[7.1/10] I’ll admit, the messaging annoyed me pretty hard on this one. The show could hardly have hammered home its “Amadeus needs to see villains as people and not just as enemies” point any harder. Every single conversations between Peter and Amadeus hit that note, and it became really tiresome really quickly.
But I actually enjoyed the rest of the episode considerably better. I enjoy Sandman as a villain, not just because his powers lend themselves very well to animation, but because he has a sort of depth and tragedy to his character that, appropriate for that heavy-handed theme, makes him more than just a standard baddie. While the signposting was too much for me, Cho seeing him and realizing that he’s more than just a threat is a good approach.
Granted, the “we’re not so different you and I” routine between Sandman and Iron Spider was pretty cliché in and of itself. Still, the two of them finding common ground over people only seeing them for their powers was a nice insight to bridge the gap.
The rawer plot obstacles were good here too. The threat of multiple sandmen was interesting, and made this situation a little more than just a redo of Spidey’s first sojourn to Sandman beach in season 1. At the same time, the reveal that Doc Ock was trying to control Sandman and create his own soldier out of him added to the tragedy and to the complications of the situation. The fights were well done all around, and I like that Peter and Amadeus had to use their wits, not just their braun, to win the day.
Overall, the aesop was way too loud for my tastes, but the rest of the episode helped make up for that.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2019-03-07T03:04:55Z
[7.1/10] I’ll admit, the messaging annoyed me pretty hard on this one. The show could hardly have hammered home its “Amadeus needs to see villains as people and not just as enemies” point any harder. Every single conversations between Peter and Amadeus hit that note, and it became really tiresome really quickly.
But I actually enjoyed the rest of the episode considerably better. I enjoy Sandman as a villain, not just because his powers lend themselves very well to animation, but because he has a sort of depth and tragedy to his character that, appropriate for that heavy-handed theme, makes him more than just a standard baddie. While the signposting was too much for me, Cho seeing him and realizing that he’s more than just a threat is a good approach.
Granted, the “we’re not so different you and I” routine between Sandman and Iron Spider was pretty cliché in and of itself. Still, the two of them finding common ground over people only seeing them for their powers was a nice insight to bridge the gap.
The rawer plot obstacles were good here too. The threat of multiple sandmen was interesting, and made this situation a little more than just a redo of Spidey’s first sojourn to Sandman beach in season 1. At the same time, the reveal that Doc Ock was trying to control Sandman and create his own soldier out of him added to the tragedy and to the complications of the situation. The fights were well done all around, and I like that Peter and Amadeus had to use their wits, not just their braun, to win the day.
Overall, the aesop was way too loud for my tastes, but the rest of the episode helped make up for that.