Film (Flashback) Friday: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Author’s Note: Author’s note: This review was originally posted on Januarl 11, 2019, when the movie was in theaters. I’m reposting it now because I think it is worth watching and is now available for streaming on Netflix.

For our first Film Friday, I want to discuss a movie that I genuinely believe both comic book fans and those who have never read a comic in their life will enjoy—Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I saw the first 45 minutes of the movie at a New York Comic Con in October of last year with the animation not completed, and it stuck with me. I told everyone that they needed to see this movie to the point that a couple of my friends starting calling it “your Spider-Man” when referring to the movie. While I never was paid for my informal marketing campaign and my expectations were super high, Spider-Verse actually managed to be even better than I imagined.

Spider-Verse tells the story of a Spider-Man familiar to comic book readers but not the Peter Parker that movie audiences know. Miles Morales is an Afro-Latino kid growing up in Brooklyn who gets bitten by a radioactive spider. His powers are slightly different than Peter Parker’s, but a deeper dive into his powers isn’t what makes this movie great. We also get to meet the spider people from several different universes (including Spider-Man Noir voiced by Nicholas Cage and Spider-Ham voiced by John Mulaney), and from start to finish the laughs are consistent, earned, and refreshing. This movie is just a ton of fun. In addition to being a blast of a comedy, the film has a ton of heart. We really feel Miles is a teenager struggling to become himself. He is awkward and clumsy and struggling to be cool—aren’t we all? When we went through puberty, though, we didn’t have to deal with trying to save the multiverse from utter destruction. You feel for Miles, and when he is scared and unsure, it hurts.

In addition to an incredible story, the animation is unreal. Spider-Verse combines traditional 2D animation, 3D animation, and frequently uses things like dialogue boxes to really make this feel like a comic book come to life. The story also has many scenes, and I won’t say the cause due to spoilers, that feel like an absurd acid trip of colors and graphics. It looks simply stunning. Throw in an awesome soundtrack featuring several well-known rappers and some lesser known, and you have a story that feels authentically Brooklyn. Spider-Verse looks good, sounds good, and feels good—a triple threat, really.

I’ll admit a bias. I named my dog Dr. Bruce Banner, and I’ve grown up a huge comic book fan. I tend to really enjoy seeing comic book movies—this might be my favorite comic book movie. That’s saying something. My girlfriend, who likes geeky things but didn’t grow up quite the geek I am ended the movie saying simply “wow…that was phenomenal.” Whether you like comics or not, I have to imagine you’ll like this film.  

Spider-Verse has great visuals, great audio, and a great story. It has good representation and good colors. Most of all though, it’s a lot of fun. If you want to go to the theater and have a good time, you could pick much, much worse movies.