Believe the hype

Rating: 10/10 (15 July 2019)

When I first saw this movie announced, I was skeptical. And by skeptical I mean I didn't care at all and forgot about it. But boy was I wrong. I love spidey but don't really care about the MCU, and this sure is a treat for any Spider-Man fan. Firstly, and most importantly, this movie has absolutely some of the finest, most impressive visuals I have ever seen in an animated film. There are tons of different art styles on display and it's a barrage of swirling color and sharp animation work. The character design is flawless - from the various spider-people to the excellent Doc Ock (who's a woman), Kingpin, and my personal favorite, the prowler. Speaking of The Prowler, who is by far the best character in the film, the scenes he's in are mostly intense, large scale chase scenes (there's an excellent homage to The Dark Knight when he gets on his motorcycle) and he is an intimidating and genuinely menacing character (although so is this Kingpin).
Also speaking of Prowler, the score and soundtrack to this movie are excellent. You've probably heard the soundtrack, consisting of great rap songs by some of the biggest names in the game right now. But the score is the unsung hero, specifically the sound design used for Prowler's scenes. Here, a sampled elephant call is warped and twisted into a ridiculously cool and terrifying sound that plays whenever Prowler is near. It's amazing at all other parts too, don't get me wrong, this is just the clear highlight.
The plot is immediately engrossing, incredibly emotional, and very, very well written, from the screenplay to the clever dialogue. I'm a huge horror movie fan who almost exclusively watches horror movies, but this movie is just absolutely stunning. My ONLY complaint is that I wish Prowler got more screen time.