Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is Spectacular

I haven't read many superhero comics but one that I have is on Miles Morales. An afro-latino teen who becomes the new Spider-Man after the death of Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man. I always hoped he would get the cinematic treatment. Now he has and in glorious animation.

Miles Morales witnessing the Spider-Man legacy.

After a battle with the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), a dying Spider-Man aka Peter Parker (Chris Pine) passes the mantle to Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), who recently obtained spider powers of his own. With the fabric of time and space at stake, Miles receives help of other web slingers from alternate worlds. There's Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) who is what would happen if Spider-Man grew up to be a cynical couch potato; rather reluctantly he becomes Miles' mentor. Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) aka Gwen Stacey who in many iterations is Spider-Man's love interest but in her world, she is the one who gets the spider powers. Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage) a Batman-esque version of the web-head from the black & white world of the 1930's, Penny Parker (Kimiko Glenn) a young girl with a spider-mech suit, and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) a talking anthropomorphic pig.

Spider-Man vs. Prowler

This is the best Spider-Man movie since Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2. Into-the Spider-Verse, achieves  on being fun for the whole family, in an age where superhero movies are mostly either rated R or PG-13. These are movies that should be enjoyed by everyone, not just teens and adults. Some of the best iterations have come from animated properties like The Spectacular Spider-Man, Batman the Animated Series, and The Incredibles. To many, it might look may look too "cartoony" or "kid-friendly"but they have handled many mature topics better than any live-action movie and Into the Spider-Verse is no different.

Peni Parker, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Miles Morales, Peter B. Parker & Spider-Man Noir. 

Shamiek Moore is quite possibly the best iteration of Spider-Man, right up there with Josh Keaton and Tom Holland. Up until he got his powers, Miles was just an ordinary teenager who like many looked up to Spider-Man. Now he is the new Spider-Man and must become the hero that everyone needs. A responsibility suddenly thrust upon him as he attempts to harness his newfound abilities and live up to the spidey code that with great power comes responsibility. It's a refreshing take after seeing the familiar origin story told countless of times. I had my doubts when funny man Jake Johnson would playing an older Peter Parker but he surprisingly makes it work of playing a Spider-Man who has made wrong decisions including getting a divorce from Mary Jane (Zoe Kravitz) and is full of regrets but still upholds his role as a superhero even if bit begrudgingly. It gives Old Peter and Miles a teacher and student role with both of them teaching a thing or two to each other.

Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime.

The Spider-Man movies in the past have had a hard time juggling every character due to the fact that it inserts too many but this time. Spider-Verse has a caravan of characters but each has a chance to shine, from every member of the Spider team, the Kingpin with his own group of super villains, and Miles' family including his dad Jefferson Morales(Brian Tyree Henry) a cop who isn't a Spider-Man fan and Aaron Davis (Mahershala Ali) Miles' uncle who has an estranged relationship with Miles' dad. This lead's into the movie's fatal flaw: a rushed presentation in both story and animation. I can get by with the first act as Miles is first adapting to his new spidey abilities but the last act rushes everything that a few more minutes would have sufficed especially with a few characters. I would have liked to see Miles interact with the people that played a role with the Spider-Man of his world seeing how he left an impact on many but seeing how this is Miles' story, perhaps a sequel could look into that, though we do get to see Aunt May (Lilly Tomlin) help out.

Th animation takes inspiration from comic books as it literally feels like one while also adding some anime, film noir, and Looney Tunes slapstick to the mix. While it is amazing it does its job too well as many scenes get both blurry and frenzy that it might prove a bit too much on the eyes. More of a nit pick, but we never hear the "Sunflower" song by Post Malone and Swae Lee that has been advertised with the movie. Miles sings a few verses but we never hear the full version, not even at the end credits.

The movie comes from three first time directors with a background in animation except for Peter Ramsey who did the DreamWorks movie Rise of the Guardians. Phil Lord and Chris Miller the duo behind The Lego Movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the 21 Jump Street movies, contribute with Miller as the screenwriter and Lord as producer with the movie referencing their own cartoon show Clone High; if you can spot it. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is superhero movie that everyone can enjoy. Swing by and give it a watch.

Final Verdict: A