Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was one of the best experiences I’ve had at the movies in a long time.
Sony has released five live-action Spider-Man films since 2002 spanning two different iterations of Peter Parker, with two of the five movies being origin stories. Add to that the recent integration of Spidey/Peter Parker into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War and the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, which gave us a third live-action version of the character in fifteen years and yet another storyline. That’s a lot of Spider-Man. When I heard that yet another Spider-Man movie was in development – an animated one that would introduce the comics’ Miles Morales version of the character to movie audiences – I thought Sony was making a huge mistake.
Now that I’ve seen Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I think Sony has actually done the character a solid. Making an animated Spider-Man film was a brilliant creative move. I don’t think that a live-action version of the character, even with the fanciest CGI technology money could buy, would have been able to portray this particular story in a satisfactory way.
From the movie’s opening, it’s clear that the script writers wanted to address the many cinematic versions of Spider-Man. So, they incorporated the audience awareness into the film, even going as far to feature stylized and animated versions of scenes from the earlier movies. (Even the infamous dancing Peter Parker from Spider-Man 3 makes an appearance.)
With that familiarity addressed, the movie seamlessly jumps right into the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), an artistic teenager who’s just started attending a private school at the behest of his parents. While working on his art in the city subway system, Miles is bitten by a spider. As did Peter Parker before him, he begins to exhibit spider-like abilities as a result of the bite. Humorously, Miles’ initially blames the bite’s effects on late puberty.
After a series of humiliating events at school cause him to retreat to the subway for solitude, Miles stumbles upon the secret laboratory of villainous Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin (Liev Schreiber). Kingpin switches on a device that tears a hole in the space-time continuum and allows other dimensions to bleed into our world. As a result, Miles encounters Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), a different version of Spider-Man, who reluctantly helps to tutor Miles in the ways of all things superhero. I’m intentionally leaving out a lot of details as there’s a lot of fun to be had in watching the story develop and the interactions between the older version of Spider-Man and the newest incarnation.
The animation technology on display here is jaw-droppingly beautiful. With its blend of 3D rendered computer visuals, lifelike backgrounds, and wildly exaggerated body types, Into the Spider-Verse is a film that explodes off the screen. Being that the movie is rated PG and animated, one might think it would be dumbed down for younger audiences. That is definitely not the case. In fact, this is one of the most savvy superhero films ever released, with a self-awareness that can only be described as refreshingly delightful.
With so many of the recent superhero movies becoming increasingly formulaic, it was a pleasant surprise to see that this animated film delivers a playful sense of humor, fully realized characters, and a coherent, engaging story. Coupled with a rousing hip hop soundtrack and excellent voice acting, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was one of the best experiences I’ve had at the movies in a long time.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
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