Review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) by Greg C — 15 Dec 2018

Fresh. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse is admirably familiar and new. The several twists compared to films past make this one a Spider-man for the modern generation. Miles Morales is important for who he is as a movie lead.

The animation is sharp and works particularly well in 3D, reminding me of the best of The Incredibles. The art here pops, and in the last act there are some particularly notable âheroâ? shots. The voice cast work is strong with Shameik Moore giving us a very sympathetic Miles Morales.

Jake Johnson is terrific as a more dad-bod leaning alternate Peter B Parker. Liev Shreiber as Kingpin, Brian Tyree Henry as Milesâ(TM) dad Jefferson, and even Nicholas Cage as Spider-man Noir bring a lot to this interpretation.

I gotta admit the anime and Warner-Bros cartoon â~verse jolted me out of plot for a minute, but eventually even they get smoothed back into the mix. Screenplay author Phil Lord as well as the trio of directors show a love and respect for the source materials.

There is the MCU-esque load of humor we have come to expect. Spidey Mileâ(TM)s and Kingpinâ(TM)s ultimate slugfest may not have been all that enlightening or satisfying. If nothing else, it feels good to see the first Stan Lee cameo (of sorts) since his passing.