Imagine if you took Big Hero 6, merged it with the style and tone of Jet Set Radio, and add it with the subtle complexity of The Incredibles, you’d probably get something as unique and as awe-inspiring as Spiderman Into the Spiderverse. Sony Pictures Animation has always been kind of a studio that would be very unpredictable with its movies. sometimes they can release complete garbage like the live-action Smurf movies and other times they can release surprising likable entertainment like Surfs Up or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. There is no doubt however that Spiderverse managed to surpass all expectations and I’ll tell you why that’s the case.
Spider-Man is known and loved by almost everyone in New York City and enjoys his everyday life of being the one and only Spider-people in the world. Meanwhile, somewhere in Brooklyn, Miles Morlas is your typical teenager who is forced to going to a private school because of his Dad who is also a police officer. Miles tries his best to adapt to his new environment but has a hard time keeping up. Miles often finds comfort in hanging with his Uncle Aaron as he and miles during the night head to parts of town to do spray painting on walls. One night, Miles gets bitten by a radioactive spider and the next day starts to discover strange things happening to him as he can stick to almost any surface. Miles soon comes across Spider-Man in a fight with Green Goblin and during a brief period Spider-Man realizes that Miles has the same powers
Spider-Man Agrees to help train Miles into being another Spider-Man but unfortunately, he gets killed by Kingpin and his goons leaving Miles all on his own. Miles starts to lose hope but pretty soon after he discovers another Spider-Man from a different dimension who is both fat and older. Despite his rebuffs, Spider-Man or Peter B Parker reluctantly agrees to train Miles to be a Spider-Man even though he really doesn’t want to. Along the way, while trying to foil Kingpin’s plans, they come across even more Spider-People from different dimensions and things start to get even crazier.
The Story was Written and Produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller the same people responsible for The Lego Movie and it really shows. They take what in hindsight is a very complicated premise and make it both memorable and fresh thanks to its style in tone and its willingness to just all out and have as much fun with the premise as possible. The best thing this movie has to offer is just how many Spider-Man references there are to both comics and movies and how all of them play a part in character personalities and in making the different dimensions have complexities just like in the dimension Miles lives in. Miles himself is very likable and relatable and you feel for his situations both with being a Spider-Person and the struggles with his family. The other Spider-people work just as well as they have well-defined personalities that are both interesting and sometimes funny. Even the villain Kingpin has a bit of a story to him that makes him more of a tragic villain than we realize.
Let me just say Wow...Just Wow is this some of the coolest looking animation I have ever seen in my life. There is a certain style it goes for and much like the story it goes all out and it looks amazing. Most of the Animation tries to mimic the style of reading a comic book and it does so very successfully. I especially like when they use comic panels and dialogue boxes as it adds to the overall style without halting the movie and makes the film more visually unique compared to a lot of other Animated movies which is a huge praise. The visuals just keep getting bigger and better as the movie progresses and the fighting action is quick and well put together. The only thing that I will have to say I didn’t love was the music soundtrack. Don’t get me wrong the overall orchestrated music is great and definitely benefits the story but I’m just not a fan of modern music being shoved into a movie and that would have been fine if the songs themselves were any memorable but I just couldn’t find myself getting into it.
Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse is by far the best thing Sony Pictures Animation has ever made and is probably one of the best Non-Disney or Pixar movies that has heart, humor, tons of callbacks in comics and films, and Animation and storytelling that is very bold and has a lot of fun with itself. Even if your not much of a superhero person, I would still recommend you check this movie out because it really is one of a kind and who knows if will ever get anything like it in the future.
(Final Grade: A)