User Reviews

This episode, which to be fair is an entertaining and good enough story that has most of the usual charm, action, scary monsters and great one-liners and everything, but it was never one of my favourites of the series, precisely because when I was a kid, the Doom Zone "Mighty Max Trapped By Arachnoid" was my absolute favourite out of that particular line of the toys. It was so awesome, it was shaped like a big juicy black widow spider with a purple brain on its back, and I found this episode to be a massive letdown when I first saw it because I really thought they would have made one of the most awesome stories out of the whole gross idea and theme of the play-set, but no, as they say they really "dropped the ball" with this one! None of the giant spiders that appear are very interesting or scary. They're all very well animated and you get the immensity of them, but they're not creepy! They don't have that all-important fun vital 'ick' factor that all monster spiders should, and the villain is so freaking irritating! His voice just becomes increasingly scratchier and more high-pitched as the episode goes on! I couldn't really tell if Rene Auberjonois did all the voice-work himself without any electronic enhancement, but if he did well done! And I also really disliked Dr Kirby's/Arachnoid's character design, I thought it was very weak and average. I suppose it was an interesting approach to have the character starting out somewhat human and becoming more like a humanoid spider as it went on, but he looked so lame! The Doom Zone version of the character was this really cool-looking four-armed purple dude with green buggy eyes! I loved that miniature figurine so much that I had to re-buy the toy several times because I kept losing it! But they just went in a whole other direction than that.. I mean it is an interesting change to see the normally dauntless Norman scared to death of something, and to come up against the deadly blue mammoth spider that - Spoiler Alert!!! he is destined to be slayed by in the final episode. I like how in the story that even though Norman is afraid, he still manages to overcome it enough to save Max, such is the sign of true bravery, when you do what you have to do in spite of fear. I love the comical sequence where Norman freaks out over a tiny spider that lands on him and jumps through the roof and into the home of a poor old couple watching TV and then Max and Virgil follow after him as he busts through their front door! I find it so hilarious when Max mimics Virgil's accent, and when Virgil says the British idiom of "et" instead of "ate", and it's so cute how Virgil sends Max his summons by spelling out the directions in the anchovies on a pizza! The animation of the explosion when the annoying Dr.Kirby is blown up along with his lab building is very impressive, they were always so great at that. Did anyone get the Spiderman reference? Stan Lee and Jack Kirby - Stanley Kirby? Okay, and um..hey see ya, y'all come back now, y'hear! 🕷