Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) finally gives Miles Morales the big screen debut fans have been waiting for. It’s an excellent Spider-Man film in every way, and it is accompanied by an outstanding voice cast. The fact that this was a Sony film only makes me all the more surprised at how funny, heartwarming, and exciting it was.
Into the Spider-Verse is easily one of the best comicbook movies; ever!
Miles (Shameik Moore) is bitten by a radioactive spider and finds himself with new powers that he can’t quite control. He finds out that there are other Spider-men – and women – from other dimensions that have been brought into his as a result of the Kingpin’s (Liev Schreiber) plan. Miles needs the help of other dimension’s Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and the others to save the multi-verse.
The animation style of the film is very different, and I didn’t think I was going to like it based on the trailers. However, once the movie got going I found that I liked it quite a bit. It gives the film this kinetic energy, and really emphasizes the comic book aspects of the film. The action scenes in the movie play really well as a result, because everything is moving. Various moments go into comic book panels, which only adds to the enjoyment. In fact, Spider-verse mixes things up from time to time in ways that make the film feel fresh throughout.
Fans of Spider-man comics will have tons of great easter eggs and references to enjoy while watching this film. Aside from finally getting the big screen version of Miles, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen, tons of other references get nods in the film. Sony even allows a few jabs at their older Spider-Man properties – a move we’ve seen by Ryan Reynolds in the Deadpool movies, but not many other places.
The story in this film manages to hit all of the notes expected from an origin story while managing to raise the stakes a bit. Phil Lord’s fingerprints are all over the story with a bit of a manic structure that jumps around in fun and exciting ways. The connections that Miles has with his dad (Brian Tyree Henry) and Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) really help to generate significant empathy for the characters. Peter is loveable, as always, and playing the screw-up mentor figure works really well.
Final thoughts…
Putting my finger on exactly why I loved Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse so much is hard, because I basically just got sucked right in. There wasn’t a moment in the film that I ever felt disconnected. From the opening sequence to the final credit roll, I enjoyed every animated second, and know this film will be joining my collection once it’s out. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse earns the Must See rating.
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