A colorful web-slinging adventure into the multiverse!

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2019)

In 1962, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created Spider-man, which became a unique phenomenon within the superhero genre. From his amazing powers to his colorful cast, he has been one of the most enduring characters in Marvel's history, but why is that? This surprise animated film, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse", answers that with its own quirky flair.
Plot: Our protagonist is teenager Miles Morales, who finds himself struggling finding out what to do with his average life. Shortly after gaining powers from a radioactive spider bite, he finds his world turned upside down when he meets a disgruntled Peter Parker and several other alternate versions of the famed wall crawler. As they unite against the Kingpin and his forces to prevent the destruction of reality, he learns what it truly means to don the mask.
The first thing that stands out is the animation, a unique style of CGI with a 2D aesthetic. It's all really gorgeous; heck, the scenes where Spidey swings through the city alone are breathtaking and I honestly can't think of any other film that looked this. Everyone has a design that is recognizable and able to stand out from previous incarnations (the only one I'm not fond of is Green Goblin). The film pays homage to various media and even pokes fun at a couple things (really like the jab at "Spider-Man 3"), which is all part of the hero's appeal.
The Spider Gang is very much like a web, each strand is distinct yet has a connection with the rest, physically and character-wise, and this becomes the basis of their kinship. They learn from each other and for Miles, it becomes exactly what he needs to fulfill his destiny. Miles himself is pretty relatable as we all have that stage in life where we are unsure of our place in the grand scheme of things. With both the animation and cast, the action scenes offer enough thrills and chills to satisfy practically any fan with multiple Spider-men and villains going at it left and right with different powers. For all the light-hearted humor and quips thrown into the mix, there are genuine stakes involved with both reality collapsing and a few characters dying in shocking ways. Kingpin in particular is an imposing figure with an unexpectedly sympathetic motivation that thematically connects with Spider-man. The rest of the villains have cool designs, but due to the already large cast, mostly serve as simple minions with the exception of Prowler who is both personal and scary.
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is a fun, visually-appealing animated feature that embodies the best qualities of the friendly neighborhood superhero, paying homage and innovating at the same time. I can definitely see why audiences are buzzing over this one. Two thumbs up from me!