An animated movie for everyone

Rating: Null/10 (4 January 2019)

Given the success of the Saturday morning "Spider-Man" cartoon in the 1990s and the character's ongoing popularity with kids, the fact that it took until 2018 for an animated Spider-Man feature film to get released is kind of shocking. Out of all the Marvel superheroes, Spider-Man seems like the most obvious choice for an animated film franchise. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is likely to launch that franchise, as it smartly appeals to both children who love the titular web-slinger and adults who still love the Marvel universe.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse gives fans not just one Spider-Man, but a number of them including a middle-aged Spider-Man (Jake Johnson, giving the film's greatest voice performance), a film noir Spider-Man appropriately named Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), and a pig version of Spider-Man, Spider-Ham. The inclusion of Spider-Ham is a testament to just how well the film works. Spider-Ham is a really dumb idea for a character, but one that that is perfect for both a children's picture and the sci-fi nature that 'Spider-Verse' fully embraces. What could have been an embarrassing comic relief side character instead is one of the most amusing comic book characters put onscreen in a long time.
Unfortunately, before Spider-Ham and the other weirder characters are introduced, the film takes its sweet time getting going. For its target audience of young kids, it's odd that a movie with 'Spider-Verse' in the title takes a good half hour before the Spider-Verse is introduced. Around ten minutes could have easily been excised from the runtime without losing anything important. Once the Spider-Verse itself takes over the plot, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had, but the story kind of drags until that point.

Long-time fans of Spider-Man aren't likely to find much to hate about this animated version. Visually and thematically, the films is faithful to the comics that inspired it. The action sequences are just as exciting as any of those in any of the live-action motion pictures, the story is effectively told (if a bit cliched), and it sets the stage for future installments in ways that don't feel unnecessarily forced. For viewers 12 and under, this is probably a 9/10. For adults, this is a solid 7. Recommended.