MOVIE REVIEW: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse- I Was Caught in the Web

I have been looking forward to today for a while now. The first direct to theaters animated Spider-Man movie hit screens across the country and I had to be there to see it.Â WhatÂ I saw jumping out at me on that screen in 3-D far exceeded my very high expectations. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has taken the second place spot behind Spider-Man: Homecoming as my favorite Spidey film of all time.

Produced by Sony studios and directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman with a screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman. The film stars Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, alongside Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker (an alternate future version of Peter), Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacey/Ghost Spider, Mahershala Ali as Aaron Davis/The Prowler, Lily Tomlin as May Parker, John Mulaney as Peter Porker/Spider-Ham, Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir, Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker, Kathryn Hahn as Olivia Octavius/Doctor Octopus, and Liev Schreiber as the Kingpin.

The film breaks new ground by not using the Peter Parker Spider-Man as the central protagonist of the story, but rather the Miles Morales version of the character. Though to appeal to fans of Peter the film does feature the version of Peter from Miles’ Earth as well as another future version of Peter. In fact the film starts off with Peter and then transitions to Miles’ story. We get a really well translated origin for Miles considering everything that needed to be fit in the film. We also get the introduction of his supporting cast including; his parents, his Uncle Aaron, and his roommate (and likely soon to be best friend).

Despite Miles being the central hero, he is not alone. It is called “Enter the Spider-Verse” is it not? Stands to reason there would be more than one Spider-Man involved.Â We are treated to an army of Spiders from a variety of parallel Earth’s courtesy of the Kingpin of Miles’ world who has created a machine that can bridge other realities in an attempt to be re-united with his dead wife and son, who were killed while fleeing from him after seeing him brutally beating Spider-Man nearly to death.

The Peter of Miles’ Earth is killed by the Kingpin leaving Miles to stop the Kingpin from destroying all of reality. Miles is not alone on this quest as he is soon joined by a future version ofÂ Peter from another Earth, as well as Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider, Peni Parker and Sp//dr, Spider-Man Noir, and… you guessed it…. the one and only Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham! They are also aided by that world’s Aunt May who has access to what I am calling the Spider-Cave, which is like the Batcave after chugging a case of energy drinks.

I’m not going to give away many more spoilers about the plot, but the character arcs of Miles and Peter B. Parker are very well written and really make you feel for them. Things get very personal for Miles, especially after his discovery that his Uncle Aaron is the Prowler and their inevitable confrontation. There is a wealth of stories that can spring from this film and the premise leaves it very open-ended. We can pick up with Miles again (and I’d happily buy a ticket to his next adventure) or any of the other Spiders we were introduced to as they all could very well stand on their own and jumped right from the page to the screen.Â The world is even more open after the post credit sequence. If you want to know what I mean then you’ll have to see the film as I’m not ruining it for you, but it was really fun and got a great reaction from the entire theater.

The animation was obviously a theatrical budget and not something that you would have seen produced for television. The level of detail was unreal and it seemed as it they used live action footage with CG overlays at points to add to the realism. Each of the characters from alternate worlds were each treated to the style from which they sprang, which for me was a great move. This allowed the characters that represented different genres to all be easily recognizable as their comic counterparts without having to be interpreted into another genre. This is played with by things like Spider-Man Noir always being in black and white or Peni Parker and Sp//dr being drawn in anime style.

The film also featured a moment that actually made me tear up a little. Stan Lee’s animated cameo. I’m not gonna spoil it for you, but if you can watch it without choking up I don’t know if you’re human.

I was very impressed with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and plan to see it a few more times on the big screen and then pick that bad boy up on blu-ray as soon as it hits shelves.Â This is a must see film for any Spider-Man fan, no matter what Spider-Man you are a fan of. If you’ve seen it then you know exactly what I mean and if you haven’t… what on ANY Earth are you waiting for??? RATING: 5/5 Stars

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