Spider-Man is having a bit of a Spider-renaissance right now, what with the fantastically received turn by Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Homecoming and his performance in Avengers: Infinity War. It can also be seen front and center with what may be the best Spider-Man movie that takes the webbed wonder and animates his world in the most gloriously lush ways with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The heavily anticipated film has landed in theaters and is easily one of the best, if not the best, animated feature put out this year. Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman have crafted a world, under the crazily creative imagination of producers Phil Lord (who also penned the screenplay) and Christopher Miller, that pulsates with life, possesses a visceral color palette and a story itself that is as rich as it is thrilling and compelling.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a normal teenager living in New York City. He attends a private school, although he misses his friends at the public institution. Miles feels a bit out of place amongst the private school kids and sometimes would rather just be home with his police officer dad, Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) and mom, Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Velez). Because he has such academic potential, he is being offered the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the private school. He knows that, but doesn’t have to particularly like it.
He lives in a world where Spider-Man is the hero we all know and love. This Peter Parker is voiced by Chris Pine and is every bit the Spidey known the world over. One day, Miles is hanging with his uncle, Aaron (voiced by Mahershala Ali—currently moving us in Green Book), underground in an abandoned subway station when he too is bit by a radioactive spider. Fast forward to the next morning and our boy has changed. He’s taller and strangely everything is sticking to his hands. Worlds collide when a new Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) shows up, along with a few other Spideys, such as Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Spider-Man Noir (Nic Cage) and Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn)—all variations on the Spider-Man theme.
When our villains set off their superconductor, dimensions became blurred and if our Spider-People don’t work together to fight off our baddies (you’ll have to see the movie to see which of Spidey’s classic evil doers they encounter!) before they destroy all our worlds.
It’s a wild premise and one that works brilliantly in the hands of the filmmakers behind the animation. The movie does an amazing job to build a world of endless possibilities. See, if you can accept the fact that this multi-dimensional landscape can include so many varieties of hero, then anything is conceivable. It’s a lesson in letting your mind go and escaping into a landscape where the sky’s the limit. The only restriction is your imagination and one thing is for sure, all involved behind the camera have the vastest (and most vivid!) of dreams.
The cast is sublime with a standout performances by Moore, who gives us a Spider-Man who is not sure of his place in the world. Yet, when great responsibility is pushed upon him, he rises to the occasion—even though he is merely a young teenager. His chemistry with Johnson’s Spider-Man is brilliant and the two are a perfect example of opposites attack. There is a true bromance here that is at the heart of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Steinfeld’s Stacy is hardly a wallflower and gives us hope that we may see more of Spider-Woman in the future. She is all powerful, confident and possesses wit to boot.
Absolutely love the crisscrossing of universes here where there can be a Mary Jane (Zoe Kravitz) that is the one we think we know, but upon deeper reflection is leagues different than any we’ve seen on the screen previously. That is generally the sentiment of this entire picture. It begs to ask, “You think you know Spider-Man? Think again.” That’s a powerful statement coming from a franchise that has appeared, had a sequel and then rebooted within years and is having its own live action franchise that is doing remarkable well, critically and financially.
The film answers a question that is undoubtedly going to be asked, “Don’t we have too many Spider-Mans in the movie marketplace?” Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse firmly replies to that inquiry by the fact that the universe it has established in animated form has numerous Spideys of varying shapes, sizes and species! Talk about silencing the critics by your dramatic narrative.
Artistry is at its finest in this picture, leading the many reasons why this film should be this year’s Best Animated Film winner at the Oscars. Calling it beautiful is an understatement. It is the first film in the Spider-Man series at impeccably gets the idea of bringing a comic book to life. There are frames, there are words that appear above our characters as they do and say things. There are “pows!” that appear when the action gets hot, but never once does it feel cheesy or flippant like it is pandering to the comic book crowd that will surely fill the seats of this masterpiece. This is a love letter to comics and a love letter to Spider-Man and all he (and she) can possess, illustrating why he is among the most popular superheroes on the planet.
See, Spider-Man is us, each one of us—if we were bitten by a radioactive spider, that is! But seriously, he’s a teenager trying to find his way in a world that is amassed with confusion, uncertainly and a future that is completely unwritten. Who cannot relate to that? Through the various Spider-Mans and the persons behind their suits, lies a cornucopia of souls that mirror those watching the screen. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse should resonate with audiences because of that fact, more than any other Spidey picture that has come before.
Grade: A+