SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
* * * 1/2
PG, 1h 57min – Animation, Action, Adventure
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What I unwrapped while watching “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” took me back to the days where I would spread my comic books across my bed and enthusiastically read the exciting new adventures of Batman, Superman (I was mostly a DC Comics guy) and yes, Spider-Man. This new animated film not only takes the cake for the best Spider-Man film ever put to screen, but could also be included in the argument of best superhero films of all time. I haven’t felt the joy of comic book and superhero movies so lovingly captured on film since I wore out my “Superman: The Movie” (1978) and “Batman” (1989) VHS tapes as a kid.
This spider-flick centers on teen Miles Morales who becomes the Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities. The story was co-written by Phil Lord (“The Lego Movie”), with Lord also serving as producer with his filmmaking partner Christopher Miller, both of whom were unceremoniously fired from directing the Star Wars spin-off film “Solo” two-thirds of the way through production. This film makes me instantly curious as to what the duo’s “Solo” edit looked like before director Ron Howard and Lucasfilm took over, added months of shooting and re-tooled it into the stellar film that it is now.
The animation is superb, possessing a comic book-style vibe while being stylistically unique unto itself. It’s hip, charming, and steeped deep in fifty-six years of publishing history. Classic comic-art tropes such as background shading, thought balloons, multiple panels, written sound effects and other wonderful nods to the many Spider-books since the character’s first appearance in 1962 are deeply layered into the animation. It may be made completely in a computer (by human beings, mind you), but it feels hand-drawn.
The musical score is memorable, ranging from exciting action cues to tender moments when the emotion of the scene required it, and indeed there are emotional scenes. There was a 10 year old girl to my right and a 20 year old man to my left; both got teary eyed during a couple of dramatic scenes.
I hesitate to go into the story much. If you are a Spider-man fan, young or old, there is a lot for you to chew on in this movie. If you are new to the web crawler or a casual fan, not being able to name every character or surprise cameo won’t take away from the enjoyment of the movie. If anything, you will want to dig into the old comics (available digitally on your handheld devices these days) and find out who some of the characters are.
Start with “Spider-Ham.”
This is the most creative and pleasing animated film of the year. If it doesn’t take the Academy Award for “Best Animated Feature” I will assume the Green Goblin pumpkin bombed the Oscar results.
Joshua B. Porter is a Writer/Director/Producer. The most recent film he produced, “August Falls”, is currently available on Amazon Prime as well as other streaming services and DVD. He can be reached at @joshuabporter or joshuabporter@mtdemocrat.net.
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