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| Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Image courtesy Sony Pictures Animation. |
There
is always just a hint, if not more, of hyperbole when using
descriptors like “best” or “worst”. So when I write that
Spider-Man:
Into the Spider-Verse
is the best Spider-Man movie, it comes with some exaggeration to go
along with some recency bias. In this case though, there is a more
than a skosh of sincerity to the exclamation, as Into
the Spider-Verse
is very often brilliant in all definitions of that word. It's
gloriously animated with a great cast and overflowing with heart and
humor. Whether it's the best of the Spider-Man films is a fair
statement to debate – Spider-Man
2
and Homecoming
are both pretty great – but it's far more difficult to argue
against this film's overarching excellence.
Into
the Spider-Verse
focuses on middle school prodigy Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik
Moore), who opens the film transitioning awkwardly into life in
private school. Everything changes though once he gets bit by a
radioactive spider while hanging with his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala
Ali), which results in some spider-related physical changes. Events
get even stranger with the arrival of another Spider-Man, a
30-something Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), as well as Gwen Stacy, also
known as Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). They're pulled into Miles'
universe due to experiments being done at the behest of mob boss
Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) and Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn), who are
exploring multiple universes to find other versions of Fisk's family.
They are soon joined by more spider beings – Spider-Ham (John
Mulaney), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas
Cage) – who need to return to their respective universes before
they glitch out of reality. Meanwhile, Miles struggles to control his
powers and meet the high expectations set by his father (Brian Tyree
Henry).
So,
yes, this is a superhero origin story. Even though this Spider-Man is
relatively new – not debuting in comics until 2011 – the basics
of the origin don't very too much from Peter Parker's. Yet in this
case the familiarity with the structure is actually a strength,
because it hammers down Into
the Spider-Verse's
theme of the universality of the human experience. Even removing the
cross-dimensional spider bite that gives him his powers, Miles is
going through a difficult time in his life, transitioning from the
neighborhood he's grown up in to a wicked competitive environment.
The new powers exacerbate the issue at first, but ultimately result
in Miles finding himself. In his journey to discover who he is, Miles
is the first spider entity to not go through it alone. The universe,
or in this case the multiverse, is filled with the unexpected, and
it's comforting to know there's someone out there who can empathize
honestly.
Miles
has his spider family to support his growth as a hero, but they exist
in Into
the Spider-Verse to
check some of his worst impulses as well. The film contrasts how
Miles, Peter, Gwen and the rest of the spider club process unexpected
familial loss to Wilson Fisk. Fisk is a mountain of rage, fueled by
an obsession to bring his family back to him no matter the cost to
his wallet or to the very structure of reality. To paraphrase a poem,
Wilson Fisk is filled with passionate intensity, driven not by the
love of his family but by anger, revenge, and denial. For the
arachnids, the death of a loved one is an occasion for mourning and
introspection; they understand why life matters and devote their
powers to making it better. Fisk wants to pretend his actions didn't
result in his family's demise without learning from his mistakes. The
film does a wonderful job of showing the contrast, allowing viewers
to understand the differences without directly pointing out why one
side is good and one side is bad.
Into
the Spider-Verse
finds a lot of interesting, fresh material from a well-trod story
because it took the origin story as an opportunity to reinvent
characters. It's a sign of terrific writing on the part of Phil Lord,
as it shows he knows both who the characters are and what the
characters can be. Lord – known for his work with Christopher
Miller – wrings a lot out of Miles' struggles as a teen and as a
new student, as well as the loneliness of Gwen and the misery of
Peter's life. It's easy to relate to Miles, Peter, Gwen, and to a
degree Wilson Fisk because their struggles are represented as human.
The animation, action, sharp dialog, and voice acting make Into
the Spider-Verse
great, but it's that little touch of humanity in a superhero world
that makes this movie spectacular.
Review: Four and a half out of
Five Stars
Click here to see the trailer.
Rating: PG
Run time: 117 minutes
Genre: Animated
tl;dr
What
Worked: Animation,
Voice actors, origin story
What
Fell Short: A
tad long
What
To Watch As Well:
Spider-Man
2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man (1990s
animated series)
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