Ben Hibburd’s review published on Letterboxd:
There's not much I can add to the endless echochamber of praise this film has garnered, other than to say that "Into the Spider-Verse" is by far and away the best Spider-Man film made so far!
This film perfectly captures the feeling of Spider-Man, it's got tons of laughs, tons of heart and at its core it unashamedly embraces comic books. The only knock I have against this film was that some of the voice cast didn't work for me. I especially did not like Jake Johnson as Peter, maybe I'll warm to it on later watches but for now, it didn't mesh with me. Also I didn't care for some of the blurry visuals. I've read that it was intentional but again, I found it rather distracting.
Other than those two minor complaints, I had an absolute blast with this film. The fluid motion of the animation made me feel as though I was watching a comic book swing off the pages. The film perfectly balances the joy and responsibility that comes with being Spider-Man, something other cinematic adaptations have struggled with.
Another aspect I really liked about "Spider-Verse" was how it incorporated Miles's urban upbringing into the story. I'm not a big fan of hip hop, but it felt natural in the film as an extension of Miles. The animators did an amazing job of creating a vibrant cityscape filled with omnipresent highrises, scorching neon signs, derelict buildings, with low and high income areas dotted around the city. I felt invested in the story and struggle Spider-Man feels trying to get to grips with being the city's new guardian.
The more I think about this film, the more I'm adding to it, I'm sure this post will be edited multiple times over the next few days as I find more things I liked about this film.
