spider-man: into the spider-verse
(This is a rewatch of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and is a slightly tweaked older review. I’m very familiar with this movie, and I’ve probably seen it five or so times. This and its sequel are some of my favorites.)
Ever since the release of The Dark Knight changing the superhero landscape forever, superhero movies have always been able to find a home in cinemas and will continue to grow as a medium. The biggest climactic theatrical finale of all time closing the book on the MCU on top of a global pandemic together couldn’t stop the momentum of the Disney-Marvel train, and even back in the early 2000s, Tobey Maguire was carrying a legendary comic book character to new heights, twice in a row turning in some of the greatest performances for a lead role in a superhero film. The films were comic-book-y in nature but also fresh and exciting, and deep down, they were instantly relatable snapshots of life, easily connectible and a great indicator of what it would have been like to be a superhero in that era. But then, as almost all great trilogies do, Spider-Man, leading with the ball after the glory of Spider-Man 2, fumbled in the endzone.
Spider-Man as an IP was never in any financial danger during this era, but overall, in my opinion, it did start to dip in quality after Spidey 3’s disappointment. Sony was trying way too hard to create a cinematic universe, The Spectacular Spider-Man got canceled after only two seasons, all three of the villains in TASM 2 were some of the most panned performances in the entire genre, Spider-Man was resorted to being eye candy for the MCU and got his own Adam Sandler-level of unfunny Disney Channel movies where nobody’s actions have any consequences- after only ten or so years, Spider-Man’s outside-comics media reputation absolutely flatlined, and this is still WITH me thinking The Amazing Spider-Man 1 is okay.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at the time was a lightning bolt reminder that superhero movies can be so much more than corporate jargon.
It is breathtaking how much this movie gets right. Visually, this film and its sequel are some of the most stunning movies I’ve ever seen. Sony just nailed the comic book look while still giving the visual style its own feel and flair. It’s just so well animated and stylish and in-your-face fresh, the yellow boxes and sound effects and movement lines are such nice touches. I love when movies show me something I’ve never seen before, and this is certainly something I’ve never seen before.
Miles is such a fascinating and relatable character. Tobey will always be my guy, but Shamiek Moore as Miles is so instantly loveable with his fresh demeanor and wide range of emotions that he takes second slot for Spidey easily. It’s a fantastic representation of a young kid from New York that puts up stickers and listens to mumble rap, as opposed to the 30 year old high school students with ‘sad face disorder’ that we normally see in this kind of stuff. I love how we get to watch him grow as a character, which is shown visually through his powers as well. He learns his camouflage ability and his Venom Strike at the perfect times, and up until he masters his powers at the end of Act 2, he’s animated at a lower frame rate than the rest of the movie to signify his slowness and inexperience. That’s a really interesting concept.
A lot of reviews of Spider-Verse called it fan service, but honestly, I don’t see it that way. I see self awareness and subversion of expectations. Like how the theme of the movie is society’s expectations of a young person to follow someone’s footsteps into greatness, we all have our expectations of what we expect a Spider-Man movie to look like. But Spider-Verse plays the smart game. Miles slapping the spider off his hand lamely after the intense musical buildup, the opening stuff with the ‘you’ve seen this all before’ retread of previous movies with little visual spins on iconic moments from the series’ history, new diversely casted versions of Spider-Man with unique origins and visual styles rather than a team of, like six red and blue-spandexed brown-haired white guys, a character that isn’t a cardboard cutout of a buff action hero and actually has deep flaws and emotions- these aren’t things you see in a superhero movie every day, and it feels so good to see something new. And this even somewhat extends to the villains as well. On the outside you have “Oh, this one’s Doc Ock but it’s a woman,” but on the inside you have a well motivated and interesting interpretation of Kingpin who just wants to see his family again. There are just so many twists and ideas based on borrowed DNA that make this movie stand out.
I know I ragged on Spider-Man’s media adaptation history in the 2010s, but one thing that is consistent with literally every Spider-Man movie, good and bad, is the rock solid score. Danny Elfman, Christopher Young, James Horner, Hans Zimmer, Michael Giacchino; I have no idea who always decides to hire legends to compose Spider-Man movies, but there has never been a bad or forgettable score in a Spider-Man film, ever, and Spider-Verse keeps this tradition alive. Beautiful composition from Daniel Pemberton.
Momentum carries a huge role in this movie. It gets you excited and intrigued with the opening of Chris Pine Spider-Man, and then it continues to keep you intrigued through the introduction of Miles and onward. There’s not a single second of filler, and there’s not a single second of content missing. One scene in particular, Miles’ leap of faith, with its triumphant, uplifting music and stunningly unique upside-down shot is carried entirely by momentum and it has become pretty close to my favorite scene in any movie ever. The film just takes 90 minutes to inject you with a syringe of some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in recent American animation, and then it dips, leaving you gasping for more. Also, it’s funny! I forgot how funny this movie was. Some genuinely good jokes- not a surprise, though, since the dialogue is so tight and natural sounding.
One major complaint I had was the handling of Peter B Parker. Upon my first viewing in theaters, I was very disappointed to see a version of Peter Parker that was okay with having an entire universe collapse and is throughout the film, very hesitant to help people and do traditional Spider-Man things, especially in comparison to Chris Pine Spider-Man, who in only a couple of minutes of screen time, managed to encapsulate everything about Spider-Man perfectly. I think the eventual character development of Peter going from “Yeah, it’s okay that your universe dies actually” to “I will literally be the one to sacrifice myself for this collider to work” in the span of 90 minutes didn’t gel. I was able to look past it with time, but I thought it’d be worth mentioning, being a comparatively small gripe in a movie I have an overwhelming amount of respect for.
It’s the kind of movie that I imagine has major animation studios looking at each other dumbfounded going, “What are we even doing over here?” It’s a stylish, refreshing, comedic yet emotional rollercoaster of fluidity and uniqueness that was the most drastic example of me in a theater genuinely having to pick myself up off the floor when the credits rolled. It’s bold and eerily beautiful in ways that only Ghibli rivals.
If you haven’t seen this yet because it’s a cartoon or because you’re too tough to watch ‘silly kids movies’, you are seriously missing out on some once-in-a-lifetime stuff. This is why I watch movies. To feel the way Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse made me feel.
But not as good as The Boss Baby, though.
