[7.4/10] I’m not sure why I enjoyed this one so much more than the Dr. Octopus episode, to be honest. It’s the same basic setup -- villain attacks the city, Spider-Man realizes he has a connection and flashes back to some important moments in his development, then Spider-Man saves the day and the hostages.
But something about this just clicked better. Maybe it’s because it goes for those parts of the Spider-Man mythos that have been dramatized in the first two Sam Raimi films, namely the incident with the robber at the pro-wrestling event who would go on to kill Uncle Ben, and Spider-Man giving up the superhero gig only to come back when he realizes the importance of that whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing. Those are the lodestones of Spider-Man in a lot of ways, and so it’s heartening to see the show do them, however briefly.
Mysterio also gives the designers and animators opportunity to have fun with the stunt guy’s tricks and illusions. Spider-Man diving into a mechanical T-Rex or following a yellow-brick road, or other wild images are a lot of fun. I also appreciated the introduction of the policewoman who (a.) seems to be an able and dogged officer and (b.) believes that Spider-Man is good and stands for good values, as an ally. The Mary Jane material gets tiresome even in small doses, but it’s a minimal part of the episode.
Overall, this one has the same exposition and flashback problems as the last episode, but the execution is better, and touches on central parts of the Spider-Man mythos that elevate it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-01-09T00:41:55Z
[7.4/10] I’m not sure why I enjoyed this one so much more than the Dr. Octopus episode, to be honest. It’s the same basic setup -- villain attacks the city, Spider-Man realizes he has a connection and flashes back to some important moments in his development, then Spider-Man saves the day and the hostages.
But something about this just clicked better. Maybe it’s because it goes for those parts of the Spider-Man mythos that have been dramatized in the first two Sam Raimi films, namely the incident with the robber at the pro-wrestling event who would go on to kill Uncle Ben, and Spider-Man giving up the superhero gig only to come back when he realizes the importance of that whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing. Those are the lodestones of Spider-Man in a lot of ways, and so it’s heartening to see the show do them, however briefly.
Mysterio also gives the designers and animators opportunity to have fun with the stunt guy’s tricks and illusions. Spider-Man diving into a mechanical T-Rex or following a yellow-brick road, or other wild images are a lot of fun. I also appreciated the introduction of the policewoman who (a.) seems to be an able and dogged officer and (b.) believes that Spider-Man is good and stands for good values, as an ally. The Mary Jane material gets tiresome even in small doses, but it’s a minimal part of the episode.
Overall, this one has the same exposition and flashback problems as the last episode, but the execution is better, and touches on central parts of the Spider-Man mythos that elevate it.