put off by it at all.

Next time; The Amazing Spider Man 2 (2014). See you later...

-James M

James M's review of Spider Man 3 (2007)

 

Hello and welcome back, true believers. Today, we return to the Spider-realm to review the final entry in the original Spider-Man film series; Spider-Man 3 directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Hayden Church, Topher Grace, J.K Simmons, James Franco and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Released in 2007 a good few years after Spider Man 2, this movie served as the final entry in the Spider-Man trilogy and received mixed reviews while still a box office success. It was also the live action debut of Spider-Man's symbiote rival Venom (who'd made his debut in the 90s in the comics and cartoons beforehand). Initially, Sam Raimi wasn't going to include Venom in the movie, but Producer Avi Arid and the higher-ups at Sony made him do so.

So, what is the story about? Lets keep it short and simple.

Well after Spider-Man 2, Peter's life seems to be going smoothly for him, especially now that he finally has Mary Jane as his girlfriend and is about to propose to her. However, things shift when Uncle Ben's real killer Flint Marko breaks out of prison and becomes the Sandman before causing trouble.

Then Peter's friend Harry becomes the next Green Goblin and attempts to kill Peter, only to lose his memories after an injury and then gets them back later before ruining Peter and MJ's relationship, which gets strained after MJ sees Peter kiss Gwen Stacy as Spider-Man during a ceremony in his honor. 

As all of that is happening, Peter bonds with a symbiote that came down on an asteroid and gets a black suit. But when Peter realizes what is going on as its changing him, he gets rid of the symbiote suit and the creature known as Venom bonds with a journalist named Eddie Brock, who then teams up with Sandman to kidnap Mary Jane and try to kill Peter. Peter teams up with Harry and they defeat the bad guys, but the battle comes at the cost of Harry's life while Peter reconnects with MJ.

So, what do I think of the movie?

Its not that bad as people think it is, Spider-Man 3 is quite good and ends the trilogy off on a good note to an extent. Had Spider-Man No Way Home not happened, this would've been the last time we ever got to see Tobey Maguire's version of Spider-Man. Spider Man 4 was meant to happen at some point, but due to issues between Sam Raimi and Sony, it never happened and thus Spider Man 3 is the final one. After this movie, we would get the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man films, which we'll talk about later.

Overall, the action sequences are well created, the acting is decent and the musical score's perhaps the best of the best in this film. The tone was fine as well, it knew how to be light-hearted and when to be serious. The CGI and special effects were very good too, Sandman looks spectacular and Spider-Man's swinging through the city is still phenomenal. I salute Raimi's team.

Spider-Man 3 gets an 8.5 out of 10, now I say farewell. See you next time in another universe...

James Reviews: Spider-Man (1967)

 

Welcome back, dear true believers and Marvel nerds.  Time for us to wind back the clock to a decade that seems to be popular for pure cheese at its finest when it comes to TV shows and movies. But out of all the cheesy things to come from the 60s, we're looking at something amazing, something that is so iconic it will never be forgotten. 

I'll clue you in, who has radioactive blood and spins a web?

The answer: SPIDER-MAN!

Oh yes, we're talking about the 1967 animated series based off the Marvel comic and superhero known as Spider-Man, starring the late Paul Soles as the voice of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man.

Right off the bat, each episode kicks off with an amazing theme tune that has gone on to become very iconic with Spider-Man history to this day and is considered Spider-Man's theme now and then. C'mon, who doesn't love the lyrics; /Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can, spins a web any size. Catches thieves, just like flies. Look out, here comes the Spider-Man./

If you want to hear the full song, the link is here in this review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z8N9TTvKeQ

Airing from, of course, 1967 to the year 1970, SPIDER-MAN ran for three seasons and each episode saw the web-slinger battling a variety of foes who originated from the comics or were created for the show . And often depicted Peter working for the Daily Bugle ran by none other than lovable, near-unlikable Hitler-mustached loudmouth J. Jonah Jameson.

My father saw this show years ago and we eventually sat down together to see some episodes during our days together in 2021, and, for a TV series with a decades-long legacy, Spider-Man 1967 is quite decent. The animation is smooth and the voice actors put a lot of effort into this one. My first episode of the show just happened to be the one where Spider-Man ended up in a jail hospital and tricks a band of criminals in order to get out of the hands of the police. 

It was dad who suggested that we see it, even though I didn't hold any interest in it then. But after that, the seeds for us watching the show were planted and we watched almost every single episode of it on Dailymotion and on YouTube. Having seen Spider-Man 1967, I can see why countless Marvel fans like this so much and why the internet makes memes out of this.

Paul Soles brought a wonderful Spider-Man/Peter Parker voice to the table and this man is unforgettable. He's almost like the Adam West of Spider-Man actors, except he's a voice actor for an animated Spider-Man and Adam West was the second live-action Batman after the 40s show.

My overall thoughts on Spider-Man 1967?

Its one of the best pieces of media to come from the 1960s and is a part of superhero media history, Spider-Man is worth watching and people should know about this cheesy part of Spider Man's long history in the multiverse of media. My score for this is a 9/10, cheesiness is so yummy. Thank you all for tuning in and have a great day, be safe out there, true believers...

-James. M