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| Sony Pictures, 2018 |
Wow! I simply cannot believe this. From the same studio as The Emoji Movie, comes one of the best Spider-Man films that I have ever seen since Spider-Man 2 and has now brutally beaten Spider-Man Homecoming as my favorite Spider-Man film in fourteen years. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This film was so good, it’s a Spider-Man comic book come to life, literally.
The plot centers NOT on Peter Parker, but on Miles Morales (Voiced by Shemeik Moore). Miles was introduced as the first African-American/Latino version of Spider-Man and has become a fan favorite since his debut in the comics. What really makes this plot interesting is that Miles Morales is part of an alternate universe where Peter Parker is still Spider-Man but through events that involve breaking the Space-Time Continuum, Miles is bitten by a genetically enhanced spider, just like Peter Parker. Miles is drawn into a conspiracy that involves this universe’s Peter Parker and from there, his life begins to change. Since Miles is ultimately inexperienced but he is soon mentored by another version of Spider-Man, Peter B. Parker. B.Parker (Voiced by Jake Johnson from Jurassic World) is a jaded and disheveled character that doesn’t care much for being Spider-Man after going through many rough events in his life, one includes divorcing Mary Jane Watson. Parker is very reluctant to train Miles as he doesn’t want him to get hurt or killed.
Along the way, Miles and Peter meet other different versions of Spider-Man/Woman: Spider-Woman(Voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), a version of Gwen Stacey who gets the spider-powers, not Parker. Spider-Man Noir (Voiced by the Cage himself, Nicolas Cage), a version of Peter Parker who lives in the 1930’s and is a private detective. Peni Parker, an Anime-like Spider-Girl who controls a biomechanical suit known as the SP//dr. Finally, Spider-Ham (Voiced by John Mulaney), an anthromorphic pig version of Spider-Man from a cartoon universe. Together, these six Spider-men/women fight various villains such as the Kingpin (Voiced by Liev Schreiber), Tombstone, and the Prowler in order to prevent the Space-Time Continuum from destroying the entire multiverse.
This film was an origin story done right, it tells a familiar story but uses the concept of the multi-verse to train a new Spider-Man. Miles Morales is a very well-written character, he has a complicated relationship with his parents, mainly his dad, and hangs out a lot with his uncle that is basically the opposite of Miles’ father. When Miles is bitten by the spider, I was with him all the way as he learned to control his emotions and develop his spider-powers through Parker, when he finally becomes Spider-Man it is rewarding on so many levels. I loved how Peter B. Parker is the mentor to Miles, he is so resistive and lazy but somehow manages to pull it all off with his snarky attitude and experience as the Web Slinger. From what I’ve seen from development notes, Peter Parker in this movie is like Mr. Miyagi but more reluctant to teach.
The film is not only great, but so fricking hilarious. So much of the comedy was done really well and was a lot better timed than most of comedy in the MCU films, there’s an end-credits scene that was probably my pick for funniest scene in Spider-Man history. The easter eggs and references to other Spider-Man material were really well put-in and I couldn’t be more happy with what I saw in this film. The animation was beautiful, so many events in this movie could only occur in a comic book and the decision to stylize the animation as a comic book was one of the best decisions since using CGI to create The Lego Movie’s animation. Daniel Pemberton’s score for the film was good, it was epic and fit the film really well. I also liked the soundtrack to the film, some are good pop songs, but some are really hilarious like Spidey-Bells.
If I had one problem, it would be some of the screentime with the villains, particularly Kingpin. They explain his motives for what he is doing but he doesn’t have as much screen time and development as the main characters. Other villains don’t come in until the middle of the film and it kinda would’ve been nice to have some development of a sort, it’s really a nitpick for me.
Honestly, I found this animated film to be better than Ralph Breaks the Internet and Incredibles 2. Both are pretty good but not as stylized or memorable as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Almost any Spider-Man fan is going to go berserk for this movie as it did with me, it surprised me so much than it did in the trailers. Into the Spider-Verse is a film that I will be watching repeatedly as it has such good visuals with a good origin story that takes things up a notch and introduces another version of Spider-Man that is not Peter Parker. It’s my favorite Animated film of 2018/Favorite Spider-Man film since Spider-Man 2/2nd Favorite Superhero film of 2018 and it proves that Sony can make really good Spider-Man films if they are done with the right crew.
9.5 out of 10
9.5 out of 10
