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.

Number Twelve Prepares to Depart

Oh no. Not again.

Last night, durng a BBC Radio 2 interview, Peter Capaldi revealed to Jo Whiley that he will be leaving Doctor Who after completing work on the 2017 Christmas Special.

It's not a complete surprise, of course. Fans have speculated that this might happen ever since Steven Moffatt's departure was announced. Then, when the news broke that Brian Minchin was leaving as well, it felt increasingly likely that Peter Capaldi would leave along with them. Nevertheless it was sad to hear Peter confirming the truth. Couldn't Peter have stayed on for just one more year? He could have been the one to break the modern trend of doing three series with occasional specials. I knew it was unlikely that Peter would, or even should, try to surpass Tom Baker's seven year run but I had hoped he would attempt to stay five years like Jon Pertwee did. Oh well. There's no point worrying about that now.

Peter Capaldi was the perfect casting choice for the role of the Doctor. Some actors take time to settle into the role, but Peter was one who got it right in his very first story. As a fan of the show from long ago, he'd seen the work of previous Doctors, taken the best aspects of their performances, and incorporated them into his own unique take. It might have seemed risky to cast an older actor, after the last two were so young, but it had the benefit of letting us see the age of the Doctor, while Peter continues to pull off the practical stunts of a younger man.  His replacement will have big shoes to fill.

How will people remember the Twelfth Doctor? It would take quite a while to cover the sheer range of what his Doctor has done. Perhaps people will remember his angry pleading when making his speech in the Zygon Invasion, the grieving, angry man in Heaven Sent, or the determined, the mad old man who played a guitar on a tank in The Magician's Apprentice, or the ruthless man who confronted Half-Faced man in Deep Breath. There are so many moments to choose from.

Peter has also been great off  screen as well. There have been countless images of him on twitter, signing autographs and posing with the fans he meets on location. His mind may have been on more important matters like the actual filming but he never let it show. We've been lucky to have had such a great ambassador for the show. It's very unlikely we'll get another Doctor who has fond memories of The Web Planet.

Of course, we have to remember that there is still a third series and one special to go. The Twelfth Doctor's era has been great so far and the last two series have been, in this blogger's opinion, the best that Steven Moffat has produced.  Hopefully, Series Ten will reach the same heights as the previous two and the 2017 Christmas Special will give Peter the brilliant send-off that he deserves. After that it will be interesting to see what Peter does next. I wish him well in whatever he does.

RIP John Hurt

It was sad to hear that John Hurt has passed away. This is a great loss for the acting world. It's easy to remember him for his role in genre franchises. Harry Potter fans remember him as the actor who played Olivander. Alien fans remember him as Kane. Doctor Who fans like me are likely to remember him as the War Doctor. But let’s not forget that there was so much more to his career than these roles. 

For me personally, his best role was his take on the Emperor Caligula in I Claudius. While John Hurt may not have had the physical presence of Brian Blessed’s Augustus or George Baker’s Tiberius, his Caligula stands out through the power of his voice. He plays the genuinely unhinged, switching from kind to cruel in an instant, alternating between being funny and frightening in his callous attitude to others. The scene where Caligula climbs into bed with his dying grandmother was well judged by Hurt, along with all of the other suggestions by the actor to make the character more distasteful.

Another notable performance was as Quentin Crisp at different stages of that man’s life in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York. There was also Merrick in The Elephant Man and as Max in Midnight Express. I could go on just listing his different notable performances. He was always great to watch and always lifted the quality of whatever it was he starred in. My heart goes out for his closest friends and family.

Sherlock 4x03: The Final Problem

Who is Eurus Holmes? What is the significance of Redbeard to Sherlock? What is the purpose behind Moriarty’s video messages? Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have set up the first question this series while the other two go back to Series Three. It's time for answers and The Final Problem attempt to address all of them. While the episode certainly answers the questions, the answers themselves are not altogether satisfactory.

The Final Problem has a fantastic premise. Sherlock, John and Mycroft visit Sherrinford, an island fortress, to find out how Eurus has been leaving her cell. When they arrive they fall into a trap set by Eurus, who has manipulated the prison staff so that she can take over the prison. Sherlock, John and Mycroft are now forced to solve puzzles which challenge their ethics in order to save the life of a girl who is trapped on a plane without a pilot. It sounds like an interesting plot but the longer it goes on, the more it starts to fall apart.

Eurus Holmes turns out to be a largely disappointing character. We're told that her intelligence surpasses Sherlock and Mycroft, but here she uses that intelligence in a boring way. She's supposed to be able to manipulate people through words but it's fairly standard Hannibal Lector stuff. Sian Brookes is good but this week but playing cod psychopath gives her little range to work with. Her character doesn't quite add up either. If she’s imprisoned and isolated since her youth then where did she get the education to make her deduce threats to Britain? Her motives are also a little poor. Her reason for committing all these crimes is that she just wants a hug feels trite and no consolation to the families of her victims.

The puzzles set by Euros for her siblings feel dull. The three heroes move to one room, solve the mystery and then move on to the next, like some kind of reality tv game. It’s a structure borrowed from The Great Game but focused more on Sherlock's emotional decisions rather than his deductive skills. It does not come off as well as that previous episode  because all the puzzles are taking place within the same claustrophobic and dull locations. Getting Sherlock, John or Mycroft to kill the prison warden was a neat idea but when John and Mycroft are threatened there is little to no reason to care since we know, instinctively that Sherlock and John are unlikely to die. The most effective puzzle involves getting Molly to say she loves Sherlock. This is because it is cathartic for viewers who have waited for a similar revelation.

The return of Moriarty via video recordings wasn't particularly exciting. It felt more like an obligatory appearance to tie up a loose plot thread. Having Eurus and Moriarty working together came at the detriment of both characters. The Final Problem ends up giving the impression that Eurus was the true power behind Moriarty, even though I don't think this was intentional. Still, it was good to see Andrew Scott again playing the living Moriarty in a flashback sequence.

The final act at Musgrave House was probably better in the sense that the tension was higher but there was still two wobbly plot revelations to go. When Eurus revealed that Redbeard was a childhood friend of Sherlock's, it didn't have the impact it should. It's actually easier to feel more sorry for the dog because we've seen it in several flashbacks in previous episodes. The child’s relationship with Sherlock is too vague. As with the girl on the plane, just having a child in danger is not enough in itself to be scary. We have to care about the child otherwise it's just cheap audience manipulation. The little girl was actually the manifestation of Euros’ madness all along. I guessed that the plane itself was fake due to the amount of time it took for the plane to crash but the actual identity of the little girl feels like a cheat because the girl is played by a different actor to the young Eurus in other flashback scenes. It might have felt more fair if we'd only heard her voice.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The best bit was seeing more of Mycroft. We see his deductive reasoning and the disguise as the sailor and his feelings towards his other siblings. The final scene of Sherlock's parents calling Sherlock the grown up were good.

The final scene was nice. Seeing Sherlock and John solving regular mysteries made me feel sad that we never get to see this. Having Sherlock be a series of movies is a double-edged sword. It means there is less padding but sometimes it feels like we miss the fun of a straightforward case. By the end, Molly is back to being nice with no real transition from her previous sadness. Still, seeing Sherlock and John running out of 'Rathbone place' was funny. This epilogue certainly makes it feel like Sherlock has come to an end but it doesn't have to be. Steven Moffat and Mark gatiss could still do more specials like David Renwick does with Jonathan Creek. This would make it easier for Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to take a break and only do a few weeks.

It's perhaps not the best way the series could have ended. There were decent few moments peppered through a script which could and should have been much, much better. Still, it doesn't cancel out the fact that the show as a whole has been great. Here's hoping there's more to come.

5/10

Sherlock 4x02: The Lying Detective

The sense of darkening mood that began in the last episode is followed through in this episode. John is still attempting to cope with Mary's death. Meanwhile, Sherlock is having to find a way to get his friend back and keep his promise to Mary. In order to fulfil this promise, Sherlock takes the case of Culverton Smith a man who claims to be a killer. This is all part of a scheme by Sherlock to bring himself close to death so that John Watson has to save him, all as Mary had planned it.

Culverton Smith, has been appearing in the show trailers, leading some to imagine that he would be a master criminal on the level of Moriaty and Magnusson. In actuality, Smith turns out to be far more banal, far more real type of evil. A philanthropist with a northern accent, who gets up to nasty things in a hospital is certainly familiar type of person to people in Britain. Smith's friendship with the Queen is very similar to a certain TV host's relationship with the first British Prime Minister. In many ways you wonder what else he is up to other than serial killing.

Sherlock nonetheless gets Culverton to confess --- a theme of the episode. John confesses to Sherlock about the death of Mary. In a cynical turn, Culverton enjoys his confessions and thinks they will make him more popular. Only Mycroft does not confess to a secret sibling and it looks as though next week will pay the price for it.

The reveal that Sherlock's secret sibling is actually a sister, Euros, was an interesting twist.  The actor did a really good job revealing that she was disguised as Watson's fling, Smith's daughter and John's psychiatrist. Her agenda will surely be revealled next week.

Benedict Coumberbatch did a good job playing a drug addled Sherlock. Martin Freeman expressed the grief of John Watson well enough.

A highlight of the episode was Una Stubbs as Miss Hudson, who gets to hold Sherlock at gunpoint and drive a fast car. For the first time in a while Steven Moffat address the backstory of her having a drug lord husband. It was also nice to see the return of Billie Wiggins, providing Sherlock with drugs yet again.

9/10