The past 5 years of cinema has just been a filler episode while we wait for the sequel to this, it finally arrives this Thursday in cinemas and even though I have watched the original literally already this week, I’ve watched it again and it’s finally time to give a detailed review. Into the Spider Verse has been screamed to the heavens and back so much in the past 5 years about how amazing it is, it’s the best Spider-Man film, it’s the best superhero film, it’s one of the best animated films of the modern day and on and on. It’s absolutely influential to the modern state of animation, films like Mitchell’s versus the Machines, The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots 2 have followed in this film’s footsteps and only time will tell how much this film will continue to influence studios. This film is so important than it literally beat Disney for the Best Animated Oscar, and they were on a streak of 6 years on the bounce winning that thing, they were so confident that Wreck it Ralph 2 was gonna win that it was printed on top of DVDs already that it won. 

It can never be understated how gorgeous this movie looks, the comic book style is something absolutely stunning to look at across the runtime. Everyone at Sony Pictures Animation out there absolute heart into this movie and you can tell, it’s crazy that the year before the company delivered the goddamn Emoji Movie. The inclusion of movement lines from the books, text box’s, multiple panels and Jack Kirby’s famous Kirby Dots are just all amazing to view, and the differing art styles for the various other characters featured here is also breathtaking. Gwen, Peter and Miles look very similar animation wise, Gwen does have some differences if you look close, but it’s mostly obvious in Ham, Peni and Noir, making a cartoon pig, a Japanese anime inspired character and a black and white character stand alongside regularly animated 3D characters and it not look out of place at all is crazy, it’s a true work of art. The action is dynamic and fluid, I love the small fact that Miles runs at lower frames than any other character in the film until he finally becomes Spider-Man, it’s something you don’t notice on your first watch but once you find out it’s so clear. 

This film isn’t only influential in animation though, this film absolutely revitalised Miles Morales as a character. As someone who’s read most Miles Morales comics up until the release of this film (I fell off the books around the time this film came out), comic book Miles is super dull. Created in 2011 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sarah Pichelli, Miles was meant to be the replacement for a alternate universe where they killed Peter, but he ultimately just became a race swapped Peter, he had barely any distinguishing elements of his character that made him stand on his own away from Peter. If you love the version of him from the PS5 game, you have this film to thank for that character, the love of art, music, the anxiety and slight anger problems he has, even the newly painted spider logo in like a graffiti style, it all originates here. Into the Spider Verse Miles is the best version of the character, he’s full of life and has clear struggles, he has defined character arc that’s simple but rewarding and Shameik Moore gives a very powerful vocal performance as the character. 

Miles has his Uncle Ben moment with Uncle Aaron, a moment which came in the books because of his inability to step in when Peter died, and re contextualising that here is genius. This movie delivers the best versions of his dad Jefferson Davis and Uncle Aaron as well, in the comics, his dad’s a shield agent and is incredibly stubborn and poorly written and Aaron constantly pivots between redeemable anti hero and full blown villain, he’s the first villain Miles faces in the books and he’s just horrendous. Here, Jefferson, voiced by Brian Tyree Henry in a great performance, is more down to earth and has a understandable motivation, he wants better for Miles because he seen how his brother ended up. The interesting part of Aaron and Jefferson was the fact that they were both sides of Miles, they killed pulled him in either way, villain or hero, and that’s delivered here better. Prowler is formidable but still human, the moment he realises Miles is involved in the Spider-Man action, he gives up and lays down his life to let his nephew live, because he knows he failed him and it’s his last chance to make things right. Oh, and the Prowler theme fucking slaps, that and the main Spider-Verse theme are absolutely fantastic. 

The best character here for me though is Peter B. Parker, who represents a version of the character I’ve always wanted to see. Quick monologue about the treatment of Peter across media here, but ever since the early 2000s, Marvel Editorial has wanted to keep Peter young and stupid, even though the character is literally late 20s in the comics, he still acts like a teenager because once he grows up he isn’t ‘relatable’ anymore. The character was married to MJ for nearly 20 years before they whisked it all away through a mind altering spell in a storyline called One More Day, where the future child of Peter and MJ was also removed from existence. So, with the comics being so awful at making him act mature and the movies constantly making him the teenage version, seeing this version feels like a direct response to how Peter is treated. He’s still immature and his need to be young leads him into divorcing MJ even though he’s like 40, but through the movie he grows up and realises he wants kids, and seeing him with baby Mayday in the trailers for the next one is so good. It’s a weird coincide with this and Jurassic Park, that two of my favourite films both deal with background plots involving people realising they are ready for Parenthood. 

Spider-Gwen is a cool character, that costume is excellent, and the character has only been around since 2014 so it’s cool to see her here, Hailee Steinfeld is solid. Ham, Noir and Peni all really feel like background characters here but they serve their purpose well, and seeing Nicholas fucking Cage voicing Noir is just awesome. Love the inclusion of many fun Spider rogues, Tombstone is cool to see, so is Scorpion and a menacing looking Green Goblin. Kathryn Hayn is genuinely wonderful as Olivia Octavius, easily the best villain in the movie. Love the way Kingpin is designed here, just a massive black wall of a body that looks physically imposing. The decision to make him sympathetic with Vanessa and his son is definitely inspired by the Daredevil Netflix show, his family side had never been that important in the comics so it’s a good inclusion here. 

What more is there to say? The soundtrack slaps of course, featuring some of the best in modern Rap, Ski Mask the Slump God, Juice WRLD, Nicki, X, Lil Wayne, Post Malone, Denzel Curry and that’s just to name a small amount. It’s a movie filled with action, heart, a genuine sense of comedy, some actual emotional moments, some great easter eggs for comic fans, and can be seen as probably one of the most influential movies of the last couple of years, in how it has changed animation and how it reinvented various characters to become modern pop culture icons. Really looking forward to Thursday, really hope that they deliver a solid successor to this, I have some worries with how many characters the new one seems to have but I’m just too hyped, Miguel O’Hara’s 2099 Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Spider Punk all on the big screen? Count me in, this one gets a 10/10 of course, could never be anything less