1.) Music: Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse

Spider-Man had quite the 2018. He died 
(*spoilers*), he destroyed in his newest PS4 videogame, Venom (famed Spidey villain) surprised many, and to wrap it up in a Christmas bow is Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse. I was skeptical about this animated film, despite it's unique style, I feared it ran the issue of being too "kiddy." Couple that with the varied "appeal to the kids!" artists Sony had enlisted for the film's soundtrack, it looked to me as just a huge cash grab. And it IS a huge cash grab that, thankfully, is done so tastefully, I've been hooked. And to the soundtrack's credit, the music cues really seem to elevate some of the film's more dynamic moments. 

I can confidently say that I know none of the artists on the album list pictured. 

I know Post Malone from a Hot Ones Interview on YouTube and Nicki Minaj...well is Nicki Minaj. And Lil Wayne is old. Other than that I have no idea who any of these artists are. I don't listen to rap music that often. I like plenty of singular rap songs from various artists, but I don't favor any really. That being said, I find a lot of these songs are, as the kids say, "Hype AF." 

Film soundtracks, especially for animated films, can tend to come across as pandering most of the time towards a certain demographic (kids.) Suicide Squad is the biggest example in recent years that hired a lot of the famous artists at the time to make songs for the film. The odd thing with that is that a few of those songs are more memorable than the actual movie (whether you think they're good or not is debatable.)

All the tracks in the Spider-man into the Spiderverse film are memorable, and that's not even including that bomb Christmas Album, but the two that stick out to me the most are, the probably played to death, Sunflower and Elevate on the track list. I single these two out because they have the most relevance 1) to the electrifying film that you just saw and 2) Spider-man as a whole. 

We meet the title character Miles Morales singing Sunflower (by Swae Lee and Post Malone) in the beginning of the film and in the opening moments we learn what makes Miles Miles. Later in the film, Miles and OG Spider-man Peter Parker, are in a high stress situation and Miles' newfound powers start bugging out on him (ha.) Peter asks him what relaxes him and he hums the Sunflower song to get himself going. At the end of the film the song plays again to finish off its rule of 3 motif and giving a distinct stamp on the character of Miles Morales as not only capable, but palpable Spider-Man as much, if not more, than Peter Parker himself.

The song Elevate (by DJ Khalil, Denzel Curry, YBN Cordae, Swavay, Trevor Rich) is the definition of "Hype AF." It also elegantly summarizes the film (and plays during a very colorful and transfixing credit sequence). It encapsulates the overall attitude of Spider-Man, and acts almost as a "Spidey Anthem." There are parts where an electric guitar plays and it is very reminiscent of the 90's Spider-Man cartoon theme. The overall song is just like the perfect gym song or if you're playing Spider-Man PS4, swinging through the rough city streets kicking around a few bad guys. 

As much as I highlight those two, the other songs do just as much thematically with their own little Spider-Man references peppered in. What I take away most from this soundtrack is a bunch of artists who understand Miles Morales' perspective. Not only as a mixed Latino and African American, but as a person who wishes to let their greatness fly in their own specified ways and highlighting the importance of uniqueness in culture. The tracks on this album are sometimes hypnotizing and inspiring and makes me want to rewatch the movie a thousand times. I highly recommend everyone listen to these songs and for gosh sake see the movie.