Review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) by Glenn G — 29 Dec 2018

IT'S RAINING SPIDER-MEN - My Review of SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (4 Stars).

My distaste for superhero films has been well-documented, so consider my surprise that I actually found myself not only loving one, but remembering what I've seen! Consider that a major achievement with SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, while still filled with all of the Marvel trappings I've grown so bored with, triumphs BECAUSE it's animated.

Live action comic book movies always feel like a bunch of actors in Halloween costumes standing in front of green screens playing out simple black and white storylines. With acting as stilted as the old Sword And Sandals Epics of yesteryear, I preferred seeking out the gray areas in other genres more in keeping with my tastes. With this new film, the genre feels more at home as an animated feature, especially because the animation feels so alive. Because you can literally do anything, the impossible action feels credible and the approximation to reading a comic gets its just due. Additionally, unlike its wooden predecessors, the voice acting pops with one memorable turn after another, and it doesn't hurt that diversity rules in a traditionally white story.

Written by Phil Lord (THE LEGO MOVIE), comedy writer Rodney Rothman and directed by Rothman along with Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey, the film snaps and crackle with self-reflective humor reminiscent of DEADPOOL and, no surprise, the LEGO movies, but it finds enormous warmth with Shameik Moore's portrayal of Miles Morales, who, like Peter Parker (voiced here by Chris Pine), gets bitten by a radioactive spider and finds himself with the same superpowers. Faster than you can say "Malkovich, Malkovich", more Spider-folks emerge when an accident threatens the lives of his counterparts from other dimensions. Those include a pig named Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Peni Parker, an anime-style girl voiced by Kimiko Glenn, and Spider-Man Noir, a hardboiled detective played by Nicolas Cage. Each incarnation gets their own filmmaking style, turning the film into a delightful genre blend. Its overall animation has such a fluidity to it as well as glorious "steadi-cam" shots and thrilling action sequences. Add a terrific Kathryn Hahn as the delightful lab nerd, Doc Ock, Hailee Steinfeld as a very independent, misanthropic Gwen Stacy, Liev Schreiber as the big bad guy, the winning voice of Brian Tyree Henry as Miles' strict police officer father, Mahershala Ali as Miles' freewheeling Uncle Aaron, Lily Tomlin as the most fierce Aunt May yet and Jake Johnson practically stealing the film as a Peter Parker from another dimension, and you have one of the best voiceover casts I've seen in an animated film.

Yes, the plot and the giant cast feels overstuffed at times, but it remains a quite charming experience throughout. Miles' hero's journey includes the usual "get off your ass and do something selfless' tropes, but his nerdy, humble demeanor brings joy to the film in ways that the usual stoic super-whatevers never achieve. The nonsense surrounding the "collider" and fixing it before everyone dies isn't as interesting as watching Miles try to cozy up to Gwen, who just isn't having it. Despite this, the chase sequence through the woods outside the lab thrilled me in ways I haven't seen since Luke and Leia went on a speeder chase through the Endor forest. The film also has some surprising reveals and a dynamic and literal page-turning quality to the storytelling. I was reminded of And Lee's HULK in this regard, but again, the animation sells this quality way better than live action.

I don't want to overpraise this film, because I'll likely forget most of it anyhow, but I will remember its eye-popping style and attention to character. It's a meta good time at the movies where for once, the calorie count in your popcorn doesn't exceed the surplus of all the good ones on the screen.