Review: Spider-man – Into the Spider-Verse

My two favorite superheroes are Superman and Spider-man, and of the two, Spider-man boasts a more extensive and higher-quality filmography. While I appreciate the original Superman film directed by Richard Donner, subsequent Superman movies have generally fallen short.

Yes, he’s barefoot and wearing sweatpants, but there’s a narrative explanation for this!

In contrast, the Spider-man franchise includes numerous successful films. Since 2002, Spider-man has been rebooted roughly every decade. Prior to that, there were animated series and the campy 1970s Spider-man TV series starring Nicholas Hammond, arguably surpassed in cheesiness only by the Japanese TV series.

This scene showcases various iterations of the Spider-Man costume, including the one from the PS4 game.

Following the underwhelming box office performance of The Amazing Spider-man 2, Sony made the unexpected decision to partially relinquish the film rights for Spider-man back to Marvel. As a result, Tom Holland was cast as Spider-man, integrating the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Sony retained ownership of other Spider-man related properties, including villains, allowing them to release Venom and the critically acclaimed Spider-man game exclusive to Sony Playstation 4. Sony also retains the right to produce new animated Spider-man adaptations, one of which I reviewed recently. While highly enjoyable, it does have some shortcomings.

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is depicted as a typical teenager from Brooklyn, New York. He attends school and spends his free time creating graffiti art with his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali). During one of their outings, Miles is bitten by a spider and subsequently discovers that he possesses Spider-man’s powers. Initially frightened, he attempts to conceal his abilities but inadvertently becomes involved in a conflict between Spider-man (Chris Pine), Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone), and Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber), also known as Kingpin. Kingpin’s actions result in the opening of a dimensional portal, causing Spider-men from various alternate realities to converge in New York. Miles must embrace his destiny as his reality’s Spider-man to save the world and return the other Spider-People to their respective dimensions.

It is challenging to review this film without revealing key plot points, but I will endeavor to do so. I will begin by highlighting the strengths of Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, of which there are many. The screenplay, co-written by Phil Lord (known for the Lego Movie and his departure from Solo) and director Rodney Rothman, is exceptionally clever and avoids simplistic narratives aimed solely at younger audiences. While the film’s violence is relatively restrained, it explores mature themes such as feelings of alienation and the impact of sudden loss.

The script effectively balances the ordinary with the extraordinary, and the humor remains organic and avoids becoming forced or predictable, even with the inclusion of a talking, cartoon pig as a major character.

Spider-ham had the potential to be overly absurd, but the filmmakers successfully integrated him into the narrative.

The voice acting is exceptional across the board, from Shameik Moore’s nuanced performance as Miles Morales to Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of the monochrome Spider-man Noir. Lily Tomlin’s depiction of Aunt May is impeccable, and Hailee Steinfeld delivers such a compelling performance as Gwen Stacy that rumors suggest the character may receive a spin-off. Also noteworthy are Jake Johnson, who provides depth and humor to the role of an older, more jaded Spider-man, and Kathryn Hahn as Doc Ock. The voice casting is truly outstanding.

Gwen Stacy as Spider-woman.

Stan Lee (1922-2018) makes a delightful cameo appearance, and the action sequences are both creative and visually impressive. Overall, this is a remarkable film, but…

My relatively minor, yet noteworthy, criticisms begin with the film’s visual style. Some viewers may argue that the film’s aesthetic is striking, and while it is undeniably stylized to resemble an animated comic book with associated textures and imperfections, the implementation is occasionally distracting. The rendering of blur and backgrounds sometimes creates an unsettling viewing experience, akin to watching a poorly executed 3D film without glasses. In certain scenes, this effect is almost headache-inducing, which is regrettable considering the otherwise stylish animation.

Secondly, the film’s runtime of nearly two hours, while not inherently problematic, felt somewhat protracted in certain areas, yet simultaneously too brief to fully develop certain plot elements. Two significant narrative threads felt rushed, suggesting that the script could have benefited from further development in these areas, perhaps at the expense of other scenes.

Japanese Spider-man Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) complete with Spider-robot.

Despite these minor drawbacks, this is one of the best Spider-man films I have seen. I eagerly anticipate the sequels. Given the film’s premise, where all iterations of Spider-man exist concurrently, none of the previous films are effectively “rebooted.” I strongly encourage viewers to watch through the entirety of the end credits, as there is a worthwhile bonus scene.

I highly recommend Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse. However, due to some script pacing issues and the occasionally distracting visual style, the overall score is slightly reduced.