‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ – Review
Get ready to swing high because Spider-Man: Into The Spider -Verse is here and this all-new animated adventure is a visual feast for your eyes and will throw you into a whole new Spiderverse that simply has to be experienced.
Spider-Man. Everyone’s friendly neighbourhood hero named Peter Parker who was bitten by a radioactive spider and developed amazing powers from it, before facing tragedy and then deciding to fight crime and give the people of New York the hero they needed. But Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is not that Spider-Man and this story completely reshapes the Spider-Man narrative that we are so familiar with in one amazing rollercoaster of a film.
Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman present the origins of a brand new hero in the form of Brooklyn native Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a gifted teenager who is struggling to find his place in the world…until he is bitten by a genetically engineered spider and develops some incredibly amazing powers. From there what happens is a non-stop action ride as he runs into devastating inter-dimensional powers and a washed up Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) and together these two would-be heroes have to stop a whole new batch of dangerous enemies from destroying the very fabric of time and space forever. Where you think this film will zig, well it zags and everything is kept fresh and fun thanks to an impressive visual symphony that plays out in front of you and its all just mesmerizing. The directors firmly capture your attention with this marvelous film and with its solid mix of superhero action and outlandish comedy you’ll be kept guessing at every turn.
In presenting this tale of a whole new Spider-Man and Spider-Verse we meet Miles Morales, a teenager from Brooklyn who admires his universe’s Spider-Man and unexpectedly finds himself having to undertake the mantle himself in order to save his universe and the whole space-time continuum in the process. With Miles, we’re seeing the heroes journey play out in full and it’s a far different one from that of Peter Parker. Miles is a thoroughly contemporary kid and he’s wholly unique with his passions for graffiti art and retro hip-hop, and you really feel for him as he rides the line between trying to be cool and just being himself. His journey from ordinary teenager to super-powered hero makes for a very inspiring watch and he’s certainly got a lot to learn when it comes to all his newfound responsibilities. Actor Shameik Moore does a truly great job of making Miles believable and you absolutely want him to win out in the end and all of that can be delivered back to Moore’s performance.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is its own completely original take on the Spider-Man mythology and this film thoroughly re-writes the rules here. In this film we get new powers and abilities and a whole batch of new heroes in the form of Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), a punk rocker who takes Miles and Peter for a ride; Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage), a monochromatic Bogart noir-inspired hero; Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), an Asian-American teenager from the future who has her own bio-mechanical robotic Spider suit and Peter Porker/Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), a funny animal character who finds his way into Miles’ Brooklyn and brings plenty of comedy with him. Then there’s a collection of colourful new villains that completely retcon every previous villain from the Spider-Man universe with appearances that include Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), Doctor Octopus (Kathryn Hahn), Scorpion (Joaquín Cosío) and The Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone), along with the appearance of the film’s uber-villain the terrifying Prowler! All of this reinvention and reinterpretation completely keeps you on your feet and makes for an extremely rich and beautiful film to get lost in.
When talking about Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, I’ve also got to single out the film’s bold and exciting cell-shaded graphics which really give this film its pop. Packed out with colour and beautiful renditions of all our favourite characters, you find yourself feeling as if you’re watching a comic book come to life on screen. The whole medium has been transported from the printed page to the energy of the silver screen and this unique presentation will completely have you mesmerized. I also have to praise the film’s closing action set piece which is nothing short of a high energy acid trip of colour and light and it hits your senses with the momentum of a freight train! Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a beautiful cinematic experience to watch and its visual magic will absolutely enchant you.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is ultimately about the journey that one needs to take in order to become a hero and it packs a great message that anyone can become the hero if they truly want to step up and make a difference. Miles journey to embrace his life as Spider-Man and do it all with his own style is a tremendously inspiring narrative and this young hero proves that as long as you have a big enough heart you can truly make a difference.
Breathtaking in every single regard, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a tremendously exciting cinematic rush that presents a whole new side to a universe that we have long loved and packs it out with amazing visual flair, solid action, laugh-out-loud hilarity and a great message of what it means to be a hero. So flick out your web shooters and swing into this one for a very fun time.
Images; Sony Pictures
