Review: “Into the Spider-Verse” swings above and beyond
By: Mary Mckeon
Tags: Marvel, Movies, Film Reviews, Spider Man, Animation

Review: “Into the Spider-Verse” swings above and beyond

Sony Pictures Animation has closed out the year with far and away one of the best films they’ve ever made, though that may not sound like it’s saying much.. We may be more familiar with the studio as the culprits of the notorious Emoji Movie and the live-action Smurfs franchise, but following less stellar critical and box office performances earlier in the year with Hotel Transylvania 3 and Goosebumps 2, the prolific duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (of Clone High, 21 Jump Street, and Lego Movie fame) have provided the studio with the distinction of having produced the best animated film of 2018. Incredibles 2 was fun and exciting, Ralph Breaks the Internet was creative and heartfelt, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is all of those things and a hell of a lot more, using the medium of animation to its fullest extent technically, visually, and narratively.

I admit I haven’t read many Marvel comics, but I fell in love with every main character, even those who had relatively little screentime in comparison to Miles Morales and Peter B. Parker (if you haven’t seen it, just know that middle initial is an important distinction). They all feel human and immediately become likable upon their respective introductions, so it’s easy to empathize with them even if we don’t know a ton about them. Even its main villain Kingpin has a backstory that makes his plan at least understandable, though his methods for achieving his end goal are deplorable at times. Another rather likable character is revealed later on to be doing some unsavory things, but their motivations are complex and they remain sympathetic. The various Spider-figures work off each other brilliantly, a highlight being the mentor/mentee relationship between Morales and a slightly more aged Parker. Their collective astonishment at discovering more and more people with their abilities makes for a good running gag when each one has to quickly go over the broad strokes of their backstory, and characters like Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir get some funny material out of the bizarre nature of their alternate universes — one of my only issues with the movie is that I felt there wasn’t quite enough of those two.

Not only is the story great, the world of the film is fleshed out with real-world issues that aren’t made explicit or a main focus on any plot line, but also aren’t sanitized to an insensitive extent and are integral to the plot and characters. There are passing references to the Black Lives Matter movement not via scenes of police brutality or blatant racial profiling, but through the attitudes that lie at the root of the ongoing hostility toward people of color, something that will inevitably affect Miles’ outlook on the world as an Afro-Latino and ends up impacting him personally and becoming a part of what drives him to defend New York as his universe’s Spider-Man. The other major component of that drive is what he learns from Parker, who is portrayed with undercurrents of depression and suicidal ideation that results in a familiar yet still poignant message about looking to an uncertain future.

The animation style, taking cues from the comics that served as the film’s inspiration (many of these characters, including Miles, are making their film debut) and becoming less cohesive between layers as Miles’ reality becomes more strained, complements the plot and emotion beautifully (though it could prove harmful to photosensitive people, so watch out for that). The backgrounds in the film’s climax make it difficult to gauge where the characters are spatially, but this is done intentionally to accent their feeling disoriented and on edge. New York is rendered in a way that makes it feel like our New York, but at the same time, not quite. Times Square is teeming with Easter eggs and advertisements for entries into real-world franchises that I truly wish were real, and the depth and dimension of the world makes for an immersive experience with or without the IMAX experience.

Into the Spider-Verse is everything a great animated film and superhero film should be, and I’m excited to see where Sony can take these characters next.

A junior at Hollins University whose penchant for Disney led into a love for all things film. Amateur film critic and aspiring screenwriter/director. View all posts by Mary McKeon