Agents and Marketers Movie Reviews

Spider-Man swings again.

Over the course of his forty year existence, there have been many different animated incarnations of the classic Marvel Comics superhero on televison. The first "Spider-Man" series produced by Krantz Animation (in its first season) and Ralph Bakshi (in the second and third seasons) from 1967-1970 turned out to be a seminal favorite among fans. Although the animation was limited, the cartoon featured character designs which held close to the John Romita comic book artwork from the 60's, tripped-out visuals and the ever-famous title song ("Spider-Man, Spider-Man ... does whatever a spider can! ... Look out! There goes a Spider-Man!"). This was followed by "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" in the early eighties, another 80's solo series from the same production team focusing on his solo adventures, and the seriously flawed FOX television series from the nineties.

After much fanfare as well as a few delays, the latest "Spider-Man" series was broadcast on MTV in the summer of 2003 -- and the entire first season is collected here in this special edition DVD set. Naturally, there was plenty for fans of the wall crawler to enjoy as the episodes followed the adventures of mild-mannered college student Peter Parker, who leads a double life as the costumed crime-fighter, Spider-Man. By using a process called "cel shading" on computer generated characters, the animators of the show were able to incorporate the viewer in a collection of dizzying web-slinging sequences and action scenes like never before. Finally, here was a cartoon where Spider-Man actually moved (and swung above the streets of New York City) as he should -- along with delivering a few amusing, choice wisecracks in between punches.

But the series also was hampered by several glaring flaws -- including a few obvious limitations inherent in the techniques used by Mainframe Animation (i.e. the characters often look and move like disturbing mannequins, their clothes seem as though they were painted on their bodies, etc). There were also some serious drawbacks in terms of the overall creative execution of the series. The storylines unfortunately tried to capture a "Dawson's Creek" atmosphere in terms of the relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, and this often felt extraordinarily trite. Classic villains (aside from the updated Electro, Kraven, Kingpin, and the Lizard) were often ignored in favor of new, younger, and sillier adversaries. The ragged pacing often went into overdrive too often, the writing sometimes would get repetitious (think of all the scenes where these college kids are drinking coffee), and there was also an annoying cliche of having Peter Parker "instantly" change from his street clothes to his Spider-Man costume inside of a split second (and always off-screen as well). This literally happens three times in the episode "DisSabled," and at several other points in the series. Apparently, producers Morgan Gendel and Rick Ungar thought Spider-Man had the same abilities as the Flash -- or that Peter changing to Spidey should be treated exactly like a video game.

There were also frustrating reports that MTV had demanded that almost no old people appear on the series (since their audience supposedly "didn't like seeing old people"), which led to a complete dismissal of Aunt May -- a terrible mistake considering her impact on Peter's life and the decisions he makes -- and the scaling back of J. Jonah Jameson as a major character. There also seemed to be a massive attempt to "hip up" Peter Parker and his world -- with very mixed results. Favorite characters from the comic books including Gwen Stacey, Betty Brandt, Robbie Robertson and Flash Thompson either appeared once in the first season or were almost unanimously dropped in favor of forgettable romantic interests like budding TV reporter "Indy."

Brian Michael Bendis (of "Ultimate Spider-Man" fame) is credited as executive producer, but his talents are barely felt in this series -- outside of a single episode entitled "The Party."

Despite this, fans of the characters and young kids will find enough here to enjoy. There is some violence and mature themes, but nothing for parents to worry about. The entire first season and extras are certainly worth the DVD's price, and some fans may not mind the problems that I've listed here. Hopefully, a second season on a different network will allow the producers of this series to correct the missteps of this first season -- and give the public a definitive Spider-Man cartoon series. Until then, this first season DVD will certainly suffice.

First off, I'm a huge spider-man fan. I heard about this upcoming mtv series very early on and was in front of my tv for the premiere, and for the following few weeks. What I found when I tuned in was a beautifully animated show, with some nice ideas and characters, that ultimately fell short because of its scripts. The major problem with Spider-man the tv show was that it was a half hour in length. This gave the writers zero time to get you to the villian, have them fight spider-man, and then come to a resolution. Because of this alot of the episodes felt rushed, and alot of the endings were over the top. It's hard to end an episode in 5 min without making it seem like a really cheesy way to defeat a super villian. Maybe if it was an hour long like the much acclaimed smallville, it would have had a chance to flesh out its stories. But as it is the series fell short of expectations, and fell off of my tv radar.

This was the most perfect Spider-Man series of any yet made. Though it lacked the jazzy tunes of the original sixties series ;-), it far surpassed the convoluted mess that Marvel gave us in the early 90s.

With Brian Michael Bendis as an executive producer, how could this not be good? The visuals were excellent, lending a nifty neo-comic-book feel to the environments. The stories were inventive, coming up with some nifty new spins on classic pieces of the Spidey mythos. The best revision, of course, was that written by the not-infalliable-but-close BMB himself; taking the one-d villain Electro in a direction different from either the main or Ultimate comics stories but no less entertaining.

The Legion of Super Voice-Actors is in great form here: Neil Harris, Lisa Loeb, and Ian Ziering turn in performances that are almost always sonically superior to Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco respectively. The guest stars shine, most notably Stan "the Man" Lee himself as Ezekiel (or whatever they called him, the guy who advised Peter to kill Kraven).

In short, if you're any sort of Spider-Man fan and you didn't catch it the first time around, I highly recommend purchasing the DVD of this series. It's something for everyone: a continuation of the movie in bite-size chunks, an animated adaptation of Ultimate Spider-Man, a way to get pumped for 2004's Spider-Man 2, and just a rollicking great cartoon all around. Five stars.

A single caveat: If you didn't know, this cartoon originally aired on MTV. With that sort of a target audience in mind, it should be no surprise that they made this series

UNSUITABLE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN.

If you're a parent who considered 2002's Spider-Man movie too intense for your child (as many, quite reasonably, did) this series is not a wise investment. Rather, find some of the other fine animated Spider-Man DVDs avaliable on Amazon.com- the ones you're looking for say (Animated), in parentheses, after the title, and are suitable for all ages.

this is a poorly made version of a classic. though the actors are well known they sure know how to pick movie parts. Famke Janssen(Deep Rising) is very bitchy in this one and when she got hers I was satisfyed. I liked the fact that Taye Diggs(New Best Friend) and Ali Larter(American Outlaws) survived because they were the best people in that movie. Chris Kattan(Corky Romano), Geoffrey Rush(MysteryMen), Bridgette Wilson(I Know What You Did Last Summer), Peter Gallagher(tv's The O.C.), Max Perlich(Drugstore Cowboy and tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Lisa Loeb(the singer), Jeffrey Combs(Re-Animator 1,2&3) and James Marsters(Spike on Tv's Buffy The Vampire Slayer) also costar. the slayings are somewhat disgusting, the dialouge suck and some good actors are wasted playing dumb roles.

Amusement Park developer Steven Price throws a birthday bash for his venomous wife at the notorious House on Haunted Hill, a former lunatic asylum. Price has invited numerous greedy guests with the promise of a cool million for anyone that survives the night. Trouble is that the house's very real ghosts trash the party and begin offing the guests.

When taken as a simple thrill ride House on Haunted Hill delivers some wonderfully creepy and disturbing moments, but the movie does suffer from fuzzy character development and plot holes big enough to fit the house itself. What it most resembles is a feature length episode of HBO's now defunct Tales From the Crypt, not surprising when you consider that the producers and director both worked on the show. Still it makes for a great Halloween party movie. Recommended.

This film could have been called "Who wants to stay in a haunted house and be a millionaire?" Based on the 1958 classic by the same name, the 1999 version is a heart pounding, edge of you seat update. In one of the more interesting extras, a comparison made between the two "houses" reveals the similarities and differences between the two. The 1955 version comes off more like a comedy then a "horror classic." Making for this interesting question "how hokey will today's special effects look in the year 2040?" One thing that we can be sure of, is that this DVD will still look and sound very good, even forty years from now. In his role of a theme park designer, Steven B. Price is a master of illusion. And, his newest park creation is living proof. Unfortunately, for him though, his life is really the biggest of illusion of all. You see his wife married him simply for money, but due to a pre-nuptial agreement can't divorce him. Her efforts to kill him have been, to date, unsuccessful. Her upcoming birthday may just provide the opportunity that she is looking for, or will her husband get the last laugh. Enter the real star of this picture, the house on house on the hill. It is a house with a rich and sorted history. A one time mental institution, were strange experiments and ultimately mass killings took place many years ago, leaving this house with the stigma of crazed death. Is this house truly haunted, or just a victim of its sorted past? Either way, it would be hard to think of a spookier place to host a birthday party for your estranged spouse. Then we meet our five unwilling partygoers, a group of strangers, strangers to each other and even to their eccentric hosts. Why would they spend the night in this creepy house? Trust me there are five million reasons. What makes a horror movie really work? More than any other single element, the creepy sound effects can make or break the mood of the film. The 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack on this DVD, is more than adequate to accomplish this goal. The house's daemons will come at you from all directions, at a heart pounding pace and with gut retching bass. If you are planning a mystery murder party for a few intimate friends, you may want to use this DVD to get a few hints. Even if a twisted party is not in your future, House on a Haunted Hill will provide you with a healthy scare. And you think that you have some bones in your closet . . .