Academy Awards Watch – Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Review: Swing Into Delightful Creativity

 

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a young boy living in Brooklyn. His existence is filled with inner conflict as he tries to be the good student his parents, officer Jefferson Davis (Bryan Tyree Henry) and mother Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Velez) want him to be at his new private school, but also the individual he wants to be—a persona which includes creating street art under the tutelage of his less-than-reputable uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali).

After a random encounter with a spider, Miles wakes up one day to discover that he has superpowers. Furthermore, the young would-be Spider-Man also learns that there are many people with spider-like abilities from all different universes, and thanks to an experiment gone wrong, they have all converged upon his existence. Unless Miles can work with his new motley crew of spider-folk, all worlds in the multiverse might be permanently damaged.

RELATED: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse – Lord And Miller On Taking A Risk With Its Unique Visuals

What works in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is the art, the narrative, and script. Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman have employed a visual style that is unique, immersive, and stunning. The foundation of the animation is reflective dot-matrix styles associated with older printed comics, complete with thought bubbles that suddenly appear, and bursting onomatopoeia (think Batman ’66 with “BAM!” and “BANG!” flashing on the screen during a fight). Furthermore, the design of the characters straddles the line between absurdist and realism. For example, the Morales/Davis family all have reasonable proportions, but Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin (Liev Schriber) is a hulking imposing mass, sans neck. The combination of styles maintains a clear “ripped from the pages” trend which does help maintain cohesion even when the action ramps up and things get a little chaotic on-screen. Once one’s eyes get used to the style and sometimes eccentric color scheme it becomes easy to recognize Into The Spider-Verse as a gorgeous work of art.

There are likely many potential patrons who are, justifiably, asking why exactly the world needs yet another Spider-Man film—there have been six in the past 17 years, not including the ones where the character has a significant presence like in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It’s a reasonable inquiry, but Into The Spider-Verse is poised to not only answer but acknowledge and lampoon the franchise’s somewhat bloated history. There is a freshness to the way in which Miles’ path unfolds that is incredibly welcome in the comic-book movie genre, especially in regards to diversity. While certain characters might seem familiar, the abundance of heart and humor of Rodney Rothman and Phil Lord’s script make the inter-experience exhilarating and entertaining from the first frame to the last (and do stay for both post-credits sequences).

While Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a refreshingly sharp and stylish film, audiences members (especially parents) should be aware of some characteristics before bringing younger filmgoers. While rated PG, Into The Spider-Verse deals directly with some incredibly heavy themes, such as death. Characters are killed by one another and this may upset some patrons. Also, some of the villains are downright menacing, and the combination of associated intense music with jump-scares might frighten little ones. And finally, while the animation is breathtaking, the rapidity with which images move may at times be too much for some people to digest and process.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is perhaps both the best Spider-Man film that has been made to date and the best animated film of 2018 thanks to an exceptional script, incredible visualizations, and amazing voice acting. It is not to be missed.

Grade: A

Recommended if you enjoyed: The Incredibles, The Lego Movie, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Probable Academy Award Nominations:

  • Best Animated Film

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