If style (and story) were drugs, then this movie would be substance abuse

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2019)

The superhero movie that came out of nowhere but took us on quite a journey.
As someone who grew up at the very beginning of the superhero craze, I've been exposed to many versions of our favorite comic book friends. I was never much of a comic book junkie, but I have seen the highs and lows of Marvel's mainstay heroes and this film manages to show us Spider-man at his best and worst with equal respects.
In regards to story, its your standard Spider-man affair, young man has to learn to adapt and succeed in a new, hostile environment despite his own personal obstacles and his donning the mask of the NYC-webslinger only turns his problems up a notch. Although this formula is by no means a bad one, once you see a superhero movie this expectation can ruin a bit of the magic but if there's one thing I've learned since hearing about the film nearly a year ago, it's that great expectations typically push great people to their destinies. And before this movie, the name Miles Morales was only one I heard in passing during the Spider-man videogames or in the few comics I've read and heard about. But after taking a walk in the red and black Nikes, I can easily see how many people have latched him as a character.
I regretfully admit this is not a thorough analysis of the film, simply because the memories are fresh in my mind and to try to put my awe into words in this moment is proving beyond difficult.
If I were to give a critique of the film as I currently see it, star-struck and all, it would be that many of the scenes are beautifully composed and the variety in locations helps make the story feel unique from previous on-screen iterations of the wall-crawler while all of the actors and characters carry a level of charisma to their performances. No one lacked entertaining moments or felt like rehashed ideas from other movies. It doesn't take itself seriously when it matters and some of its best set-pieces also coincide with its strongest emotional beats. This movie wears its influences on its sleeve and the style of animation is breath-taking. A perfect marriage of comic book op-art stylings with modern animation. Some environments look straight out of a Behance artist's portfolio.
Despite a story that doesn't break new ground, it manages to still share new perspective to the classic Spider-man narrative of self-actualization and it earns its respect.