hate the art style, but love everything else!
I can't watch shit
[7.3/10] As I’ve said for three Spider-Man animated series in a row now, I don’t really love the art style of this one. It’s a little too Kim Possible for my tastes, a little too angular in some places but overly rounded in others, particularly the character designs. But the animation is generally good, if a little too cartoony. It’s a hard thing to put my finger on, but what I mean is that the characters move more like cartoon characters than real people, even exaggerated, super-powered people. But these are all purposeful choices, and there’s some creative cinematography to balance things out, so I’m willing to give the show some time for me to get used to it.
Story and character-wise, this first episode has the basics of the character down enough to pass muster. Pilots are always a tricky business because there’s a lot of introductions to make. In addition to Spidey, we get Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Norman Osborn, The Vulture, (presumably) The Kingpin, Flash Thompson, Curt Connors, Eddie Brock, etc. etc. etc. Few of them get much shading, which is to be expected, but you can sort of feel this opening episode straining to pack it all in.
Thankfully, the episode does take the time to fully introduce Spider-Man himself. As seems to be true for almost every Spidey animated series I start, it feels like the show’s going a little overboard on the catch phrases and cutesy quips out of the gate, but they at least get the playfulness of the character right.
And they get the sense of Peter Parker being put upon nicely. I like the idea that he’s confident as hell after getting his spider powers, and then finds himself beaten down by life at every turn, from being rejected at school, bullied by Flash, financially stiffed at his internship (when May needs the money), kicked out by J. Jonah Jameson, and beat up by The Vulture and The Enforcers. That’s a trademark Spidey story, of lots of setbacks followed by small victories, and I appreciate that part of it.
There’s a bit of a villain pile-up in this one, with The Enforcers chasing Spider who’s chasing The Vulutre who’s chasing Norman Osborn (and we even get a touch of Flint Marko in the cold open), which again, leaves things a little overstuffed and the character motivations barely developed. But there’s still some good action, and Spidey using his wits to turn the Vulture’s attacks on The Enforcers and vice versa is a night bit of cleverness from the wall-crawler.
Overall, this episode didn’t necessarily leave me super excited about the show to come (especially give the hype and praise it’s received), but it was a genial enough episode that gets the basics right, even if it has room to grow.
Shout by WardVIP 8BlockedParent2022-10-21T06:00:16Z
Don't like the theme tune, character models, suit, animation style, music, and not a fan of the voice.
I like how smooth and flexible the animation is.
Everything about the show feels more geared toward kids than the previous shows. Plus, Peter is in high school in this, which i don't prefer, as i don't like a younger Peter Parker and the usual highschool drama rubbish.
It's an ok start, i guess, and it is mostly at the beginning of Peter's career as Spider-Man, so i imagine it would be good for people who didn't know much about the hero and his beginning. But for me as an adult it's just boring and annoying watching this wuss of a person and his underdeveloped, ineffectual teen personality. Plus not being experienced as Spider-Man yet.
The story and characters were very mediocre this episode, and is a poor introduction to the show. There were a couple moments of depth, and so potential for the future, but there wasn't enough for me to give a higher rating.