Year: 2018
Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
Starring: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Zoe Kravitz, Chris Pine, Liev Schreiber, Nicolas Cage, and John Mulaney
Tagline: Enter a universe where more than one wears the mask.
Starring: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Zoe Kravitz, Chris Pine, Liev Schreiber, Nicolas Cage, and John Mulaney
Tagline: Enter a universe where more than one wears the mask.
Synopsis: Miles Morales finds himself as the new Spider-Man. With the help of other Spider-People from other dimensions, Miles fights to save his world and all the others.
Review
I'm not sure how to go about this review. Rotten Tomatoes has this film at 97% fresh. A few people I've talked to have called it the best Spider-Man movie yet. It just won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture -- Animated. It's a well made, boundary pushing movie.
I didn't like it.
I acknowledge that it is a good movie. The action is impressive. The voice cast fits. The animation is new and bold. And the story went in all sorts of new directions.
For one thing, I only sorta liked the animation. It did feel like a comic book (graphic novel, whatever). But I didn't like that it was sometimes blurry or fuzzy in places. And at times there was simply too much going on. In a comic book, you are limited to one page at a time and can absorb it at your own pace. This was too much, too quickly, and all over the place at times. Not all the time. But sometimes.
The film is certainly funny. I liked the initial voice-over intro by Spider-Man which acknowledges and pays tribute to the various previous film incarnations (including the infamous emo walk in Spider-Man 3). There are lots of other funny lines and moments. Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Ham are interesting and amusing characters based on their very existence. But again, they just seemed like too much.
Which leads to the main reason I personally didn't like it. I just don't like all the multi-universe, multi-dimension stuff. It's why I don't actually like comic books. I prefer straightforward stories with a beginning, a middle, and an end (like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Christopher Nolan's Batman movies). For me, there is only one Spider-Man, and that's Peter Parker. That's me and my preferences. For a long time I wasn't even going to see Into the Spider-Verse, but it got such good reviews I thought I'd give it a try. I enjoyed elements, but on the whole I just didn't like it.
That's probably not a very helpful review. If you love comic books and love Spider-Man, you will probably enjoy it. Like I said, it's a good movie, although not without some plot holes.
The film is rated PG and has typical superhero violence including the deaths of various characters.
*** Spoiler Section ***
Everyone in the city finds out that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Which means they also know that Aunt May was his aunt. So whether Miles was tracked or not, it makes sense for the bad guys to go straight for Aunt May's house. Also, how in the world did they build that underground lab without any of the neighbors noticing? And could they really afford that off of Spidey's merchandising?
Another thing that bothered me was how Miles felt guilt for his Uncle Aaron's death. His uncle was the Prowler, a villain subordinate of Kingpin. We saw two entire scenes where the Prowler was bent on killing Spider-Man (both of them, any of them?). And he goes about it in a way that shows this isn't his first time. Of course Miles feels sorrow for his uncle's death. Of course he still loves his uncle. But Aaron's death came at the hands of Kingpin and because he made choices that led him down a dangerous and deadly path. Maybe Miles could have helped him back to the light. Maybe. But clearly Aaron was in too deep and Kingpin didn't hesitate when Aaron did. None of that is on Miles.
I don't know much about the villain Kingpin, but I was under the impression he is a pretty smart guy. His plot in the film is not very smart. Yes, it is driven by emotion and loss. But is he really so grief-stricken that he thinks he can rip his other dimensional wife and son from their own dimension and somehow make them happy in his own? Does he think that somehow this time he could hide who he really is from them? It seems like someone who has gone that far down the mental rabbit hole would not be able to keep up appearances in the rest of his life. But maybe that is simply the Kingpin character.
Lastly, although it works for the scene, I'd think it would be emotionally difficult for Mary Jane to be in a room with so many people dressed as her recently deceased husband, tribute or not.
I didn't like it.
I acknowledge that it is a good movie. The action is impressive. The voice cast fits. The animation is new and bold. And the story went in all sorts of new directions.
For one thing, I only sorta liked the animation. It did feel like a comic book (graphic novel, whatever). But I didn't like that it was sometimes blurry or fuzzy in places. And at times there was simply too much going on. In a comic book, you are limited to one page at a time and can absorb it at your own pace. This was too much, too quickly, and all over the place at times. Not all the time. But sometimes.
The film is certainly funny. I liked the initial voice-over intro by Spider-Man which acknowledges and pays tribute to the various previous film incarnations (including the infamous emo walk in Spider-Man 3). There are lots of other funny lines and moments. Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Ham are interesting and amusing characters based on their very existence. But again, they just seemed like too much.
Which leads to the main reason I personally didn't like it. I just don't like all the multi-universe, multi-dimension stuff. It's why I don't actually like comic books. I prefer straightforward stories with a beginning, a middle, and an end (like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Christopher Nolan's Batman movies). For me, there is only one Spider-Man, and that's Peter Parker. That's me and my preferences. For a long time I wasn't even going to see Into the Spider-Verse, but it got such good reviews I thought I'd give it a try. I enjoyed elements, but on the whole I just didn't like it.
That's probably not a very helpful review. If you love comic books and love Spider-Man, you will probably enjoy it. Like I said, it's a good movie, although not without some plot holes.
The film is rated PG and has typical superhero violence including the deaths of various characters.
*** Spoiler Section ***
Everyone in the city finds out that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Which means they also know that Aunt May was his aunt. So whether Miles was tracked or not, it makes sense for the bad guys to go straight for Aunt May's house. Also, how in the world did they build that underground lab without any of the neighbors noticing? And could they really afford that off of Spidey's merchandising?
Another thing that bothered me was how Miles felt guilt for his Uncle Aaron's death. His uncle was the Prowler, a villain subordinate of Kingpin. We saw two entire scenes where the Prowler was bent on killing Spider-Man (both of them, any of them?). And he goes about it in a way that shows this isn't his first time. Of course Miles feels sorrow for his uncle's death. Of course he still loves his uncle. But Aaron's death came at the hands of Kingpin and because he made choices that led him down a dangerous and deadly path. Maybe Miles could have helped him back to the light. Maybe. But clearly Aaron was in too deep and Kingpin didn't hesitate when Aaron did. None of that is on Miles.
I don't know much about the villain Kingpin, but I was under the impression he is a pretty smart guy. His plot in the film is not very smart. Yes, it is driven by emotion and loss. But is he really so grief-stricken that he thinks he can rip his other dimensional wife and son from their own dimension and somehow make them happy in his own? Does he think that somehow this time he could hide who he really is from them? It seems like someone who has gone that far down the mental rabbit hole would not be able to keep up appearances in the rest of his life. But maybe that is simply the Kingpin character.
Lastly, although it works for the scene, I'd think it would be emotionally difficult for Mary Jane to be in a room with so many people dressed as her recently deceased husband, tribute or not.
Quotable Quotes
- "Hey, fellas." "Is he in black and white?" "Where is that wind coming from? We're in a basement." "Wherever I go, the wind follows." -- Spider-Man Noir, Miles, and Peter
- "Do animals talk in this dimension? 'Cause I don't wanna freak anyone out." -- Spider-Ham
- "With great power comes great --" "Don't you dare finish that sentence! Don't do it. I'm sick of it." -- Miles and Peter
- "I have an excellent theme song and a so-so popsicle." -- Peter
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