A Good Animated Film But...A Blur is a Blur is a Blur

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2019)

GRADE: B
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: Standard storytelling and a misguided attempt to be innovative hampers mostly fine animation.
JIM'S REVIEW: Why do most of today's animated films have strong visuals and a weak story?
Saying Spiderman Into the Spider-verse is one of the better action hero movies is faint praise. The visual style is dazzling in this animated film and it achieves many similar effects just like its prior live action counterparts. But the film also maintains the same pitfalls by adhering too closely to predictable formulaic plotting found in most of this comic book hero genre. An overabundance of battle sequences fills most of the screen time and somewhere amid all the sound and fury is a charming tale about a likable character named Milo, an African-American teenager who gains superpowers and spends the entire movie learning to master them while fighting evil...so much for depth and originality.
For me, Spiderman Into the Spider-verse was only partly successful. There has been much talk and critical acclaim that the animation on display in this version is ground-breaking in its eye-popping visuals. Yes, the vivid colors are truly intense in this moviegoing experience and the film captures a wonderful pop art sensibility and hard-edge comic book graphics, although some of the drawn characters have a Saturday morning cartoon flatness (especially Kingpin, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham).
While most of the action is indeed fluid and smooth, the overall effect is like watching a 3-D movie...without the glasses. Backgrounds are often blurred and the edges around the characters are either fuzzy and non-descript or lined with annoying red and blue contours. The kinetic action is always set on overload, desperately searching for those audience members with very short attention spans or possible unexpected victims who are easily susceptible to epileptic seizures. (After discussing this issue with the theater manager, I was told that it was not a bad print or poor projection, rather it was the filmmakers' objective to use this state-of-the-art effect. I listened in disbelief and after researching this matter later that evening, I was apparently being told, believe it or not, accurate information...Sorry animators, but a blur is a blur is a blur...it is not a cinematic art.)
Still the film remains true to its comic book origins and has moments of creative ingenuity. Kudos to the directors: Bob Percsichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman and their talented crew, although their excessive need to be technically innovative has the opposite effect for this reviewer. (A winter action sequence involving two Superheroes carried off on a runaway subway train and the dazzling climactic battle are definite highlights if one can overlook the pulsating background.) Voiceovers are well done but much of the dialog lacks witty banter. The script by Mr. Rothman and Phil Lord is serviceable but hardly memorable, with little character development and lots of frenzied action.
Yes, style over substance prevails in this project, even if the movie's positive message that "everyone can wear a mask" in order to do good in the world is a well-earned life-affirming credo. But every movie really needs a good script as well and Spiderman plays it too safe despite all of its razzle dazzle. The film's cool visuals cannot hide its predictability, conventional storytelling, and its basic squareness.