Anthony's Film Review - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Here is an exciting superhero movie that is both familiar and refreshingly unconventional...

For over ten years, Marvel has been heavily involved in adapting its comic book superhero stories into film, through the film production company Marvel Studios. They not only made a bunch of superhero action movies mixing live action and computer animation. They did so with the films being set in the same fictional universe, with events of one film influencing or being referenced by events in another. The idea is cool, but it's understandable if moviegoers who are not die-hard Marvel fans feel discouraged about seeing a new Marvel movie if they haven't seen certain others in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So the next time they see a trailer for a film with the Marvel name attached, chances are that they may decide early on to skip the movie.

One may be tempted to do just that with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It has the Marvel name attached, yes. But I can tell you this. Based on its story, this is a stand-alone Marvel film that doesn't connect to the rest of the MCU. Think of this story as being in an alternate universe, not the MCU. In fact, that's what the plot in this movie centers on: alternate universes. This premise does lend itself to exploring old ideas in new ways, breathing new life into an old franchise. I enjoyed this movie a lot for this very reason.

I am sure you are familiar with the Spider-Man story. A young man named Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider, develops new superhuman powers, and uses them to fight evil in the city of New York, all while trying to woo his love Mary Jane and taking care of his Aunt May. Now imagine six other versions of Spider-Man: a washed-up Peter Parker whose life doesn't go his way, a mixed-race teenager in Brooklyn, a black-and-white tough guy from the 1930s, a young girl, a cartoon pig, and a Japanese girl with a fighting robot. It's as if you have the official canon as creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko envisioned plus six works of fan fiction. Yet, each of the six alternate characters act as heroes in their own right, come together to save the day as one formidable team, and still make it feel as exciting as a regular Spider-Man story.

I should be clear. This movie doesn't focus on all Spider characters equally. The main character is really the Brooklyn teenager and the others comprise the supporting cast. The teen is a middle school kid named Miles Morales, whose father is an African-American police officer and whose mother is a Latina nurse. He is given the chance to attend an elite boarding school, though he isn't fully motivated with the idea. For inspiration, he turns to an uncle who lives a simpler life. One night, while hanging with his uncle, Miles gets bitten by a radioactive spider. Like Peter Parker, Miles finds himself struggling to control, and come to grips with, the strange powers that he develops. As for how he and the other Spider characters come together, it's all because a villain named Kingpin has opened a portal to another dimension, but the experiment fails and ends up forcing other universes to collide with Miles's.

The characters besides Miles enter the film at different points in the story. But once they all come together, they form a superhero group, though it's not cohesive right away. With so much happening so quickly, Miles doesn't feel 100% ready. Even the rest of the team sees that. This is where the other Spider characters make things interesting, because they have their own experiences and perspectives of things that Miles could learn from. Another reason the story gets interesting: Miles still has to deal with personal and family issues. It not only reminds us that he is human. It also marks an important step towards becoming fearless as a superhero.

If you love action movies, even animated ones, you'll no doubt enjoy it here. There's really not much to say about the action itself, other than it's exciting. I will add that the movie adds a bit of lighthearted humor to the story, given the unusual origins of the alternate Spider characters. When you watch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, you can expect a mostly dramatic and somewhat funny experience, but it's a good experience nonetheless.

There's one more thing to add regarding the elements of the movie: the animated visuals. They are eye-popping and beautiful to look at. There is also a variety of animation styles presented depending on the scene. For example, the parts centering on Miles and his personal life are done in animation that simultaneously looks hand-drawn, computer-animated, and even a little photorealistic. During the climactic action, the visuals look rather psychedelic, almost like a throwback to 1960s comic books. Speaking of which, some scenes present text captions in the same manner as comic book panel captions, giving the movie the feel of an animated comic book. There is surely plenty to admire with the animation.

So yeah, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a great superhero movie. It's also one with a nice underlying message suggested by the events in this story: anyone, no matter who that person is, can be a hero. This is something that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were also believers of. It is sad that both are no longer with us, having passed in the same year this film was released. Given this, I also think this movie is a nice final tribute to both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Thanks to them, they have created a hero many of us can look up to, and ultimately inspired this movie that reminds us that we can all be heroes, in our own way.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my review of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.