The Spectacular Spider-Man – Attack Of The Lizard (Marvel/Sony Wonder DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C- Main Program: C+
After
running out of non-age specific places to take their most successful
characters, Marvel and DC Comics decided to create animated series specifically
to be child-safe and appeal to young new audiences. As The
Batman winds down for DC, The
Spectacular Spider-Man is the most child-friendly TV version of the
web-shooter since Spidey Super Stories
was a live action adjunct to The
Electric Company. Attack Of The Lizard is a nearly
feature-length (70 minutes) version of the new series and is not a bad story.
As The
Lizard becomes one of the next possible villains for the big budget, big screen
version of the character, this is an interesting, colorful, fun, pleasant
variant and more effective than the CG animated version of the show. Aunt May is younger than she had been in
previous incarnations and we also get Electro to boot. The show is not, however, as effective as the
last round of animated Spidey adventures as exemplified by this DVD release:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2455/Spider-Man:+The+Venom+Saga
That show
did come up with an excellent Lizard show worthy of the Batman - The Animated Series Mr. Freeze classic Heart Of Ice, but this new incarnation
works just fine for what it is and die hard fans and young new fans alike will
have little to complain about.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is pretty good color wise, but a little softer than a
brand new production should be. Clean
and consistent, this is unfortunate and makes me curious about a Blu-ray
version. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix does
offer a good soundfield and is not overly loud or aggressive, but is better
than most animated TV fare we’ve covered lately. The only extras, unfortunately, are a Music
Video and previews.
- Nicholas Sheffo
