Superhero movies are perhaps the most popular form of entertainment for cinema goers these days, and they keep coming in bucket loads every year. It begs the question if there’s just too much of a good thing right now, could they possibly get stale, or boring, even when at their best? Well, every once in a while, comes that surprise movie that not only reinforces why I’m a fan, but also changes the face of the genera. To call 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” a surprising breath of fresh air would be a gross understatement. This was a surprise event which the comic book genera desperately needed. It’s something that didn’t get much hype, but made a massive impact upon its release, and is now being praised as not just one of the great modern comic book films, but one of the absolute greatest superhero movies ever made. After Sony’s live action Spider-Man series was cancelled, and the character given back to Marvel studios, they still had the rights to the character and the means to expand into other Spider-Man related movies. This marked the first animated Spider-Man venture to be released theatrically, but that’s just scratching the surface. In truth, there’s so much more to this then just a first theatrical animated Spider-Man movie.
The best way to kick off a new Spider-Man series naturally, is with an origin story … however, this is the origin of Miles Morales becoming the webbed hero, not Peter Parker. Our story is set in a universe where everyone knows who Spider-Man is, as he’s a real hero, but everything is viewed from the perspective of our new lead. Miles Morales from his very first scene is an instantly relate-able and lovable protagonist. His family is very supportive, although he doesn’t always see eye to eye with them, and his Uncle seems to be the one who understands him the most. Miles is currently in a stressful time of his life, moving out of the house for the first time, trying to find his direction, and leaves his familiar neighborhood to attend an uptight school, where he's pressured into making great expectations for himself. One of my favorite little details about his introduction is this one traveling shot that follows Miles walk through his neighborhood, in which he’s viewed as something of a small- town celebrity by all his friends. Things change when he inters a school building, we get another tracking shot of him walking through the school, but no-one is cheering him or even acknowledging his presence. It’s little details like this that can put me in a character’s shoes. Life soon gets out of control when he’s bitten by a radioactive spider, and he gains new powers which he can’t control. The beating heart at the center of his tale is Miles and his journey to not only control these new gifts, but also discover himself and what can potentially make him a real hero.
Naturally, the only one who can help Miles on his journey is the classic Spider-Man himself, who’s willing to take Miles on as a pupal. Unfortunately, classic Spider-Man’s life is suddenly cut short at the hands of a villain called the Kingpin, who’s working on a machine in a secret underground lab.
Just when things seam at their lowest point, Miles encounters yet another Peter Parker Spider-Man, except this one is older, lazier, and seems out of place with the rest of reality. This is Peter B. Parker, who Miles colorfully refers to as Spider-Hobo. Turns out that Kingpin has built a machine that can cross multiple dimensions, and it’s brought multiple new Spider-Men into Miles reality. They all agree to band together to stop Kingpin from taring all reality apart with his deadly machine, but the new commers also need to get back home, as they can’t stay out of their time zone. Peter B. Parker becomes Miles figurative teacher, while he himself rediscovers the values he’s lost, and reshapes himself into a hero, as opposed to a beaten looking bomb. I never thought that a middle-aged Spider-Man could work, but this film proved me wrong, as he was a valuable addition to the film. Actually, all the Spider-Men in this film are outstanding, as they each come in a creatively unique variety, each with their own charm and personality. It’s always been awesome to watch Spider-Man swing through the city, but I never even considered how cool it would be to see multiple Spider-Men all together, and swinging in frame.
At last, we have Gwen Stacy as the very first on-screen portrayal of a Spider-Woman. Once again, everything about this character is great, her design is striking, Hailee Steinfeld hits it out of the park with her vocal talents, and in a rare case for this day and age, we have a strong female lead … who never once boasts about being a female superhero. Seriously, there’s a real problem in our pop culture these days with strong female characters that do nothing but boast about their tough girl status, and subsequently they feel weaker as a result. Spider-Gwen thankfully escapes that annoying trope and stands as more then just a strong female … she’s just a plane great hero character that just happens to be a woman. Gwen’s relationship with Miles is also perfect, as it’s less romantic and focuses on two young people who can relate to one-another, and thus develop natural feelings. Other popular female characters from the Spider-Man comics like Aunt May and Mary Jane are likewise present, and while their roles are short, it’s some of the best representations of these characters I’ve seen on film.
The movie gets a little more crowded with a whole gallery of villains, but their present just enough without making the film feel over-stuffed.
Liev Schreiber voices our main antagonist, a crime boss called the Kingpin. Rather than some kind of complex crime related plot, Kingpin has built a giant cross-dimension device that will allow him to reunite with his late wife and son. It’s a good motive that I can get behind, but I wish his backstory could have been fleshed out a little more. This really isn’t one of Kingpins greatest portrayals, but regardless, he does his job, and conveys a genuinely intimidating presence. I really loved the inclusion of Lady Doctor Octopus, as she keeps one of my favorite villain’s present, without being a cut and pace of the exact same character we’ve seen before. Her design is a lot of fun, and Kathryn Hahn delivers a juicy performance in the role. On the flip side, I wasn’t the biggest fan of giant Green Goblin, as it just felt too over the top and different, but thankfully he wasn’t in the movie for too long. It was also cool to see some obscure villains like Tombstone in the film. I was also shocked to finally see the Scorpion, although I would have liked to see him in a bigger role as opposed to just another lacky ... hopefully my second favorite Spider-Man villain will get a chance to shine in a live action movie. Rounding up the villains is the Prowler, who may not be the lead antagonist, but he has the most important connection to our main hero. It’s a case in which one of Miles most important role models turns out to be a ruthless killer, and it leads to some effective character drama. Mahershala Ali delivers a chilling performance in the role, but you can always count on him to deliver an A+ performance. The Prowler himself has this electrifying presence, he’s intimidating, and he engages our hero in some deeply suspenseful chases.
Let’s talk about the overall look and style of the movie … without making this a three-hour read, because holly cow … what a detailed display. Saying that the animation is extraordinary may seem common for modern animated movies, but this truly is some of the most unique animation I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s almost like the character designs of “Archer”, but merged with the 3D video game environments of “Heavy Rain”. The film also recreates visuals you’d see in a comic book, like thought bubbles, word boxes, graphic panels, comic-book strip transitions, and animated segues appearing all throughout the film. One of my favorite touches is that every new Spider-Man character is introduced through a montage that begins with their respected comics dropping on screen. In essence, it makes "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" look and feel more like a theatrical comic book than any other movie I’ve seen, even more so then Ang Lee’s attempts in “Hulk”. The colors are striking, and there’s a lot of energy in how each character moves. The comedy is also brilliant, because it’s incorporated into the style, and makes the film a sheer delight. Equally impressive as the animation are all the details on display. Like, I cold watch this movie 100 times and notice something new in the details of the characters, the animation, the hummer and the media references on each viewing. Just about everything in Spider-Man’s pop culture is acknowledged in this film, even little winks at events from all the previous live action movies. There’s also a funny after credit scene in which Spider-Man of the 2099 comics visits Spider-Man from the original 60’s cartoon.
Also, I have to mention the late great Stan Lee, who initially created Spider-Man, gave birth to Marvel comics, and sadly passed away just before this movie premiered. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is actually dedicated to his memory, and thankfully he makes a number of cameo appearances through the film. The scene in which he appears as a costume store owner might just be the greatest appearance he’s ever made on film, and his quote that “the mask will always fit” ties beautifully into the over arcing theme of the film. The message at the center of the film is that anyone can be a hero in their own respected way, and anyone can wear a hero’s mask. Kind of reminds me of 1998’s “The Mask of Zorro” in which Anthony Hopkins says “There are hundreds more who could wear the mask of Zorro”. For such a funny, action packed and visually striking film, there really are some emotional highlights that left a real impression on me. The movie makes yet another meaningful statement that you’ll never know your true potential until you take a leap of faith, and that’s a moral I’ve held dear to me my whole life.
Now of course it’s a tradition for every Spider-Man origin film to have a moment when we see our hero in costume for the first time, and it’s frequently set to a montage of him swinging though the city. Well, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is no exception, but through its presentation and execution, it takes the formula to immaculate new height’s.
Through the course of the film, Miles doesn’t want to be a costumed hero at all, and as a result, he’s stuck wearing a cheap costume-store Spider-Man suit, and he can’t control or even understand his powers. Even when he looks at the original costume of the classic Spider-Man, he just can’t see himself as the great hero, which is cleverly illustrated by Miles reflection not lining up with Spider-Mans mask. Then after a tragic loss, tough counseling from his mentor, and an especially heartfelt speech from his father regarding the potential he see's in his son ... it’s what finally gives Miles the confidence and motivation he needs to control his powers. It all leads to my favorite scene in the whole film, in which Miles approaches the original classic Spider-Man costume a second time, except his reflection now is perfectly in line with the mask. He redesigns it in his own image, takes a leap of faith off a tall building, he has his triumphant first swing through the city, and it all builds to the image of a Miles Morales comic book landing on a stack of previous Spider-Man comics. It’s a chilling image, and a perfect visual metaphor of how all these events have culminated into his origin story, and now he’s one of the players. I also love that reversed camera shot of him falling into the city, as it’s both visually spectacular and thematically represents the moment as the hero’s ascension. All the previous Spider-Man first swing montages were exciting, but this was the first to be laced with a sense of triumph. When he goes swinging during this scene, I’m standing up cheering for him, I’m beating me head to the triumphant music track, and I just feel like I’m there in the moment with him. It’s my favorite sequence from a Spider-Man movie, it’s one of the most exhilarating moments I ever experienced in the theater … and it’s just plane and simply one of my all-time favorite movie moments.
Let’s finally talk about action scenes … they’re OUTSTANDING! Like, some of the best and most inventive fight scenes ever captured in a superhero movie. I mentioned how cool it was to see multiple Spider-Men swinging around, ... well, it’s even cooler to see multiple Spider-Man brawling in one scene. There’s an awesome fight that takes place within the confines of Aunt Mays house, it features every one of the web-headed hero’s battling all the villains, and it is caustic action mayhem at its finest. There’s another beautifully shot battle in a forest, which combines a snowy forest with Atom leaves, and it’s like the kind of action setting you’d see in a Japanese or Hong Kong martial arts movie. At the end, Kingpin brings his different dimension device on-line, and it leads to one hell of a trippy climax, with bursts of colors, all our hero’s brawling the villains on a changing mass of energy and multiple objects, and … I can’t even explain this, it’s just awesome. All the Spider-Men have a touching good bye, they return to their respected dimensions and it all builds to a deeply thrilling final showdown between Miles Spider-Man and Kingpin. It’s tricky to explain, but this is one of the most satisfying hero/villain showdowns from the series thus far. It actually gets really intense with Kingpin relentlessly beating him to a pulp, the lighting gets darker, yet Miles keeps coming back. What really makes his victory over Kingpin triumphant, is that his finishing move is a call back to the advice his Uncle was teaching him in the opening.
In the end, even when Spider-Man movies were at their worst, I’ve always enjoyed them on some level. Yet, after all these years, none of them could match 2004’s “Spider-Man 2”, which for the longest time was my absolute favorite. Then completely out of the blue comes this animated Spider-Man movie, the first of its kind, a completely original experience with the web-swinger, and it gives my initial favorite some serious competition. It’s a film that combines bold, human storytelling, with striking animation, solid voice work, and an infectiously lovable cast of various Spider-Men (and woman), which all add up to a highly entertaining superhero venture. It’s a film that absolutely delivers all the heart, comedy, action, creativity, moral subtext, ambition, and a lot of imagination into a perfect whole. While we’ve had meta comic book movies ranging from “Deadpool” to “The Lego Batman Movie”, this is the one that connected with me the most, and had the most unique voice. In short, this is now my new favorite Spider-Man movie, and it has a secure spot among my top five absolute favorite comic book movies ever made. I can’t wait to see more from this series, and it gives me renewed hope for the comic book genera. Just when we thought we were getting desensitized … maybe superhero films still have more surprises in store for us then we think.
Thanks for reading my review of 2018's “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” … and continue to enjoy the movies you love!
