Spider-Man

Spidey on TV has always suffered from being intended for children, and blatant cases of cheesiness, and that was a part of the appeal of it. Recently however, they've come out with a new Spider formula: more mature, having characters die on screen, insanity, and dealing with a broad range of new subject matter like sex, violence, drug abuse, and murder. This show is Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (or MTV Spider-Man).

Being done in full cell shading animation, it loosely follows up on the events of the first Spider-Man movie, following Peter Parkers life as he tries to deal with college, women, life, and his responsibility of being Spider-Man. The 13 eps. series flows in a somewhat sequestered format, with each eps being cut off from the others, aside from a few exceptions (a new love interest being introduced halfway through, and the 2-part series finale), which takes away from the feel that you're watching Pete's life go on, since his actions in one eps don't necessarily reflect in any of the others. But overall it works to establish the villains which show up in every eps.

As said, there is a villain appearance in each eps, ranging from a college girl obsessed with Spider-Man, to Russian terrorists, to telepathic twins. Of course some of your old favorites make an appearance such as Kingpin, The Lizard, and Electro to name a few, though not all of them are handled appropriately. For example, Kingpin, who's basically the nexus with which all crime in New York revolves around, comes off as no more dangerous than a somewhat successful crime boss. While others, such as Electro and The Lizard, are almost epic in their presentation. Both of which will tempt a tear to be released if not making you cry openly.

The voice acting is decent, with Spidey sounding appropriate and having a good hint of silly sarcasm to his voice, but the problem is he doesn't really change it. In some serious scenes, it just doesn't sound much different than when he's taunting a villain, only in a slightly lower tone. The real shining voicework comes from the one-shot villains. Particularly from Rob Zombie as Dr. Kurt Conners and Kathy Griffin as Roxanne (a telepathic twin). Both giving amazing performances and convey their characters marvelously. Especially Kathy Griffin, who doesn't seem like she would be the type to play a psychotic killer at all, but her voice fits amazingly well. One special note I'd like to make is about Ethan Embry who plays Max Dillon/Electro. While his performance isn't really anything special in the first half of his eps, once he becomes Electro his quality skyrockets. With 2 lines being given by him that are the 2 most memorable, and emotionally stirring in the entire series:

• No one is innocent!! NO ONE!! - Spidey: I know.. what it's like!! Electro: No.. you.. don't!!

It's not the lines themselves, but the way that they are said that just rips your heart out. The second line never fails to make me close my eyes and turn away slightly at his pain no matter how many times I see it. It's just that well delivered. You need to listen to it in order to understand what I mean, words can't explain it.

Overall, this is a well made Spider-man series with a more mature twist than what we're expecting to see from a spidey series. Though not without it's flaws (reuse of 3-4 people designs as extras continuously, repetition of Spidey's catch phrase "seriously.. ow!", etc.) it's definitely a worthy addition to the Spidey franchise, and is definitely worth a look if you're at all interested in your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.

I was very impressed with this show when I first viewed it on MTV. As a Spider-Man fan, I was intrigued by the changes made here with the characters from Spidey's comic history, but find them all acceptable. Of course, after I found out the Ultimate Spider-Man comic team was responsible for the series, that explained the changes.

I have no problem with the series at all except one. I hear it may not be continued. As Mr. Damien says in the Shikata episode, "Why in the hell not?" This series really captures the spirit of Spider-Man and the animation dazzles, in my opinion. If MTV is not going to continue the series, then I would sincerely hope that another network will. It would be a shame to have this die a premature death.

I've never been too much of a Spider Man fan. I've never seen the movie the whole way through. But this show this amazing! I love it! I mean this is not emmy material, but it is just pure fun! I'm hooked in it's web!

A-

I've always liked Spider-Man, and I have always enjoyed this show. Maybe it is not as good as the 90s series, but it is a hundred times better than Spider-Man Unlimited. It does have its problems, the show's ending did feel rushed and the Kingpin is rather bland this time around, too much of the standard crime boss sort of character. You also do wish that Aunt May was involved in this series, she always had that heart-warming sincerity and care for Peter that I think would have balanced the tone of the story lines even more if she was included. There is also not enough Jameson. That said, when I first saw the show I saw potential and on the most part the potential is lived up to. Having Spider-Man in computer-animation may be a shock to the system for some, but while I am a traditional-animation fan myself I really liked the animation here. The character designs are very well defined and the backgrounds are full of atmospheric colours and detail. The music is hauntingly beautiful, with a simply awesome theme tune. The writing is intelligent, thought-provoking and even Peter's wise-cracks raises some amusement, while the story lines have a very dark centre to them with the themes and the violence but does so in a way that does hit you hard but not in a heavy-handed way. The action sequences are very exciting, while of the villains Electro, Roxanne and especially the Lizard stand out. Kraven also intrigued me. The voice acting I think is very good, Neil Patrick Harris not only conveys Spider-Man's broodiness but also with the wise-cracks he gives a quirkier side as well, in short he makes the character his own while never deviating too far from it. Michael Clarke Duncan does do a fine job with the Kingpin, I just wish that the character was more interesting. Kathy Griffin as Roxanne is brilliant, as is Ethan Embry as Electro, and Rob Zombie gives a menacing and poignant edge. All in all, a very good show that should have lasted longer. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Well, Spider-man stars in his first decent cartoon since '94. The show's actually pretty good, it's basically focusing on Peter's college days, as well as his friendship with Harry and relationship with Mary Jane. The final episode ended on a real cliffhanger, I hope it's continued. The "new" villains are pretty interesting, and it's cool seeing Kraven the Hunter, voiced by Micheal Dorn, and Kingpin, voiced by Micheal Clarke Duncan, who also played him in the Daredevil movie. As I said, hopefully this show is continued, because the ending made me want to see more!

I mean, it's new for MTV to show some actually INTELLIGENT programming. Maybe that's why it ended though, since the "Jackass," fans couldn't fathom something that intelligent.