"Alright. Let's do this one last time..."
On the eve of the premiere of the newest Marvel Spider-Man movie, I think it’s time we settled the age-old debate: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is hands-down the best Spider-Man movie.
I don't care what anybody says: whether you're team Maguire, Garfield, or Holland- I think we can all agree that THIS is the best Spider-Man movie ever released.
Since Spider-Man: No Way Home is rumored to have* (*definitely has) all of the previous iterations of the character put to film, I thought it was only fit to talk about my favorite Spider-Man movie that references the spider-verse. After all, Sony Animation did it first.
To me, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the few examples of a perfect movie. It has all of my favorite things: unproblematic minority representation, a BANGING soundtrack, and a fantastic and moving story that will leave you feeling something by the end of it.
This movie was just so... different than what I expected it to be going into it, and it was different in a way that left me feeling inspired and refreshed. It was as if all of the superhero movies that had come before this had gone stale, and this was the coffee that would awaken my senses to the possibilities out there.
Let’s discuss why Spider-Verse is my all-time favorite superhero movie, and why it should be yours too.
SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-VERSE AHEAD.
Category 1: Animation- A+
Here's the thing about Spider-Verse: this movie is the most visually stunning, creatively animated movie I've seen in my entire life.
While most animation studios try to make their settings and characters seem more lifelike or attempt to blend in with the Disney aesthetic, Sony Animation actively decided to innovate the space and create an entirely new method of animation.
Instead of attempting to create a modern New York that looks realistic, the creatives down at Sony decided to emulate the comic book style that the story was based on. Because of this the entire movie feels like a comic book has come to life in a new and exciting way. As Charles Solomon puts it in his New York Times piece about the movie, ""Spider-Verse"[sic] celebrates its print origins with bold graphics and mainstays of comic-book style, including thought balloons, printed words and wavy lines to indicate a tingling Spidey Sense" (par 2).
Various animation techniques were used to make this possible, such as half-toning (the use of the gradient dots in the background of every frame of the movie) and motion smearing instead of the traditional motion blurring, which led to Sony Animation eventually filing for patent protection for their new animation process.
Miles Morales, the one true Spider-Man
I will say, though, to the uninitiated, this movie is a little dizzying because of how uniquely it is animated. Some of the frames of the movie are intentionally blurred, with many details slightly out of focus. This was a little bit of an issue for me the first time I watched it in theaters in 2018, as I thought I was meant to be wearing 3D glasses. As someone who wears glasses all the time, it felt a little disorienting to be thrust into this new animation style when I wasn't sure exactly what to focus on, but I still contend that this movie was definitely the most refreshing and innovative form of media I had seen in a long time.
Overall, I really appreciate the Spider-Verse animators for making something so different in a world where animated movies have all begun to look the same. The animation is phenomenal throughout, and I would love to see what they do with the sequel.
Category 2: Writing- A
I think this movie a perfect film because it was so well written and thoughtfully constructed. It was different from what I expected the first time I saw it, but in the best way.
I'll admit, when Spider-Verse first came out I only wanted to see it because I heard that this version of Spider-Man was a black kid. While that definitely factored into why I liked this movie so much, that isn't the only thing I liked about this film. Spider-Verse turned out to be one of the best superhero movies I have ever seen, and a lot of that boiled down to the writing.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follows the main character, Miles Morales, as his father transfers him from his Brooklyn school to a prep school in the city. Miles is distant from his father because he thinks his father is embarrassing, and he is close with his uncle Aaron, who shares his passion for hip-hop music and street art. One night, while Miles is spray painting with his uncle Aaron, he is bitten by a radioactive spider.
Soon after, Miles stumbles into a plot by New York's biggest crime boss, Kingpin, as he attempts to revive his wife and son by opening a portal to another dimension. As you can imagine, this portal opens up a rift... Into the Spider-Verse.
Get it? Like the name of the movie!
ANYWAY, Kingpin kills the version of Spider-Man that was in Miles's dimension, which leaves the position open for Miles, since he was just bitten by a radioactive spider. Only, Miles doesn't know the first thing about being Spider-Man, and so he has to enlist the help of Peter B. Parker, the Spider-Man from another dimension, in order to learn the ropes and take down KingPin to shut down the portal.
I definitely oversimplified the plot of the movie to condense it into this review, but believe me when I say that this film is magnificent. The story structure of this film is so strong, and it immediately establishes everyone who is important without getting too complicated or confusing (like what happened in Avengers: Endgame when they had to explain time-travel for ten solid minutes). Even though there are multiple characters in this movie, it is immediately clear that Miles is the main character of the movie, and his journey to accept the responsibility that comes with his new powers.
Overall, this movie is phenomenally structured and well put together. Unlike Wonder Woman 1984, I never once felt like this movie was dragging or that scenes could have been removed from the final cut. In fact, I loved how all of the known story beats were condensed into montages so time wasn't wasted. The audience doesn't need to run though the old Spider-Man origin story with Uncle Ben again, because this movie is starting fresh with Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man.
Speaking of starting fresh, I think a really smart thing that the writers did was draw clear parallels between every version of Spider-Man, including Miles. This starts when Miles starts to get his powers, and his behavior essentially mirrors the original Spider-Man comic to a T. And while Miles's superhero origin story may be different from the rest of his counterparts, it is similar to Peter Parker's in the fact that- SPOILER- his uncle got shot by a criminal. It is also because of the loss of someone close to him that Miles had to learn that "with great power comes great responsibility."
Overall, I love the way this movie is written. I can tell that the writers spent hours and hours getting it right, combing through the story to make sure it was as tight and cohesive as possible.
Category 3: Comedy- A
The funniest thing about this movie is how many iterations of Spider-Man there actually are. Because the movie is called Into the Spider-Verse, you have to expect that the writers were playing with every version of Spider-Man that has ever existed.
This movie jokes about every iteration of Spider-Man you can think of- covering everything ranging from the comic books to the Spider-Man movies starring Garfield and Maguire. In fact, in the first few minutes of the movie, Spider-Man (voiced by Chris Pine) jokes about all of the previous iterations of his character, including mocking the infamous dance scene from Spider-Man 3. Spider-Man (Pine) also mentions getting his own popsicle, breakfast cereal, and even releasing a spider-themed Christmas album (which we’ll get to later). I love this opening because not only is it poking fun of Spider-Man's own branding, but it's the exact kind of meta-humor that I can get behind.
"Wink-Nod" reference to the end of Spider-Man 2
This movie is full of "wink-nod" moments, where a character breaks the fourth wall to make a joke for the people watching the movie instead of the people in the film's universe. (An example that immediately comes to mind is Spider-Ham saying, "That's all folks," and Peter B. Parker asking if legally they're allowed to say that.) They also make fun of more general superhero tropes, like how there is always some "goober" that they need to retrieve in order to save the day- be it a flash drive, a computer chip or a memory card.
I enjoyed the meta-humor of this movie because it's not as overt as something like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and it's not as obnoxious as something like Deadpool. It's just subtle enough to play with the multi-verse in a fun way that establishes each character and the world around them.
The humor of this movie definitely goes hand-in-hand with the writing for the film; if the story structure wasn't good, the humor wouldn't have landed as well. Once more, kudos to the movie's writers, Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, for making a movie that is well constructed and funny without being distracting. Without them, I'm sure this movie wouldn't have had half of the memorable comedic moments that it has.
Category 4: Music- A+
The music in this movie has no business going as hard as it does.
Say what you want about Spider-Verse, but you can't tell me in good conscience that the soundtrack isn't stacked with bangers. The accompanying playlist to this movie is very important to the story of the film, and it's also important to me personally. This is because the music in this film is heavily based in hip-hop, and it's also just really good music.
Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino high school kid from Brooklyn, is the new Spider-Man. His father and his uncle are black, and so he likely grew up with the music that is played on the soundtrack. The hip-hop that is present throughout this movie function as a literal playlist to Miles' life as a black kid from Brooklyn, even though he has been thrust into the responsibility of becoming the next Spider-Man. This is evidenced when Miles visits his Uncle Aaron early on in the movie and the first thing the audience sees of Uncle Aaron is him putting on "Hynoptize" by Biggie Smalls.
To reinforce the importance of the music in this movie, the film is bookended with the song "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Sway Lee, and Miles even sings this song in universe when he's getting nervous in order to calm down. The music is important to the movie because the music was important to the character.
Spider-Verse feels like it's one of those films that is inseparable from its soundtrack. There is no Spider-Verse without the music, and the music works so much better with the movie as a backdrop. I have a Letterboxd list of other movies that function in a similar way (like how the Fairy Godmother's rendition of "Holding Out for a Hero" is inseparable from Shrek 2).
If you're looking for an example of how the movie and the music have become practically inseparable, look no further than the scene where Miles jumps off a building in a leap of faith while "What's Up Danger" by Black Caviar and Blackway plays in the background:
This scene is one of the most iconic moments in the entire film (it was even featured in the early trailers for the movie), and the song underscoring it perfectly captures the mood and the tone without taking away from the scene by being distracting or out of place. The music works well with the movie because it was produced with the intent to be in it, instead of layered on top of it in post.
Miles Morales in his "What's Up Danger" moment.
To me, the Spider-Verse soundtrack is a good album all on its own, but the movie really makes it pop. I have most of the songs on the album on several of my Spotify playlists, but my personal favorite songs from the album are "What's Up Danger?", "Sunflower", "Not Afraid of the Dark", and "Familia."
Category 5: Casting- A
I'm not trying to spoil everything about this movie, but the film is titled Into the Spider-Verse, and so it's not a reach to say there are a few Spider-Men in this movie.
To be precise, there are exactly seven Spider-Men. (Well, five Spider-Men and two Spider-Women if you want to get technical about it.) Along with the main character of Miles Morales, there is Peter Parker, Peter B. Parker, Peni Parker/ SP//dr, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Noir, and Spider-Ham.
To voice all of the unique versions of the Spider-Man character, (who all have very real comics, by the way) the casting department really went out of their way to pick actors who would be perfect for their roles. Each character's voice actor definitely plays into their strengths in this movie. For example, who else would you expect to voice the handsome, charming Peter Parker aside from Chris Pine? He's been nothing but handsome and charming in everything he does.
Same token, who would you expect to be the schlubby, loser Peter B. Parker, aside from Jake Johnson, resident stoner personality?
Casting John Mulaney to play the silly Spider-Ham with his insanely cartoonish timbre? Inspired!
Casting Nicolas Cage to play the black and white Spider-Noir from the 40’s who jokes about egg creams? Excellent choice, no notes.
Shameik Moore was the perfect choice for the lead character, Miles Morales, because he captures Miles’s confidence and naiveté without making him come across as cocky or stupid. Miles is embarrassed by his corny dad, and he’s insecure about all the normal things that a teenager is meant to be insecure about, like talking to girls and going through puberty. In the movie you can tell that Miles is just a normal kid from Brooklyn who just happened to be bitten by a radioactive spider, because Shameik plays him convincingly.
I didn’t mention everyone in the phenomenal voice cast (because then this review would just be me raving about every individual voice actor) but I definitely believe that everyone was perfectly cast to play the roles they were in. The casting department could not have done better than this, and it shows in how well the movie turned out.
Category 6: Kid-Friendliness- A
Okay, hear me out: I think this movie is perfect for kids.
In a lot of ways, this film reminds me of another Marvel-comic-book-turned-animated-feature, Big Hero 6. Both movies contain a loveable cast of misfits who have to take down a mad-man determined to open an interdimensional portal to bring back a lost family member (They have weirdly specific parallels, actually). Both of them contain arcs where the main character loses a family member and has to learn from it, and both of them are really important to me on a base level.
I really think that Spider-Verse is a better movie for kids to watch, though, because while both movies are superhero ensemble films, Spider-Verse has the core theme of "Anyone can become a superhero if you take a leap of faith." While Big Hero 6 has a similar moral, it is somehow buried under the theme of coping with grief and loss. The concept of death and mourning was more important to that movie's plot than it was for Spider-Verse, despite the subject matter being surprisingly similar.
I'll also say that Spider-Verse has authenticity going for it. Something that we don't see a lot of in mainstream animation is depictions of actual, real people- let alone people of color. I mentioned this in my review of Soul, but I really appreciate movies that can depict black culture in a way that feels authentic and lived in. This movie was a game-changer for black and Afro-Latino kids that could see themselves in Miles Morales. Prior to 2018 when Black Panther and Spider-Verse came out, the only person of color that most people could look up to as a mainstream superhero was Halle Berry (both as Storm in X-Men and as Catwoman in Catwoman).
I feel like Spider-Verse is a good time to watch for all ages because the heart of this movie is pure. The heart of the film is the relationships between all of the characters, because it is the characters that make this movie, really.
After all, anyone can wear the mask.
Perhaps it's uninteresting to read my review raving about a film that's got 10's across the board, but I think that this movie is perfectly deserving of its hype. In fact, I think more people should be talking about it.
It's true that Spider-Verse won the Best Animated Picture Oscar in 2019, but I contend that this movie should have won for Best Picture. Not only did it deserve the recognition, but it would also be true that Spider-Verse was the best movie to come out that year. Even though it didn't win Best Picture, though, it has a Best Picture win in my heart. I love this movie so much, and I have nothing but good things to say about it.
This is, quite literally, one of the best superhero movies ever made. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is better than most of the other Marvel fare that has come out recently, and that is including all of the recent Avengers movies and "Phase Four" projects. With the sequel coming out next year, I'm honestly a little worried about how Sony Animation is going to top themselves, and I think that's saying something.
Clearly this movie is an S rank in my book. If you haven't already seen it, feel free to watch it with your family this holiday season. You should definitely watch it before Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes out in 2022.
If nothing else, you should listen to the Spider-Verse Christmas album this Christmas season. (Yes, it’s real!) It’s sure to make your Christmas merry and bright.
Thanks for reading! Have a safe and merry Christmas everyone!