THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: A fitting name!

[LaxScrutiny]

Nice review, Christopher, just a couple things you might of missed...

Eddie Brock may have actually debuted as Venom in this episode. His last words to MJ on the bike were with a VERY different, malevolent voice that was totally Venom. After what they did with Harry I wouldn't ignore that kind of telegraphing. Also, MJ hammering on his back during the reckless ride and Eddie refusing to slow down also shows a significant personality change from the decent, friendly, courageous guy who risked his life to help his friends in earlier episodes. He was risking MJ's life on that ride.

I suspect Eddie may have been exposed to the symbiote in the lab, like it may have split in two, and he's already part Venom.

The other thing, a small one, when Captain Stacey shows up for the final battle, he calls two officers to come with him, one a female named DeWolfe.

 

[Christopher]

Heck I don't even watch Power Rangers anyone. The show has failed to regain the glory days due to its new executive producer who seems to want something to explode every second and dialogue that would make the early years seems like "Shakespeare". Also Disney's interference with the action.

Actually the current season isn't bad, although it's not one of the best.

In the past they could get away with bullets now its.........."laser bullets!"

I don't remember them ever allowing bullets on PR. The violence was always considerably toned down from the Sentai version.

Plus they turned the japanese footage(gekiranger ) to 4:9 aspect ratio when just two years ago japan switched to widescreen format >_> Everything is crammed.

Oh, that explains why some of the shots look compressed.

Nice review, Christopher, just a couple things you might of missed...

I'm amused by the juxtaposition of that sentence with the user name "Lax Scrutiny."

Eddie Brock may have actually debuted as Venom in this episode. His last words to MJ on the bike were with a VERY different, malevolent voice that was totally Venom. After what they did with Harry I wouldn't ignore that kind of telegraphing. Also, MJ hammering on his back during the reckless ride and Eddie refusing to slow down also shows a significant personality change from the decent, friendly, courageous guy who risked his life to help his friends in earlier episodes. He was risking MJ's life on that ride.

I suspect Eddie may have been exposed to the symbiote in the lab, like it may have split in two, and he's already part Venom.

Hmm... it's possible. Maybe that black jacket with white stripes is actually the symbiote? Still, it would be a weird twist to have it split in two like that.

The other thing, a small one, when Captain Stacey shows up for the final battle, he calls two officers to come with him, one a female named DeWolfe.

Yes, the two uniforms with Stacy were Jean DeWolff and Stan Carter, both of whom have been seen before on this show. The producers have boasted about the fact that they haven't needed to create a single original character for this show, since there are so many characters from the comics they can draw on. Although of course they've had to change some of the characters considerably, such as making DeWolff and Carter uniformed officers rather than a precinct captain and a detective (and presumably Officer Carter isn't going to become the Sin-Eater anytime soon). It is appropriate, though, that Carter and DeWolff are involved in the storyline leading to the emergence of Venom.

 

[Anwar]

This is basically a retelling of Spidey from the very beginning, only now they're incorporating elements from every era of 616 Spidey as well as stuff from the movies and Ultimate comics into one cohesive universe.

 

[Christopher]

^^Well, the '90s series and the movies have similarly consolidated elements from throughout Spidey's history. What makes this series distinctive is that it's focusing more on Spidey's high-school years and going for a Lee-Ditko flavor, even when using elements from later in the series.

What has TSSM used from the movies, though? All I can think of is the black costume design. Well, that and the idea of Doc Ock's tentacles changing his personality, and their design including a chip of sorts at the base of the neck.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

What has TSSM used from the movies, though? All I can think of is the black costume design. Well, that and the idea of Doc Ock's tentacles changing his personality, and their design including a chip of sorts at the base of the neck.

They've borrowed a few shots, notably Peter on top of the train from the second film.

 

[Anwar]

In the movies Peter and Harry knew each other in high school, while in the comics they didn't meet until University. There's also the movie design for the symbiote (which is slowly evolving into the classic look).

 

[CaptainCanada]

Well, that and the idea of Doc Ock's tentacles changing his personality, and their design including a chip of sorts at the base of the neck.

I don't recall anyone saying the tentacles affect his personality here.

Anyway, good episode; great fight scenes.

However, I think I can officially point to one thing I don't think this series is handling very well: Eddie. The previous episodes have given him some reasons to think Peter is a jerk, but here it's like the writers flipped a switch and he's now acting like a psychopath.

 

[Anwar]

Yep, here's hoping that "Intervention" will give us more inner glimpses into him and why he's gone so over the edge.

 

[Samurai8472]

In the past they could get away with bullets now its.........."laser bullets!"

I don't remember them ever allowing bullets on PR. The violence was always considerably toned down from the Sentai version.

well in the past they could get away with missiles too. Now every missile has to have a yellow glow surrounding it to obscure it.

At one time Saban wouldn't have to hide something like ninja stars striking an enemy(ninja storm turned them into beams of lasers)

The violence back then didn't feel as neutered as it does now.

 

[Christopher]

In the movies Peter and Harry knew each other in high school, while in the comics they didn't meet until University.

Well, one could say the same about Gwen, MJ, Glory Grant, and Randy Robertson, not to mention all the other more modern characters the show has slotted into Peter's high-school years. I don't see that as being based specifically on the movies.

I don't recall anyone saying the tentacles affect his personality here.

Well, somehow the accident changed his personality from timid nebbish to fierce supervillain. Whether that's the tentacles' influence or brain damage from the explosion or just Ock getting fed up with his life is unclear, but either way, the concept of Octavius's personality changing at the time of the accident owes more to the movie than the comics (although I don't know what happened in the Ultimate version).

However, I think I can officially point to one thing I don't think this series is handling very well: Eddie. The previous episodes have given him some reasons to think Peter is a jerk, but here it's like the writers flipped a switch and he's now acting like a psychopath.

As LaxScrutiny suggested above, there may be a hidden reason for that change.

 

[Gojirob]

Weisman's handling of SSM is heart-breakingly good. Its mythology, full-blooded and effectively retold, something the man knows from some previous show I'd heard tell of.

As to PR, one I've always wanted to see : The entire team, including mentors and 'sixth' Rangers, is captured. The comic relief character(s) learn that in these situations, other teams of prior Rangers help out. But their efforts to summon them fail, leading instead to the comic reliefs throughout the series joining forces, and its just as wrong an ep as you could want--of course, B&S are their leaders.

 

[Christopher]

As to PR, one I've always wanted to see : The entire team, including mentors and 'sixth' Rangers, is captured. The comic relief character(s) learn that in these situations, other teams of prior Rangers help out. But their efforts to summon them fail, leading instead to the comic reliefs throughout the series joining forces, and its just as wrong an ep as you could want--of course, B&S are their leaders.

Of course I'd be happy to see Bulk & Skull again, but what other comic relief characters have we had? I think there was a stretch there in the later Saban years, when the show took a more dramatic turn, where we didn't really get comic-relief characters outside of the villains' cliques. I can't think of any from Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, or Wild Force (and Bulk and the Professor were barely used in Lost Galaxy). And in Ninja Storm it's hard to think of a character who wasn't comic relief. But I guess we've had such characters pretty much annually since then... Cassidy and her cameraman in Dino Thunder, that pangolin-scaled alien con-man in SPD, Phineas and Toby in Mystic Force, Norg in Operation Overdrive, and Fran here. The problem is that the four SPD, MF, and OO characters I mentioned were played by only two actors, so it'd be hard to have them together.

What I'd like to see is a season where the entire regular Ranger team, or at least the initial fivesome, consisted of veteran Rangers from previous seasons. After all, if you're going to assemble a team of Power Rangers, it would make sense to go with people who have experience at the job.

Err, but this is the Spidey thread, so... never mind.

 

[Anwar]

Anyways, something I've had on my mind since I found out they were going to do the symbiote story was basically a series of What Ifs:

What if, aside from Peter this version of Gwen also ended up Venomized? What kind of personality changes would SHE undergo since she seems like one of the most genuinely good people in the series.

Or Harry, instead of taking the Globulin. Then again I've been saying for years that Venom should have been Harry instead of Brock.

Since we've only seen Venomized Peter as Spidey with very little of Venomized Peter at school, how do you think he'll act there now that he's given in more to the suit?

 

[coolghoul]

What has TSSM used from the movies, though? All I can think of is the black costume design. Well, that and the idea of Doc Ock's tentacles changing his personality, and their design including a chip of sorts at the base of the neck.

I am almost certain that most of the comics (some of them are retellings or reimaginings) have had him turn criminal etc. etc. due to the trauma of having the tentacles attached. Are you perhaps talking about the "sentient tentacles" piece?

 

[Christopher]

What has TSSM used from the movies, though? All I can think of is the black costume design. Well, that and the idea of Doc Ock's tentacles changing his personality, and their design including a chip of sorts at the base of the neck.

I am almost certain that most of the comics (some of them are retellings or reimaginings) have had him turn criminal etc. etc. due to the trauma of having the tentacles attached.

Well, yes, I know, but the point is that in the comics (at least the more modern comics exploring his backstory), Octavius is portrayed as someone who was arrogant, imperious, and borderline-sociopathic even before the accident. Even though he wasn't a criminal before then, his personality wasn't that much different. Actually the original story in Amazing Spider-Man #3 did say that the accident caused Ock some brain damage, but it didn't really establish anything about his character before the accident, aside from his brilliance.

But the movie shows an Octavius who's a decent, avuncular guy until the tentacles take over his mind, and TSSM shows an Octavius who's very timid and repressed until the accident unleashes his inner rage. So both have taken the approach that his personality became the polar opposite of what it had been (albeit in different ways), while his personality change in the comics was considerably less extreme.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

TV Guide mention of the upcoming eppy with a pic of Venom
http://community.tvguide.com/blog/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Todays-News/700000044

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Congrats to George.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Yes congrats! Scroll down a little...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I know, I was just being silly.

Here's the permalink.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ I know that too. Thanks for the updated link, I missed that. I just thought it was kind of cool seeing it in something as mainsteam as TV Guide.