Don’t get me wrong, the other Spider-Man films we’ve gotten over the years have been entertaining in their own right, but none have managed to capture the essence of reading an actual Spider-Man comic and somehow turn it into an entertaining visual masterpiece like Into The Spider-Verse does.
This film has so much working in its favor: a new animation style that Sony animators developed (and are trying to patent) to give the film its visual style, an amazing voice cast, well-developed and likable characters, brilliant writing, an engaging story, perfectly witty humor and visual gags that could only be accomplished with animation, a plethora of Easter eggs for the devoted comic fans, even the soundtrack was so perfectly Brooklyn. It basically has everything that a Spider-Man comic fan could want.
I really don’t want to spoil anything because I think as many people as possible need to see this movie, but if you’ve seen any promotional material for it, you know it obviously strays a little from the traditional Peter Parker origin story. This time around we follow a younger Afro-Hispanic Spider-Man named Miles Morales (originally from the Ultimate Spider-Man universe), voiced by Shameik Moore, as he struggles with learning exactly how he fits into the world while also trying to grasp the concept of his newfound superhuman abilities.
Miles is quickly tested when he witnesses the film’s villain Kingpin (perfectly voiced by Liev Schreiber) using a massive particle accelerator in an attempt to open up parallel dimensions with the hopes of being reunited with alternate versions of his wife and son who tragically died in a car accident. Sounds like a perfect plan, except for the fact that it isn’t, and the accelerator malfunctions causing Spider-People from other universes to be plopped into Miles’ world. Great.
A spoiler-filled string of events leads to Miles meeting a bunch of new Spider-Friends including Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man (voiced by Jake Johnson), Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (voiced by Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker and SP//dr (voiced by Kimiko Glenn), and Peter Porker/Spider-Ham (voiced by John Mulaney). To move the story along, Miles has to quickly learn everything he can about being a Spider-Person in order to help get all of the other Spider-People back to their respective universes before they painfully glitch out of existence. You know, cool comic shit.
Into The Spider-Verse is massively entertaining from beginning to end and is likely to put a smile on any Spider-Fan’s face. A smile that might just last the entire 117-minute runtime. You’ve been warned. I’ve seen this film twice already, once in standard definition and a second time in RPX 3D, and truthfully I have to praise how much better it was in 3D. Usually, I feel like 3D is a gimmick and it’s not worth how uncomfortable it is putting a second pair of glasses over my existing glasses, but with this movie, the 3D effect just adds insane amounts of depth to each scene and overall enhances the animation style. This is how 3D should be used in every film that intends to use it, and it’s definitely the best way to experience seeing this one.
I can’t speak highly enough of this visually stunning and engaging homage to Spider-Man, it’s just further proof that everything that Phil Lord and Chris Miller touch is destined to be pure gold. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse does a perfect job of introducing audiences to the familiar origin story in a completely fresh way that makes this not just the best Spider-Man movie, but quite possibly the best comic book movie ever made, and hands down the best movie I’ve seen all year. Do yourself a favor and do not miss out on this one. And be sure to stay after the credits, you won’t be disappointed.
Oh, and Sony execs, if you’re reading this, more of this please, this is what the people want… I guess those Tom Holland movies are pretty good too… keep making those too.
