Another Spider-Man origin movie might be considered a tough sell, as we all pretty much know how that one turns out. So when Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was announced, many probably let out a collective “meh”. I mean, after so many Spider-Man movies, how could “new life” possibly be brought into the franchise at this point in the game?
I’m here to say, though, that that definitely wasn’t the case with this movie, as it definitely delivers one of the best animated superhero films in a while – and one that deserves to be mentioned in that category for “best of 2018”.
The film follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) who is currently struggling with school, friends and trying to please his father when we meet him. Fast forward a little bit, and he gets bit by a radioactive spider – and things start to change. He meets a Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) from another dimension, and realizes that his life just got a lot more complicated.
The character development with Morales and his father (Brian Tyree Henry), and his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) is top notch, and you actually get a feel for what Morales is going through at this point in his life. You really get the sense that the filmmakers genuinely loved creating the characters in this movie, and it pays off in more ways than one.
The alternate dimension I mentioned earlier finally clashes when Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) opens up a portal to a new dimension to try and bring back his family. We’re then introduced to characters that Spider-Man/Marvel fans will definitely know, and a supporting cast of alternate dimension “Spider-Men” like Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (voice by Nicolas Cage) and Spider-Ham. Yes, Spider-Ham.
This takes place before Morales can truly dawn the spandex that we’re all clamoring to see at that point in the movie – and it still doesn’t drag on. The characters are just all too likable not to enjoy.
I know that some people were complaining about the way that the animation in the movie looked, and I’ll admit, I was a bit worried too, but it really translates well on-screen and gives us a pretty unique experience that we haven’t had before. It definitely pushes CGI animation into a new direction, and I’m excited to see where this franchise goes next.
With the massive box office success of this year’s Venom movie, it’s clear that Sony intends on making Spider-Man movies for the foreseeable future – and here’s hoping that plan will end up better than it actually sounds.
In all seriousness, though, I’ll give credit where credit is due. The way that Sony managed to have this many characters in one movie and not mess it up (you know, like Spider-Man 3, which was actually referenced early on in this movie) is beyond me, but they did a great job. It really is one of the best superhero films of the year, and if you’re a fan of these characters, I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed.