Now this is THE "Spider-Man" movie I've been waiting to see...

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2018)

REVIEWER'S BIAS: I have been a fan of Marvel Comics' Spider-Man character since I was probably in elementary school; Spider-Man is my all-time favorite superhero. I grew up watching the excellent "Spider-Man" animated series from the early 1990s, and I absolutely adored the first big-budget live-action "Spider-Man" series that was released from 2002 to 2007.
Four years ago, I finally got around to reading the much-talked-about Miles Morales line of "Spider-Man" comics and - admittedly - I've come to enjoy his comic book adventures a lot more than I do Peter Parker's. (For you comic book geeks out there, Miles Morales was co-created by "Ultimate Marvel Universe" chief architect Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, and he first appeared in the August 2011 issue of "Ultimate Fallout #4" - having assumed the mantle following the death of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker, at the hands of the maniacal Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Miles Morales is also the first black Spider-Man, and the SECOND Spider-Man to be of Latino descent - after Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099; Miles is half-black/half-Puerto Rican.)
For this reason, that is why I absolutely refuse to ever watch "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017), which I believe should have been about Miles Morales, not Peter Parker, and Miles Morales is the version of Spider-Man who deserves to be incorporated into the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) - especially since TWO previous big-budget, live-action film series have been dedicated to Peter Parker.
But you can imagine my elation when it was announced that Sony (and by extension, Marvel) was producing an ANIMATED "Spider-Man" movie that would finally mark the long-awaited big-screen debut of Miles Morales, and we got that this year with the 2018 Bob Persichetti-/Peter Ramsey-/Rodney Rothman-directed "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." And its screen-story by Phil Lord, and final screenplay by both Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman is all over the place (in a good way), and is also quite inspired.
Now THIS is THE "Spider-Man" movie I've been waiting to see, and I didn't even realize it. Now I love Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" (2004), which is my favorite superhero movie, my #2 favorite movie of all time and is, in my opinion, the best live-action cinematic treatment that the famed Marvel Comics "Wall-crawler" is ever likely to see. Like "Spider-Man 2," "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" appears to be a labor of love for its team of filmmakers and legion of animators - as well as a celebration of everything people know and love about Spider-Man as a character; it contains many nods to the comics, TV shows, and films of past & present. The film, by Sony Pictures Animation, is pure eye candy; it's beautifully and breathtakingly rendered and realized amazingly well - essentially a colorful, animated kaleidoscope of an animated comic book superhero picture - and the characterizations are spot-on and brought to life by a lively voice cast that includes lesser-known performers and firmly established film veterans.
In discussing the story, I've read the majority of Miles Morales's original comic book adventures, so I'm quite familiar with him as the new Spider-Man. I knew going in that some things were changed (how can they ever be just like the comics?), but most of these changes are minor and insignificant and don't detract from the picture, as a whole - though Miles's nerdy best friend from the comics, Ganke Lee, is noticeably absent. Miles Morales (wonderfully voiced by Shameik Moore) IS the central character here - the film's opening moments work well to establish him and his life; his family, his parents Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Velez), and shady uncle Aaron Davis/The Prowler (Mahershala Ali); and his first days as an aspiring art student at the expensive charter school Brooklyn Visions Academy - and the film largely centers around him and how he becomes the new Spider-Man. But he's not the only Spider-person in town...
The vile gangster Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) has had his chief mad scientist Olivia Octavius/Dr. Octopus/"Doc Ock" (Kathryn Hahn) design a machine that will open up a gateway to alternate dimensions. After Miles Morales gains spider-like powers from a genetically-modified spider that was similar to the one that bit Peter Parker - and following the death of the original Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Chris Pine) at the hands of Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone) - he soon finds himself encountering other Spider-people from other dimensions, most famously an alternate, albeit aged and disheveled version of the original Spider-Man himself, Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), who shows Miles the ropes of how to be Spider-Man in his world. And additional help comes from Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), the anthropomorphic "funny animal" Peter Porker/Spider-Ham (comedian John Mulaney), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), and Peter Parker's beloved Aunt May Parker (Lily Tomlin).
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is a blast, from beginning to end. I have not enjoyed a superhero movie this much in a very, very long time. While so many superhero movies (and TV shows) these days concern themselves with such uber-seriousness and pretentiousness or silly one-liner-laden dialogue every five minutes, I found "Into the Spider-Verse" to be a much-welcomed change-of-pace from everything we've become so accustomed to. The movie is light and fun, but is not weighed down by the forced corniness and fake levity of most live-action MCU movies of late, or the humorlessness and cynicism of so many DC Comics vehicles. "Into the Spider-Verse" is self-knowing and hip and witty, and wears its heart on its sleeve, but it hits all the right emotive notes and the high-flying humor of the picture arises naturally from the material and doesn't come off as forced (again, like so many big-budget MCU and DC properties in recent years).
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" was the "Spider-Man" movie event I've been waiting for, and I didn't even know it. For anyone that's a true fan of Spider-Man, it's definitely worth the price of the admission. I know it was for me.
10/10
P.S.: The film also contains heartfelt tributes to both of Spider-Man's late creators, Stan Lee (who passed away just last month and whom I had the pleasure of meeting six years ago at a comic book convention in Baltimore) and Steve Ditko (who passed away in June).