Justin Peterson’s review published on Letterboxd:
An all new Spiderman comes into his own as Marvel and Sony unleash the Spider-Verse!
"Wow, that is one hardcore origin story kid."
The dazzling pages of a comic book come to life in this highly unique and imaginative animated film. For so long I have wanted to see a Spiderman movie that was not handcuffed to the constraints of a simple hero story and one or two villains. And Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse delivers that and much more as we get an impressive tribute to all things Spidey and one of his creators Stan Lee (RIP).
The movie is well aware that the idea of a Spiderman origin story has been run into the ground, so it has fun with that concept and tells at least 7 of them. This self referential humor carries on throughout the whole movie and had me laughing out loud several times.
I thought the first part with just Miles Morales was ok, but it really clicked in for me when a surprise alternate version of a character we know and love comes into play to reluctantly show him the webs (Instead of ropes LOL). Seeing these alternate Spider guys, girls, and Pig helped keep the plot driving forward while Miles works to come into his own as Spiderman. And that wait pays off, because the scene when Miles finally becomes his own version of Spidey gave me some serious good movie moment chills.
I had heard the villains in this were not that great, but I would strongly disagree just based on how many of them and how entertaining they are. We get to see:
- The main baddie King Pin (Who actually has a motive that ties into a back story)
- A surprise Doc Ock
- Tombstone
- Prowler
- A unique take on Scorpion and Green Goblin
You would think multiple villains and heroes would cause the story to get messy, but they managed to balance it all really well.
It is hard to describe the animation based on how dynamic it is, with its colorful blend of styles. It felt like it was trying to jump off the screen, and it was not even 3D, but it kind of looked like it was at times. One aspect that stood out to me was that much of the animation appeared to be made up by these layered dots, which reminded me a lot of what an actual comic looks like.
The pacing is really quick, so I can easily imagine appreciating so many more of the little nuisances on a rewatch. There was an emotional moment toward the end of the second act, that I wish had been setup more so I could have really been pulled in by the heartbreak it was going for. I think my happiest moments watching a Spiderman movie are when he is web slinging in the big city, and I wish there would have been some more of that other than his big Spiderman reveal sequence heading into the climax. The web shooters in this are mechanical right???? So why does he have such a hard time using them?
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is hands down one of the best Spiderman movies we have ever gotten based on how much Spidey we get, and it not having to be so weighed down by Peter Parker. I think this is easily the top family movie of the Holiday season, and I want to see more of Miles in this wild animated Spiderman universe.
Make sure to stay until the very end of the credits to get an old school Spiderman tribute.
"That's all folks .... can he legally say that?"
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Happy movie watching.... SKOL!
