Amazing animation and a spectacular story; pretty much the ultimate Spider-Man picture.

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2018)

Just because 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)' is animated doesn't mean it's a 'kids' film. Here, the danger is always real, with the stakes never being anything less than (on-screen) death, and experience is all the more exciting for it. Don't get me wrong, it's not overly grim, though there is some dark stuff here; if you, or your children, have seen any of the web-head's previous films, you're probably good to go. This one is essentially everything you could want from a 'Spider-Man' story, an accessible yet comic-conscious blast from beginning to end. It really is an incredibly entertaining time, a joy of a movie that pretty much just gets better and better as it goes along. It manages to expertly mask its more conventional (though, as yet untold) 'origin story' elements behind its bolder and more unique 'multi-verse' motifs. You usually don't know what it's doing until it has just done it, even if what it has just done is the most by-the-numbers superhero plot-point you could possibly imagine, which makes for a refreshing, constantly original and highly enjoyable thrill-ride that's easily up there with the best of its genre. Plus, it has one of the, if not the, best post-credits scenes of recent memory, one that not only bookends the piece with a relatively subtle yet still intriguing tease for the possible future of the franchise but also with the feature's best joke. It's a fantastic, genuinely funny note on which to end. 9/10