The
Spider-Man franchise has experienced its series of ups and downs since it first blasted into theaters in 2002 with the Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire trilogy. While the first two
Spider-Man films in that trilogy are considered some of the finest comic book films ever made, the third film was a huge letdown and disappointed large portions of fans. It was apparent that Raimi's reign of directing the
Spider-Man franchise has run its course and it was time for a restart. Fast-Forward five years later and a full ten after the release of the original
Spider-Man in 2002, Sony studios attempted to reboot the franchise once again with Andrew Garfield's
The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 directed by
500 Days Of Summer's Marc Webb. While the first film in that series was fairly successful despite mixed reviews from critics, the second one got even more divisive reviews than
Spider-Man 3 with many reviewers pointing out that Sony basically made the same mistakes of that film by cramming too many villains into one story and creating a narrative that's uneven, showing a lack of passion for the source material and more interest in making money. With the failure of the second film, Sony went back to the drawing board and decided to bring the character into the MCU with their third rebooted attempt with Tom Holland in the title role. First introduced in
Captain America: Civil War and later
Spider-Man: Homecoming and
Spider-Man: Far From Home, the third reboot attempt at bringing the character to the big screen proved to be a huge success with audiences loving Holland's Spider-Man just as much or more than Tobey Maguire's. With the success of Holland's Spider-Man, Sony decided to try their hand at creating an animated
Spider-Man film with
LEGO Movie filmmakers Phil Loird and Christopher Miller being hired to write and direct the film. First announced in 2015, Loird and Miller aimed to give the animated film a unique style, using Sony Pictures Imageworks computer animation pipeline with traditional hand-drawn comic book techniques inspired by the works of Miles Morales co-creator Sara Pichelli. The film also required the largest crew ever assembled by Sony Pictures Animation with a total of 140 animators bringing the story of Miles Morales to life. Their efforts are much appreciated as
Into The Spider-Verse isn't just a visually breathtaking animated film, it's a great comic book origin story that often feels amazing at times while ranking as being one of the best
Spider-Man films ever put on the big screen thus far.
The plot for
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse centers around a young teenager named Miles Morales (Voiced by Shameik Moore), being bitten by a radioactive Spider and uncovering a realm of alternate realities where he not only becomes Spider-Man but meets multiple versions of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. As he struggles with school, friends, and his newfound powers, he trains to become the new protector of New York City. What makes
Into The Spider-Verse a different take on the iconic figure that appeals to audiences, is it keeps the Peter Parker storyline but presents it in a different angle by showing a new kind of hero wearing the mantle. Miles Morales is a character whose story has never been touched upon prior in the cinematic comic book universe giving the filmmakers the opportunity to make
Spider-Man feel fresh again for audiences the way it did in 2002 with Raimi's original and 2017's
Spider-Man: Homecoming. The end result is a story that's beautifully told, visually stunning with a hit soundtrack to accompany the characters as well as the story, and most importantly, it carries tremendous levels of heart and charm with it. As good as
Spider-Man: Homecoming was at re-establishing the main character in a third rebooted attempt,
Into The Spider-Verse somehow gives audiences back that magical feeling they had when seeing the original Sam Raimi film in theaters. It might've been because
Homecoming was attached to the rest of the MCU, which held it back from fully delivering the same kind of feel but
Spider-Verse makes its audience feel like young kids again watching its origin story while paying homage to all the
Spider-Man tales that came before it with examples being the narration of the Peter Parker's revealing their past storylines to catch up the audience to current events. It's handled in a way where it's not only funny and entertaining for the audience, but it actually makes sense in the context of the films story which revolves around bringing all the different
Spider-Man universes together.
Into The Spider-Verse feels like a special kind of experience for comic book fans not because the animation is simply downright beautiful, but they are witnessing a new kind of hero being born whose in a sense relatable to today's youth of kids with a story surrounding him that's full of action, humor, heart, romance, charm, and a genuine thrill for seeing a new origin story brought to the big screen in a way that's unique and memorable. It's more than well-deserving of its Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
In terms of voice acting, the ensemble cast that
Into The Spider-Verse carries is remarkable with talented actors such as newcomer Shameik Moore shining through in what's unquestionably ]his breakout role. Moore is terrific here bringing a sweet innocence to Morales character that channels that of Peter Parker's in the original
Spider-Man with them discovering their powers while trying to balance out their lives. Like Parker, Miles experiences tragedy witnessing the original
Spider-Man being murdered at the hands of Kingpin and feels that someone must continue his legacy. Shameik doesn't just play Miles Morales so well, he becomes Miles Morales as his range is sensational here. Chris Pine does a strong job playing the original Peter Parker, despite having minimal lines, he still leaves an impact on the audience when his character is killed in the beginning. Jake Johnson shines as Peter B. Parker, delivering a strong enough performance that balances out the chemistry he shares with Moore on the screen. Hailee Steinfeld does a great job playing Gwen Stacey and like Johnson, shares great chemistry with Moore in their scenes together. The audience can really feel the friendship and bond developing between the two. Academy-Award winner Mahershala Ali shines as Morales Uncle Aaron, the person who tries to be there for Morales when his father is too busy to focus on him or too strict given his stature as a police officer. Lily Tomlin does well playing multiverse Aunt May with Zoe Kravitz being effective as Mary Jane, Luna Lauren as Rio Morales, John Mulaney leaving a humerous performance as Spider-Ham, with Kathryn Hahn shining as Doc Ock. The two standout supporting roles that leave definite impressions with the audience is Nicolas Cage in what's arguably his best performance since
Kickass as Spider-Man Noir and Liev Schreiber proving to be a great Kingpin. Outside of Vincent D' Onofrio's performance as Kingpin in the
Daredevil series, Schreiber is the second best Kingpin on film. The cast here is extraordinary and does a beautiful job bringing this story to the big screen as everyone delivers terrific performances and breathe life into their parts.
As far as the directing and writing goes, the trio filmmakers Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman all combine their directing talents to deliver a stylish and enchanting animated experience that's a complete marvel to watch. It's fast, its got visual flare, and is full of passion and heart that's been clearly poured onto the big screen. For the audience, it feels as if they are watching a groundbreaking animated experience from Sony with the filmmakers giving each character a distinct look and personality that's mesmerizing to watch. The writing by Phil Loird and Christopher Miller is the films strongest asset with the first 30 minutes of the film having some of the best writing ever for a comic book movie with the way the characters and story is set up. The screenplay is full of character development and dialogue that's rich, poignant, and carries with it a sense of realism to it with the plot delivering surprise twists and turns along the way. For an animated film,
Into The Spider-Verse carries with it a mature tone that feels like a mixture of an art-house film meshed together with a teen drama meshed with a comic book origin story, that manages to blend together so effectively while keeping the story grounded and personal. The key to the films success lies within the writing presented here, the audience looks at Miles Morales and they can picture themselves in his shoes while enjoying the meshing together of all the multiverse Peter Parker's. Loird and Miller do a brilliant job of combining all the history of the past
Spider-Man universes and bringing them all together in a style that feels natural, exciting, and never forced.
On a technical level, this film was a risky venture for Sony that ultimately proved to be a tremendous success with both the art style and decorative look of the film being spot on. There aren't enough words to describe the beauty of the films visual style other than it leaves a commanding presence. The characters are brilliantly written and drawn out perfectly with Morales, the other Spider-Man's and Kingpin all looking larger than life on the big screen. The visuals are colorful, flashy, and have a human like presence with the emotion being shown on the characters faces. Every scene is beautifully filmed and voiced out showing the huge amounts of dedication that went into bringing this story to life. The films pacing is perfect as the film never feels like it moves too fast nor too slow. The first third of the movie is all about setting up the character of Morales while showing the passing of the torch with the old Spider-Man handing off his duties to Miles with the tragedy that changes his life, ultimately making him discover his true destiny. The soundtrack is effective and hits home with its usage of songs, particularly the inclusion of Lil Wayne's
I'm Not Scared Of The Dark. With all the technical elements of these films coming together, the end result is one that is not only visually striking but is hands down one of the most visually appealing films animated films ever made with the perfect balance of story, animation, superhero action, and tons of heart.
If this is Sony's way of apologizing for putting its audience through three rebooted attempts with the Spider-Man character then its an apology more than accepted.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a pleasant surprise and is pretty much the
Spider-Man movie that fans desire the live-action films to be. Given how many
Spider-Man films that are canon, the filmmakers always knew it was important to bring a fresh and original approach to the story and here they do just that. The whole experience is thrilling, exciting, moving, and unbelievable that Sony was able to pull this off. It could've easily ended up being the forgotten animated gem that
Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm became in the 90's despite being a cult classic today, but
Into The Spider-Verse is too groundbreaking and impressive of a film to just be easily brushed aside. A lot of passion, dedication, and heart went into telling this story not just from the actors but from the filmmaking team behind it. As far as ranking goes, the original 2002
Spider-Man film is still the best followed by
Into The Spider-Verse and
Far From Home. What began as a bold move on Sony's part ended up paying off handsomely with the film not only becoming one of the best movies of 2018, but also one of the best comic book movies of all time. It has everything that fans could possibly want in a superhero movie with the end result surpassing all expectations. Perhaps next time Sony or another studio decides to take another stab at an animated comic book movie, they'll feel more confident in doing so looking at how well this one turned out. Fans of
Spider-Man and comic book fans in general should give
Into The Spider-Verse the benefit of the doubt, it will surprise them and make them agree that every
Spider-Man film should aspire to reach this level of greatness.
Final Verdict: If you haven't seen
Into The Spider-Verse yet, check it out.
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