Movie Review: Spider-Man - Into the Spider-Verse · 3:01am Jan 29th, 2019
I'll come out and say it right now: out of the animated movies I've seen this year - Incredibles 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Spider-Verse - this one might just be the very best of the lot.
And that really says something, because at first I was not very interested in this one. The comic-book event Spider-Verse was rather contentious with fans of Spider-Man, for one, and for another, after many of Sony's recent screwups with their movie department (from ASM2 to The Emoji Movie) I was rather doubtful that they'd actually deliver a good experience with this story of a multiverse of different Spider-powered heroes.
In fact, I almost didn't even see this one at all. By the time I got around to getting enough interest, the movie had already left my immediate area. But thanks to sheer good fortune, I did find myself in a movie theater showing Spider-Verse, and...
I had a blast. 
So with that being said, let's dive into the story of Into the Spider-Verse:
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a teenager who is a big fan of Spider-Man, but struggles under the expectations of his parents, in particular his policeman father Jeff. Moving from his old high school to an upscale private one, Miles chafes and struggles under this upheaval in his life; one night he sneaks out to visit his "cool" uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) who ends up showing Miles a disused subway station where he can paint graffiti. While there, Miles is bitten by a spider...
And you all know what that means, right? XD
Well, not quite. True, Miles develops superhuman powers, but he is most definitely not happy about this development. (A pretty hilarious sequence in the movie is of the poor guy utterly making a spectacle of himself as his powers manifest, with him suffering just about every embarrassment imaginable, especially with his wall-crawling power! 
)
Searching for the spider to try and figure out where the hell it came from, Miles heads back to the old subway station, and his efforts lead into discovering Spider-Man (voiced by Chris Pine) doing battle with The Green Goblin and the Prowler, both working for The Kingpin (Liev Schreiber). Kingpin has ordered the construction of a massive particle accelerator in the intent of accessing alternate dimensions, an endeavor that could very well destroy the entire city. Spider-Man manages to stop the accelerator, but is mortally wounded in an explosion before he can fully take the thing offline. He gives Miles a thumb-drive that can shut down the accelerator for good... but ends up killed by Kingpin as Miles flees.
In the aftermath of Spider-Man's death, Miles begins to try and train himself to use his powers, but it's a pretty unsuccessful process. But then, he makes a shocking discovery: there's another Peter Parker in town!
But it's not the same Peter Parker from this world. No, this is Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) - an older, jaded and washed-up Spider-Man from another dimension. Dumped into Miles' world during the earlier test of the particle accelerator, Peter B. just wants to get back home, and mainly tags along on Miles' efforts to stop the particle accelerator because he just wants to get this superhero business done and over with. Over time, of course, he gets back into the groove of being an actual heroic character again, but still, there is a lot of humor (and at points, pathos too) to be had out of the sight of a Spider-Man with a gut, who's out-of-shape with the physical side of being a superhero, and is kind of a sad sack in a lot of ways. XD
Along the way, they end up running into a couple of other Spider-heroes who've also arrived in this world due to the particle accelerator: these include Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), a graceful and striking heroine with a serious attitude; Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage) a detective/pulp vigilante Spider-Man from a monochrome 1930s Earth; Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and SP//dr, a far-future anime-style heroine with a spider-themed mecha…
And then there's Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). He's basically a Looney Tunes cartoon pig with a Spider-Man costume.
So, can this motley collection of heroes thwart the Kingpin's scheme? Can Miles become a worthy superhero in his own right?
Well, sure, but I've spoiled enough of the film's plot already! XD
I immensely enjoyed Spider-Verse, both as a fan of the various comics and as a movie-goer in general. One thing I have to say right off the bat is that this film's colors and effects are GORGEOUS... in particular with the multiverse stuff involving the particle accelerator. The climax of the movie in particular is where the color and visuals go absolutely, gloriously insane, and it's all pretty jawdropping scenery 
Spider-Verse is one of the most colorful films that I've ever seen, and there are tons of lovely visual gags and touches in the course of the movie, from the iconic squiggly-lines representing Spider-Sense to other things, like the fact that Spider-Noir's trench coat always blows in its own wind (or that he apparently has no idea what color even IS, due to coming from a monochromatic world XD)
Now admittedly, some of the visual designs of the movie are a little... surprising, to say the least. Your mileage will definitely vary on some of the ways that the characters look, although I soon grew attached to the stylistics myself. Kingpin will be a definite deal-breaker for some, given that they stylistically exaggerate his massive body size so that he almost looks like a walking brick wall - but in all honesty that stylization actually grew on me. Wilson Fisk has always been an oversized bulk of a man (which has led to all manner of grief for live-action adaptations of the character), so in some ways that this film chose to portray him in such an over-the-top manner actually does fit its comic-book nature. Again, YMMV though.
The rest of the character designs are pretty solid and all very distinct. Again, I was blown away by the colorful nature of the film, and also feel that this one of the few superhero movies out there to really truly capture the nature of an actual comic-book with its distinctive use of colors, design and animation. While I was taken aback by a few changes to some members of Spider-Man's rogues gallery (the Green Goblin and Scorpion in particular are quite the departure from the norm) I grew to enjoy the twists. In particular is one of the film's major antagonists, a classic Spidey villain reimagined in a wonderfully intriguing new manner that seems to have gained quite the following...
Many of the film's voice actors turn in stellar performances. Miles and his family members in particular manage to anchor the movie emotionally, especially in the relationship between Miles, his father Jeff and his uncle Aaron. The character of Uncle Aaron in particular leads to a very emotionally effective conclusion, one that I did not expect and yet makes for a perfect connection to the original Spider-Man.
Jake Johnson turns in quite an enjoyable performance as Peter B. Parker. (And now that I say that, doesn't "Jake Johnson" sound like a perfect name for the secret identity of a Marvel hero? XD) His portrayal of a washed-up Spider-Man is both hilarious and poignant too, and the film often blends the two emotions together to excellent effect, especially in Peter B's narration of his origin - his dialogue is flippant and humorous, but clashes brutally (and at points, hilariously) with the footage showing what actually happened when his life went downhill. Bathos at its finest in my opinion XD
The other Spider-heroes all get some good moments. If I had to say which one of them did the best, I'd definitely have to give the award to Spider-Gwen, since she gets the most focus and development besides Miles and Peter B. But Nicolas Cage and John Mulaney in particular give some strong work for the material that they have; I was especially amused by Spider-Ham wondering if animals could talk on this earth Though at the same time, for a primarily comedic Looney Tunes figure, I was also surprised to see one moment of genuine seriousness from Spider-Ham, when he and the other heroes are consoling Miles about the tragedies of superhero life. It's a strong line, that hits all the more because it's delivered by the comic relief character, in total sincerity and sorrow. 
Other performances in the movie work quite well too. I really enjoyed the movie's take on Aunt May (Lily Tomlin) who gets to have a lot of character and impact in the short screen time that she has. And also, while it's only limited to about a minute of screentime, Stan Lee gets another fun cameo - one that was already kind of moving, and only becomes more so in light of his recent death.
And in regard to the villains, while I was taken aback at first by Kingpin's voice (Liev Schreiber voices him with a New York accent, a change that really threw me because I'm so used to the more deep tones of other portrayals), the performance soon grew on me well enough, and I grew to rather like this take on Spider-Man's major crime-lord enemy.
So finally, in conclusion, I immensely enjoyed Into the Spider-Verse, and am VERY glad that I saw it.
And, as always, check out that post-credits scene. XD It's not a major tease for a sequel, but it's pretty damn amusing all the same!
Something tells me that when I see this on DVD or Blu-Ray, I'm gonna regret not seeing it in the theater.
5004305
Perhaps. Mostly when it comes to the really crazy dimensional stuff, I suppose. That's the kind of stuff that really benefits the most from a big-screen viewing. The rest of the movie is probably okay on a regular screen though.
This movie was fucking fun. I can't say I cared for the soundtrack, but that's because I loathe hip hop. Was good otherwise.
5004385
It was a lot of fun. I see what you mean about the soundtrack - I can't stand hip-hop really myself, but I do have to say, I don't remember the soundtrack much, so that must mean that it didn't really grate on me when watching, which says a lot about how much I enjoyed the movie XD
5004584
Hip hop and what I have come to dub “electronicrap” bothers me to no end because I’m pretty sure a deaf person could compose better, OH WAIT! A deaf person DID do better! His name was Beethoven. That said, this movie was pretty fucking spectacular. I loved the new take on a certain Spidey villain who gained prominence in a recent Spidey outing.
5004592
Though in all seriousness, I'm sure that Ludwig would be rolling in his grave right now at what they're doing to the musical art. Oh well.
Indeed though, this film was a blast, and I have to say I really did appreciate the ways that they reimagined some of the Spidey villains for this outing. I was initially taken aback by Green Goblin and Scorpion, but it really quickly grew for me.
And Dr. Olivia? Amazing work there. Just wow.
5004596
Olivia was a friggin blast. And creepy as all hell. But, mad scientist, comes with the package.
5004598
Indeed she was. And what else would you expect from the name of Octavius? There's a reputation to uphold there!
5004601
But of course! If you're gonna commit to being a mad scientist, might as well go the whole 9 yards. Because or else, you're just a quirky evil scientist, or a weird evil scientist. And it's really just not the same.
5004607
Exactly. Either go big or go home, as it were.
I enjoyed it and all my friends and family said that it was the best Spider-man movies out. Honestly, I don't understand why people didn't like Amazing Spider-man 2. I thought it was a great film and Andrew Garfield puts in a spectacular performance as Spider-man.
That being said, I did see some of the twists in this movie due to me being a huge comic book reader. That said others I did not see until I paid attention to background details on my second watch. I enjoyed a lot of the characters, particularly Peter B. Parker who, I found out is supposed to be the Earth 616 (main universe) Spider-man. I was honestly surprised to see Peni Parker as she is the least known out of the group. Both Spider-Ham and Noir were hilarious as well as the running gag of Peter B. being out of shape. What really got me was the natural chemistry between Miles, his dad and his uncle Aaron. It felt so just like a real family and it really helped sell the emotional moments in the film. I could spend a whole night just listing and talking about all the homages to comics and Easter eggs in the film.
With the success of Spiderverse, Venom and the new game, Sony is hitting it out of the park. If they can keep up the level of quality that this film has set, I have no worries about what comes next.
5004814
I'll be honest with you, I'm glad that you like ASM2, but I really can't connect with that movie. Yeah, there's some excellent stuff in there (I do love the opening car chase through Manhattan, and Peter's dash to get to graduation on time, that was superb) but at the same time, I just can't stand them cramming Harry becoming Green Goblin AND Gwen's death into the climax of that movie, after everything else that had come before it. It's like, to me, having a Batman movie where you have the Joker's origin and the Killing Joke on the same night. It's just too much.
That being said, I definitely agree with you on a lot about Spider-Verse. I was really impressed by the relationship between Miles, Jeff and Uncle Aaron, that felt really natural and made the emotional content of the film hit the mark so perfectly. I remember getting chills in the scene where Miles is unmasked by the Prowler; everything from the characters' expressions (Aaron's face in that moment!) to the actors' delivery was just outstanding.
I gotta hand it to Sony, between this movie and Venom, they've been doing pretty well for themselves in winning back some goodwill. And with the PS4 game too, Spider-Man had a damn good year in 2018. XD Here's hoping that they can keep up that quality going forward.
5004818
I can understand that. Maybe ASM2 did try to do a little too much. I will say that I was impressed with Jamie Fox portrayal of Electro. I really did want to see that Sinister 6 film they had planned before it got the ax since they hinted at it at the end of ASM2 in the credits.
5004824
Hmm, that's interesting. I have some mixed feelings on Electro in that movie. It's like, I see what they were trying to do there, but some parts of it that just don't work for me. (For one, and I know that this is a fanboy complaint, I can't accept Electro without some form of his comic-book costume! Why'd they have to make him blue? DX)
But I do agree, that it would have been kind of interesting to see what that Sinister Six movie would have possibly been like. Oh well.