Batman: The Great Train Robbery

"You cheated! You know we ain't no good in a fair fight!"

Just to recap, before I discuss this splendid episode... I've seen the first season as a young adult, some parts more than once, albeit more than twenty years ago. But, although I've seen many, but by no means all, of the second and third season, we're looking at childhood memories, so watching certain episodes can lead to a completely unexpected wave of nostalgia. That's what happened tonight where Chief Standing Pat, the episode's totally non-problematic Native American character, spoke of a time "when little hand is on eleven, and big hand is on twelve." I remember this line from having seen it once, as a child of about ten, in about 1987. That's weird.

Stanley Ralph Ross has a knack for superb scripts, and this is his best. Shame (and the institution f the two parter) get the best of send-offs here, in a rare second episode that far exceeds the first. Not even the dodgy accent of Hermione Baddesley as (snigger) Frontier Fanny can take away from it.

We have a splendid deconstruction of Western tropes here, with a train robbery and ending with a shootout at High Noon and "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do". All the characters know full well what genre they're in. The wit of this script is a joy. And Cliff Robertson is superb; Shane hasn't really appeaed that much but there's a reason why the character is so fondly remembered. And, while the third season may (we can now see) perhaps be the least good overall, it can still hit real heights.

Batman: The Great Escape

"They've got Batgirl, and we've got Fanny."

There are two things which are probably worh mentioning as I start to blog this episode. The first is that, in this final run of episodes with their many last times, this two parter is both the final appearance of Shame and, well, the last two parter.The other thing, no less importantly, is that Hermione Baddesley- the maid from Mary Poppins- is playing a character called (titter) Frontier Fanny.

This is a hilarious episode for many reasons, not least Shame's sidekicks: a Native American who communicates solely in shorthand smoke signals and a Mexican bandit with a cut glass RP accent, neither of which you would see today, but this kind of playfulness with stereotypes is not, I don't think, mean-spirited.

There's more, though, from the latest variation on the ever entertaining "Commissioner rings the Batphone with Bruce Wayne present" trope to Batman reading the note from Shame in Shame's own vernacular, reminding us that Adam West is a terrific comic actor. I've peraps been remiss, too, in my praise for the penmanship of Stanley Ralph Ross.

Still no cliffhanger, though, and this was the last chance...

Batman: Come Back Shame & It's How You Play the Game

Come Back Shame

"Moo."

Shame is, I think, the last of the truly iconic villains created for the TV series to appear, and first impressions of both Cliff Robertson and the character are very good indeed- he comes across as a menacing Western baddie from a real Western, but then this is the USA in 1966, when the Western was alive, well and popular both at the pictures and on the telly. There may well be silly henchmen (I like Messy James), but Shame himself is a surprisingly serious and dangerous character- his indulgence of little Andy is almost necessary to prevent the character from being too menacing.

It's back to a very formulaic opening few scenes again- there's only so many times you can mess with the format- this time with Bruce and Dick first seen playing Scalextric- then less than a decade old. It's appropriate to the racing car theme as Shame and his gang seek to steal parts for the ultimate getaway car to use in their main caper. The whole conceit makes for a splendidly exciting episode, with the first appearance of the Batcycle in some time. It's just a pity we have to see the bloody Alf-cycle again.

The fight, in a proper saloon bar, is awesome, with many tropes of fights from Western fisticuffs including using the full length of the bar for throwing one's assailant. And the cliffhanger, with the Dynamic Duo about to be trampled by cows, is a cut above most.

It's becoming decidedly apparent that Stanley Ralph Ross's name generally means a particularly good script.


It's How You Play the Game

"I knew he'd think I'd think he'd think I'd think he'd come back here."

The cliffhanger resolution is a bit pants, I suppose, but it's nevertheless fine by me on the grounds that it has Batman removing his cape and being a matador, providing some fun facts as a bonus. He gets an "ole" from Robin, and rightly so.

Also enjoyable are the splendidly stereotypical used car salesman and Cliff Robertson continuing to be awesome as Shame, a truly memorable villain. It's surprising that his ambitions go no higher than $1.2 million in, er cattle, but he is a cowboy, after all.

This week's wndo guest is some baddie from Hogan's Heroes, not a show that ever really crossed the Atlantic, but I sort of love how they brazenly ignore the fact that he's a) a Nazi and b) from a different time period. We also have a splendid shootout in a magnificent set, the "KO Corrall", and no doubt a thousand Western allusions I'm not getting.

The two parter is an utter triumph, and so is Shame as a character.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

"And it rides up in the crotch a little bit too."

Hmm. Still not entirely enamoured with Sam Raimi's take on Spider-Man in spite of having to admit that it has to be considered, objectively, as a very good couple of films so far. It's stylish, well-directed and acted, a faithful recreation of the style of the early comics from Stan Lee and Steve Ditko with a student Peter Parker. And yet... where are Spidey's funny quips?

At least this is the sequel and therefore not another bloody origin story; it's nice how scenes from the first film are used during the opening titles but this is a film which is, yes, about Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina is very good casting), but really about both Peter's roller-coaster relationship with MJ and the increasing disintegration of Harry Osborne- and the fact that Peter may be a hero but he and his Aunt May are struggling with very real poverty, which is brave to show. It's 2004, but Peter must use a pay phone because he has no mobile. We even get a funny cameo from Sam Raimi perennial Bruce Campbell and, of course, a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance from Stan Lee. And, indeed, a minor role for Daniel Dad Kim, who plays Gavin Park in Angel. J. Jonah Jameson is awesome ("Guy names Otto Octavius ends up with eight limbs. What are the odds?") to the point that J.K. Simmons was surely born to play him.

Ok, it's a good film. Very good, in fact. The central romance is brilliant and, yes, it's faithful in many ways to the source material. Not being an origin story allows this film to breathe and grow, and it lacks a lot in without ever feeling too long. But... where are those quips?

Spider-Man (2002)

"You're not Superman."

I'll be generous; this film is well-made, well-acted, looks good, has a decent plot and it was amazing at the time (unbelievably the first ever Spider-Man film was released as late as 2002) to see Spidey on-screen. Tobey Maguire is a good Peter Parker and the film faithfully translates the comics well, particularly visually. But... even at the time it was a little disappointing that the film was so serious and totally lacking in Spidey's signature quips.

Now? Well, several years of witty, cool Marvel Cinematic Universe films make this film seem stuff and awkward. It's quite good, but forgettable, and feels like a relic of a different era. The most interesting thing about it in 2016, sadly, is that Cliff Robertson, who plays Uncle Ben, also played Shame in the 1960's Batman series.

Still, there are lots of things to praise, from the costume to the realisation of Spidey's web swinging to the casting of J.L. Simmons as a perfect J. Jonah Jameson. Doing an origin story for a superhero film is generally not a good idea but they get away with it; nice to see the radioactive spider being updated to a genetically engineered one. And Willem Dafoe makes a splendid Green Goblin.

It's just that, well, these days we expect our superhero films to be a bit less serious. Not a bad film, but surprisingly dated..