2018 I PG I 117mins I Dir: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Teen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe, and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
I initially watched this at the cinema before revisiting it upon its release to Netflix and found even more to enjoy in it upon a second watch.
Everything here is just fresh, exciting and completely packed with both audio and visual experimentation that completely warrants its place within the story. The film is constantly reinventing its style along the way and despite knowing little about the Spider-Man comic books, there is clearly a great balance between honouring what has come before whilst creating something new, which is an achievement in itself when considering the multiple incarnations we've seen of the character over recent years.
It's a lot funnier than I was expecting and like the best animated films, knows how to cater its humour to all audiences. It cleverly pokes fun at the franchise and uses its concept as a tongue in cheek reflection on the endless incarnations of superhero characters throughout film, TV, comic books and beyond whilst still knowing when to slow down and take a moment for it all to mean something.
If there's one problem with the film then it would be that the villains are heavily underdeveloped when compared to the rest of the characters. However i'd certainly take less time with villains to leave more room for everything else instead of watching another science experiment go wrong.
With multiple directors, contrasting animation styles, quirky humour, numerous characters and a broad cast playing them, it would make sense for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse to be a completely overloaded mess. However it's these elements that the team involved have expertly crafted together to create something that feels like a celebration of the franchise whilst creating something new that happens to be the best Spider-Man film yet.
Written by
Joe Gist
STARRING: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Chris Pine, Nicholas Cage, John Mulaney, Liev Schreiber
BEST QUOTE: “Sometimes I let matches burn down to my fingertips just to feel something, anything."
FUN FACT: Completing the animation for the film required up to 180 animators, the largest crew ever used by Sony Pictures Animation for a film.
IF YOU LIKED: Lego Batman
'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Trailer