roseembolism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roseembolism) wrote2004-06-12 11:22 am
roseembolism) wrote2004-06-12 11:22 am
Reviews are here again- Spiderman TV series
Back from vacation with a review!
I have a friend, who, due to circumstances beyond my ability to duplicate, is able to spend a good part of her income on DVDs. Since she doesn’t have cable, she buys collected sets of TV series that sound interesting to her, and occasionally trucks down to isolated hovel in the middle of the howling wilderness that is Ellwood to show them to me. In this fashion I’ve been keeping up on series such as Stargate, Smallville, CSI, and most recently, Spiderman.
I was surprised at how much I liked Spiderman, though a CGI cartoon took some getting used to. In looks, it reminds me of Crazy Taxi, with a little bit of Jet Grind Radio. Not completely #D, but with 3-D elements. Part of the disconcerting nature of the series is that the movements of the characters still look a but computer-generated- a little too smooth and awkward. However, once I got to thinking "OK, this is a cut-scene from a video game, I could just relax and enjoy the show. Graphics-wise, it is considerably better then most cartoons I've seen on TV- the characters, though stylized, are attractive and individual- in short they look neat. The cartoon has some of the sleekest renditions of some Marvel villains (like Kingpin and The Lizard) that I've seen, in many ways superior to the comic.
And the action sequences show off the advantages of CGI- where in a normal cartoon action sequences tend to be a problem area (Even the Warner's Batman had trouble portraying combat in an exciting manner), Spiderman just lets the computer take over- character roll, dodge, leap- quickly and gracefully. Spiderman even swings and crawls up walls in a similar manner to the big screen movie, leading me to wonder if they used some of the movie's modeling programs for the cartoon.
As for the dialogue, it was a bit stiffer then I would have liked, but much more natural and better written then say, Batman. It is also considerably more mature- I choked when Spiderman asked The Lizard where he could find some tail. This is actually to be expected since the writing team includes Bryan Bendis- known for putting out some very mature, adult oriented comics like Powers. Likewise, the relationships between the characters reflect that maturity. Aside from the staple of Peter's avocation interfering with his romantic life, the friendships between the three main characters- Peter, Mary Jane are handled with depth- you can see the progression of the various missteps in how they deal with each other. It's similar to the angst and drama seen in the comics, but handled more deftly. I found myself engaged in the characters, rather then as I do with the comics, rolling my eyes.
Perhaps I've been seeing too many bad anime, but I enjoyed seeing people in relationships- romantic and friendship- recognizably adult. And it's got cool effects. It's not perfect, by any means. But it is quite good. Check it out!
I have a friend, who, due to circumstances beyond my ability to duplicate, is able to spend a good part of her income on DVDs. Since she doesn’t have cable, she buys collected sets of TV series that sound interesting to her, and occasionally trucks down to isolated hovel in the middle of the howling wilderness that is Ellwood to show them to me. In this fashion I’ve been keeping up on series such as Stargate, Smallville, CSI, and most recently, Spiderman.
I was surprised at how much I liked Spiderman, though a CGI cartoon took some getting used to. In looks, it reminds me of Crazy Taxi, with a little bit of Jet Grind Radio. Not completely #D, but with 3-D elements. Part of the disconcerting nature of the series is that the movements of the characters still look a but computer-generated- a little too smooth and awkward. However, once I got to thinking "OK, this is a cut-scene from a video game, I could just relax and enjoy the show. Graphics-wise, it is considerably better then most cartoons I've seen on TV- the characters, though stylized, are attractive and individual- in short they look neat. The cartoon has some of the sleekest renditions of some Marvel villains (like Kingpin and The Lizard) that I've seen, in many ways superior to the comic.
And the action sequences show off the advantages of CGI- where in a normal cartoon action sequences tend to be a problem area (Even the Warner's Batman had trouble portraying combat in an exciting manner), Spiderman just lets the computer take over- character roll, dodge, leap- quickly and gracefully. Spiderman even swings and crawls up walls in a similar manner to the big screen movie, leading me to wonder if they used some of the movie's modeling programs for the cartoon.
As for the dialogue, it was a bit stiffer then I would have liked, but much more natural and better written then say, Batman. It is also considerably more mature- I choked when Spiderman asked The Lizard where he could find some tail. This is actually to be expected since the writing team includes Bryan Bendis- known for putting out some very mature, adult oriented comics like Powers. Likewise, the relationships between the characters reflect that maturity. Aside from the staple of Peter's avocation interfering with his romantic life, the friendships between the three main characters- Peter, Mary Jane are handled with depth- you can see the progression of the various missteps in how they deal with each other. It's similar to the angst and drama seen in the comics, but handled more deftly. I found myself engaged in the characters, rather then as I do with the comics, rolling my eyes.
Perhaps I've been seeing too many bad anime, but I enjoyed seeing people in relationships- romantic and friendship- recognizably adult. And it's got cool effects. It's not perfect, by any means. But it is quite good. Check it out!