Thomas Merzlak’s review published on Letterboxd:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is fascinating. It’s perhaps the most audacious and experimental major animated film since WALL•E in 2008 (my favorite film of all time). Its unique style is the result of years of experimentation- attempts to make the film feel as close as possible to reading a comic book. That time and effort paid off. Its bright colors, and exaggerated and blurred backdrops perfectly simulate the immersive feel of a comic. That’s not to say that it’s static, though. It moves beautifully- each frame functions as a static painting, and when strung together the movements are smooth and clean. The use of split-screens, freeze-frames, and onscreen text adds to the unique aesthetic.
Of course, visual flair is worthless without any characters or story to back it up, and Spider-Verse has both. The casting is pitch-perfect for every character, down to Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir and John Mulaney’s Spider-Ham, which are really just glorified cameos. The story itself is an effectively metatextual rumination on the character and history of Spider-Man, combining an effective origin story with an appropriately high-stakes plot to destroy the world, or at least New York City. Kingpin is an interestingly flawed and sympathetic villain, too, and he provides an effective foil to Miles Morales.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse may not my favorite movie of 2018 (that’s Annihilation), but it’s still an impressive achievement and a wonderfully entertaining movie. Its technical prowess may slightly overshadow its actual story, but there’s more than enough there to lend the film an emotional resonance. Spider-Verse is an excellent film, perfectly capturing the feel of another medium entirely.
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