Review: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Release Date: Malaysia, 07 Dec 2018

Genre: Animated / Adventure

Running Length: 1:57

Cast (Voices): Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Kimiko Glenn, John Mulaney, Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, Liev Schreiber

Director: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman 

Screenplay: Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, based on characters created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko 

What's this movie about? 

The animated SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE tells the tale of how Brooklyn local teenager Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) becomes the new Spider-Man. 

As he discovers his super powers, he crosses path with other "Spider-Man" from multiple alternate universe.

Highlights and Lowlights

In all honesty, there isn't many lowlights. If I need to nitpick, then I must say the villain in this movie, Kingpin (Schreiber) isn't all that bad-ass. He is freakishly king-sized here but somewhat not menacing enough. 

The main highlight to me is of course the animation. It's a breakthrough! I can't even describe what style of animation it is; 3D? 2D? Hand-drawn? Stop motion? (the animators even played with the frame rates). Here's the official music video with clips from the movie - watch it and you'll get what I mean.

I'm glad the filmmakers didn't rush Morales' into accepting his new found super powers. In fact, he goes through many moments of push and pull before he truly accepts his new responsibility. He only donned his costume in the final act. 

And this movie is funny! The jokes are smart and self-referencing aka The Lego Batman style. Spider-Man Noir (voiced by Nicholas Cage) steals the show everytime he appears on screen.  

In summary

When I watched the trailer to SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE months ago, I was mind blown with the animation. I have not seen anything like that before. 

However, I was a little hesitant walking into this movie because there are already so many versions of Spider-Man on the big screen over the recent years. I was thinking, "This origin movie may just be another one of those forgettable style over substance outing."

THANKFULLY NO!

Not only this movie is the best animated motion picture of 2018 but it's also the BEST big screen Spider-Man to date!

The animation is a feast to the eyes. The best way to describe the experience is like you're watching a living comic book. 

Eventhough this version introduced many "Spider-Man" from the different parallel universe, the plot doesn't lose sight of the origin story of Miles Morales. When Miles' Spider-Man is fully formed and realized at the end, his hero moment was so much more impactful than Aquaman's emergence from the waterfall scene. 

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is an action film with a strong comedic overtones - the self-referential satire type. But it doesn't afraid to get serious either. 

This movie is a blast from start to finish (the trippiness starts right from the beginning with the Columbia Pictures' iconic Torch Lady to the hilarious post-credit scene)!

RATING: 9/10