Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse

Full disclosure, this was not a movie that was very high on my list of movies I was really looking forward to this year. Sure, when I heard they were making an animated Spider-man film I thought that could be fun, but it wasn't a film I was really looking forward to. Even after the trailers I thought, I'd like to see that, but I'm not gonna go out of my way to see it. Luckily, I had a friend who really wanted to see the film so I jumped on board and checked it out and boy was this movie a treat.

The movie centers on the character of Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore). He's a half black, half puerto rican kid from New York who is very bright. He goes to a private school even though he wants to be at public school with his friends. He's growing up and figuring out what he's good at under the pressure put on him by his father (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) who just wants him to succeed.

One day when he's palling around with his uncle Aaron (voiced by Mahershala Ali), he is bitten by a radio active spider and starts to develop the same powers as Spider-man. Around the same time, Wilson Fisk, or Kingpin (voiced by Liev Schrieber) is creating a super collider that could destroy all of New York. The collider ends up creating a rift in time and space and bringing other interations of Spider-man to Miles's universe. Most notably a down on his luck Peter Park (voiced by Jake Johnson) who becomes a mentor for Miles as he tries to figure out his new powers.

Other iterations of the web slinger include Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), Noir Spider-man (voiced by Nicklaus Cage), Anime Spider-man (voiced by Kimiko Glen), and Spider-Ham, a spider bitten by a radio active pig (voiced by John Mulaney).

All together, they help Miles figure out how to be Spider-man and team up to fight Fisk and his rogues gallery of bad guys looking to complete their world ending collider.

Oh boy, this movie was just a pleasure and a half. It was super, SUPER funny, it had a lot of heart, it had a lot of action, it had tones of comic book lore that was really fun for someone like me who doesn't really read comics, I can only imagine how fun it was for someone who knows all these characters and their backstories better than I do.

There was just so much right done in this movie.

The animation was superb. Sony is trying to copy right the software that creates this animation and they are going to make bank off of it. At first I thought it was going to be a little jarring and at the beginning it was. It runs this weird gambit of being hyper realistic, but then feeling very off kilter and comic book like or if you're wearing 3D glasses without watching a 3D movie. It is very weird. However, once you get into it and get used to it, it is gorgeous. I think it would be an absolutely crime if this movie wasn't at the very least nominated for Best Animated Picture and if it were up to me, it would win that category by far.

The voice cast was phenomenal too. Everyone seemed just perfectly on point for exactly the character they played. If you know Jake Johnson's work, he thrives when he's the slob who is down on his luck. That's exactly who he is. Shameik Moore crushed it as Miles Morales and I really liked the mentor/student relationship these two had. Even better was the relationship Miles has with his father and his uncle and how that ties into his development as a person and a hero.

The really great thing about the way this movie was structured was that Miles doesn't automatically become great at being Spider-man. He has to learn and develop his powers. And that fits in with his own personal development, and that fits in with his school and family life, and it all ties together very nicely in a great story. I feel like I'm gushing on this movie and maybe it's because I just got out of it and I'm still a little bit in shock of how good it was, but this movie had me laughing really hard. Especially with how aware it was of the Spider-man universe, while at the same time making it diagetic for an audience who may not know all the references and Easter Eggs in the film.

I guess if there was anything I'd criticize the movie on it would be the villain. Maybe its due to the fact that Kingpin in my mind will always be done the best by Vincent D'onofrio in Daredevil, but I felt like I was really lacking in a strong villain in this movie.

Even Kingpin's animation seemed a little less clean as the other characters in the film. He always seemed like an amorphous blob and while his backstory wasn't bad, it was very rushed through and not given really enough time for me to really enjoy it the way I think I should have. Doc Ock is in the film (voiced by Kathryn Hahn) and I feel like she could have been a much better villain overall then Kingpin in this film.

But the movie is generally focused on more on the character relationships built in the movie as well as the comedy of this really unique scenario that I'm not sure you could really do in a live action film.

I'll rephrase that. You could do this in a live action movie, you should couldn't do it the exact same way. Obviously if Tom Holland's Spider-man started seeing other Spider-men from different dimensions, it'd be a a little weird and jarring if one of them was an animated Spider-pig. That wouldn't fit in the MCU and very few other live action franchises.

But the movie utilized the animation format to really go nuts with the characters, situations, and create a movie that goes above and beyond where any other Spider-man film has gone.

I want to give this movie a little bit more time and another watch to really solidify any feelings I have towards it, but I do think this will end up being one of the best Spider-man movies we've gotten.

I know I'm gushing but seriously, this movie felt fresh. It felt self aware without actively making fun of itself and diminishing the credibility of the story. And it was just a surprise how much I enjoyed

this film. It is definitely a recommend for me. Go see this movie and give it some support because I want to see more of these characters and this really funny world. This movie did for Spider-man what Lego Batman did for Lego Batman, but it felt more real that even some of the previous live-action Spider-man movies we've seen come out. .

I might do a spoilers review or talk about this movie more in the future if I am able to get a second viewing here soon. But for now, I am gushing over this movie. I hope you can see it soon and hopefully we can discuss.

If you have seen the film, comment and discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!