SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE Review - Is It Really The Best Spidey Movie Yet?
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse has received huge acclaim from critics and is being hailed by many as the greatest Spidey movie yet. Is the praise warranted, or has it been over-hyped? Find out here...
Sony's animated Spider-Man movie didn't come with particularly lofty expectations. In fact, many fans rolled their eyes at the very notion of it back when it was first announced because they desperately wanted Marvel Studios to regain full control of the character.
Well, even the most hardcore MCU supporters may be glad that didn't happen after they see Into The Spider-Verse.
The movie introduces us to 14-year-old Miles Morales (brilliantly voiced by Shameik Moore), who's reluctantly enrolled in an elite New York City boarding school. When he bunks off to go hang out with his uncle (Mahershala Ali), he's bitten by a radioactive spider and begins to exhibit the usual symptoms (enhanced senses, growth spurts, getting his hand stuck in his school crush's hair).
When he retraces his steps he discovers Peter Parker attempting to stop The Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) from opening a hole in the space-time continuum. The resulting explosion paves the way for the introduction of several alternate reality Spider-people - including Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld, Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage) and Peter Porker (John Mulaney) - and that's when the fun really begins.
The animation style takes a while to get used to, but once you do you'll become fully immersed in a stunningly realized world which simply wouldn't have had the same impact in live-action. The same can be said for the incredible action sequences, which, while plentiful, never come at the expense of a brilliantly developed story - one which goes to some surprisingly dark places at times.
This first big-screen outing for Morales is not only a hugely entertaining adventure, but it plays with the usual tropes associated with comic book movies in some surprising ways, and even succeeds in breathing new life into the well-worn superhero origin story. While it never gets as meta as Deadpool, for example, there are definitely a few playful winks to the more jaded fanboys among us.
It could have used a stronger villain (Sorry, Wilson), and it would have been nice to spend a bit more time with the supporting characters (more Noir next time please), but they're tiny nitpicks for what is an otherwise superb movie.
Spectacular, amazing, astonishing - whatever Spidey-related adjective you choose, it'll fit. If you're a huge comic book fan, chances are you're going to love Into The Spider-Verse. If you're a huge Spidey fan it may very well become your new favorite CBM.
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