2008
Cobbled together from the first three episodes of the Kids WB! Series, "The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard" captures spirit of the original comics and, to a lesser degree, Sam Raimi's blockbuster films, with Peter Parker overwhelmed with giddiness at the power to swing through the air. Wouldn't every kid?
This feature-length film (well, if you count 70 minutes as feature-length) is geared toward younger viewers, so Mary Jane is more of a friend than a girlfriend, and violence is minimal as he takes on the titular Lizard, plus Electro and The Vulture.
Character design is this program's best asset. Its animation is not ultra-smooth, but far better than the cheap, clunky mid-Nineties Fox series and the utterly unwatchable, short-lived MTV attempt in 2003. The voice work is completely competent, although nothing special. Same goes for the film as a whole; however, I suspect its intended audience "? for whom the big-budget movies may be just a tad too scary and intense "? would lap it up like Cap'n Crunch.
The DVD features a music video, which is little more than scenes from the show set to a studio-slick theme song. In other words, skippable. Head the kids directly to the main feature, and prepare to hear it from the next room, over and over for several days.
"?Rod Lott
