Spider-Man: Spider-Man Strikes Back

The second of the three Nicholas Hammond Spider-Man 'Movies' was originally a two part story named 'The Deadly Dust'.

The story gets off to an interesting good start with Spider-Man rescuing a woman who was going to commit suicide by jumping off a ledge.  It's not the most pacy of action sequences, but it keeps your attention. This gets the attention of the editor of the Weekly Examiner newspaper, based in Miami. This editor assigns the journalist Gale Hoffman to investigate Spider-Man.

Back in New York, one of Peter's Professor announces that he is bringing plutonium to the college for a demonstration. Peter and the other students are understandably worried about this decision. Three students decide that the best way the dangers of the plutonium is to steal the plutonium. Spider-Man interferes and naturally gets the blame. The students decide to one up their stupidity by building an actual bomb. These numpties entirely deserve what comes to them.

Meanwhile, in Switzerland, the mysterious Mr White, who gets a hilarious introduction being bathed by beautiful ladies before showing off his karate skills. He reads about the plutonium theft and travels to New York to obtain it.

One of the students, inevitably fall ill and the device is stolen by Mr White's henchmen. Peter Parker attempts to track down the plutonium. Gale Hoffman acts as a chain around his neck. The story often resembles a farce, with Peter having to change in and out of costume without being noticed and come up with excuses for using the Spider-Tracer or being absent from  situations where Spider-Man is present.

Mr. White getting away and vows revenge on Spider-Man, though this doesn't lead anywhere since the character apparently never returned in the TV series.

Overall, this is a decent enough piece and I would argue the best of the three films. There is little to no web swinging, and the scenes of Miami and Switzerland are obviously stock footage, but as with other shows like the original run of Doctor Who, at least there is some sense of ambition behind this. Although scenes are long, most of them at least lead somewhere without relying on padding.  The director also has a sense of humour, making the cut between the students boiling the plutonium and Peter boiling a kettle of water. We also get the scene of J Jonah Jameson riding around on a tricycle.

The cast are decent enough. Nicholas Hammond continues to be a decent Peter and Spider-Man.
Robbie Robertson has been replaced by Rita, played by Chip Fields. Although it's a shame to lose a Marvel character, Rita is likable enough to be a worthwhile replacement.Mr White is a fairly two dimensional villain, but the fact that he can do karate at least means he is a more physical villain than the one in the previous film.

Of the three Spider-Man films I would say this is my favourite. There is no origin story to slow the pace down.

7/10

Spider-Man: The Amazing Spider-Man

With Spider-Man due to return to our screens in Homecoming, now felt like as good a time as any to take a look back at the very first live action spider-man: Nicholas Hammond.

The Amazing Spider-Man is the first of three 'movies' which were adapted from the 1977 live action TV show. It came out roughly around the same time as the Incredible Hulk TV series. But while the exploits of David Banner have been repeated, the Spider-Man TV show has rarely been broadcast in the UK at leasts. Most people know about this show through the VHS releases in the 80s and 90s.

Adaptions always make changes, sometimes for necessity and other times because of the whims of creators. The origin story for this Spider-Man is somewhat different. Peter is already a college student when he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. There's no high school setting and no Uncle Ben. Peter decides to become Spider-Man because he can, and because he can make money selling photos of himself as Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle. Only J Jonah Jameson and Robbie are somewhat reminiscent of the originals. May Parker is in this, but with no Uncle Ben her plight is diminished.

Trying to make Spider-Man look convincing on a 1970s TV budget, does prove to be a struggle. Spider-Man climbing up and down the wall was achieved as well as possible, but is obviously using back projection. Webbing is basically just a rope and Spider-Man can't really web swing around the city. In fairness the production team do try to make the effort.

The plot revolves around a self-help guru, who is brainwashes his patients. At one point these people are brainwashed to jump off the Empire State Building, a very similar scene to one in the Doctor Who story, The Christmas Invasion. Ultimately Spider-Man saves the day. It''s a pity that Spider-Man could not have been given better enemy to fight. None of the live action series had any supervillains but they could at least have used someone like the Kingpin or Silvermane.

Nicholas Hammond is pretty good as Peter Parker. He has the kind of awkwardness that is needed for the role. It was also nice to see that his image was recycled for the 1994 animated series. The rest of the cast are decent in their roles.

7/10

Doctor Who: A Time for Heroes

It's great when Doctor Who has the short, specially made teaser trailers. While it's fun to see footage from upcoming episodes, it's always nice to see that the production team have spent time and effort creating something unique. The images from these trailers usually stick in the mind, like the Ninth Doctor running away from a fireball in the Series One trailer, the Tardis parked on an icy landscape on the Series Two trailer, or that weird scene of the Eleventh Doctor and Amy falling through the time vortex in the 3 trailer to Series Five. They've also produced memorable catchphrases to sum up their series, including 'a trip of a lifetime'  or 'all of time and space.' These trailers have become less frequent

The catchphrase this time round is 'A Time For Heroes', the heroes in question being the Doctor, Bill and Nardole. Bill gets to provides the narration for this trailer which is good. The companion should be the viewpoint character and this is something that was a bit lost with Clara. Bill's little speech successfully gets across all the little aspects of travelling with the Doctor. He can be dangerous but also, more importantly, fun. The way she smiles at the Doctor suggests that she is certainly going to be having a great time, which may help the audience to have one as well.

The Twelfth Doctor looks grim and determined. When he uses his sonic screwdriver to blow up a lamp bulb, it suggests someone you can cross at your peril.Seeing him here, I once again feel disappointed that we are only thirteen episodes away from his departure. Although this incarnation has mellowed since Deep Breath, it is a relief to see see that his dark side may not have disappeared completely.

With the emphasis being on Bill and the Doctor, Nardole doesn't get much to do here other than look terrified at his surroundings. I'm fine with that as long as there's more to him in the series proper The Return of Dr Mysterio showed that the character had a more inciteful side, which I hope will continue to be developed.

The trailer ends with a blue energy field rushing towards our heroes. Inside that field appear to be the faces of monsters who will be turning up. Among them seems to be a variant of Ice Warrior, who's return was announced earlier this month. There is rumored to be some kind of Ice Warrior Queen, which should be an interesting new addition.

It was short and sweet but certainly made Series Ten look more promising. If it's better than the lacklustre advertisign campaign of Series Nine then it will have done right in my book.