Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) - Review
Whilst I enjoyed 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' last year, I felt that the screenplay could've been tightened and that six films later, Jon Watts has produced the least visually interesting Spider-Man film of the lot. Funny how 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' improves on every problem I had with that film. This is a gorgeous film to look at, with absolutely incredible animation that is directed with a sense of energy, artistic flair but also very clear focus. 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' is, surprisingly, actually about something.
Whilst other Spidey flicks have tackled the key theme of "with great power comes great responsibility", there's only so much to be done when all of them focus on the death of Uncle Ben. 'Into the Spider-Verse' tackles responsibility through Miles Morales, who starts the film struggling to find his own identity. He's a teenage genius with a scholarship at a private school but he's not really interested in schoolwork. He's a gifted artist but he doesn't have a way of really expressing himself. He's trying to figure out who he is, and when he's bitten by a radioactive spider, the stress on his shoulders begins to build. There's an amazing moment towards the end of the film when Miles' arc finally comes to ahead and it's easily the best of the entire film. It's the moment he truly becomes Spider-Man, and I can only imagine what that'll be like for all the kids watching this film. That scene alone also makes 'Homecoming' look embarrassingly "meh" in comparison. Seriously Sony, next year's live action 'Far From Home' had better to be good to look even comparable to 'Into the Spider-Verse'.
Miles is presented as an incredibly relatable protagonist in the film, not only in his coming-of-age arc, but also in the problems he has to overcome. Even in becoming Spider-Man, he's still under a huge amount of pressure from the other Spider-people to be the best of the best. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created in Spider-Man a character who could fundamentally be anyone - all you needed was the courage to put on the mask and be a hero - and that's a fundamental aspect to the character that 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' just gets.
Now, while this is Miles' show, it's worth mentioning the fun supporting Spider-players in the film. Peter B Parker is a really fun mentor character to Miles, played-off as an older, less enthusiastic Spider-Man, whilst Gwen Stacey / Spider-Woman is a really fun third member to their Spidey trio. To add some comic relief, we also get Peni Parker and her Spider-robot, Spider-Man Noir (a dark and edgy black-and-white version of Spidey) and, of course, the amazing Peter Porker / Spider-Ham - a definite comic highlight in the film. Oh, and they have a selection of wonderful villains to fight including Kingpin, Scorpion, Green Goblin, Tombstone, the Prowler and a reimagined Doc Ock, just to add icing to the cake. Kingpin is even surprisingly well-developed for a big bad.
If there is a criticism I have with the film, it's mainly with the marketing. The trailers sell this film as an ensemble piece, but really the main focus of 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' is on Miles Morales. The film spends a long time building up to the Spider-Verse elements, but uses this time to develop Miles as a character, to invest in his story before the main plot kicks in. It's a surprising origin story, but it works brilliant on both a thematic and character level. 'Into the Spider-Verse' is ultimately a cynical marketing ploy from Sony Pictures to grab some cash and start a potential franchise, but it's actually the best possible franchise-starter you could make. If we never get a sequel, the film stands on its own. If a sequel is made though, I'm down for it. 'Into the Spider-Verse' has such a great story and well-developed characters that I wouldn't mind re-visiting them in another film. In fact, I'd rather see a sequel to this than next year's 'Far From Home'.
Overall, 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' is a brilliant film. Not only is it well-written with strong characters and a great story, but it's incredibly well-animated. It looks incredible, and is so great that any future live-action Spidey flicks will have to really up their game. Sure, it's very silly in places, but that's very much intrinsic to Spider-Man as a character. This film is just a great example of how amazing Spider-Man can really be. 9/10
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