The Spectacular Spider-Man

2008

Original language: English

action & adventure
animation
kids
family

The story

Having spent the summer engaging common criminals with his new-found powers, not so typical 16-year-old Peter Parker must conceal his secret identity and battle super-villains in the real world as he enters his junior year of high school.

What it’s like

Bright, saturated animation with bold inked outlines and flat cel colour, the sky a clean cerulean over the Queens skyline and the city at night glowing in sodium-orange and neon blue. Action is fluid and kinetic, with swooping camera angles and fast-cut web-swinging that makes the city feel vertical and enormous, while quieter scenes slow down into warm, lamp-lit school hallways, cramped apartment kitchens and rain-dampened streets. The score leans on brassy, upbeat themes that tip into jazzy swing during banter and drop out for tender moments between Peter and his aunt. The vibe is buoyant and nostalgic, with a sincere, wisecracking warmth that suits a Saturday-morning rewatch, a bowl of cereal, or an easy evening with the kids. Its episodes move briskly, each one balancing a monster-of-the-week spectacle against slower scenes of teenage awkwardness, money worries and first crushes. The intensity is mild: fights are frequent and cartoonish, with villains getting thrown through walls and no gore, and the peril is brief and easily digestible. It is made for fans of the comics who want a lively, earnest take on high school life, and for younger viewers who want a superhero show that is exciting without being frightening.

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