0
0
No movie will ever be perfect, but Into the Spider-Verse accomplishes a lot of what an animated movie should strive towards. I could try to say that, like any movie should be, the movie was entertaining, but that would not do the movie justice. What makes this movie different from the rest is hard to pinpoint exactly, but what I can say is that Into the Spider-Verse is exactly what an animated superhero movie should be. Not only that, but what any Spider-Man animated piece of media should be.
The biggest factor that can make or break any animated movie or show is the animation. Sony has definitely learned this with their newest film. The art style is unique, already helping the movie’s image. The producers of the movie wanted the movie to look and feel like every image came out of a comic book, so a lot of work was put into the animation. “The team wrote new software to render the faces in Spider-Man with line-work that’s animated separately, as if drawn by a comic-book artist” (Sorokanich). As a result of the extra effort for a comic book effect, each frame of the movie could look like something right out of a comic book.
The animation is such a big piece of the movie, but the script itself should never be looked over. Miles Morales’ mom is Puerto Rican. Her influence is shown through the dialogue. She speaks Spanish around her family, which shows the bilingual family Miles is a part of. Small, unnoticeable details like the lack of subtitles really show this aspect of their family. Miles’ father is an African American officer, pushing his son as much as possible because he knows that Miles is an intelligent kid. While Miles has one father, his Uncle Aaron is also a big part of his life as a second father figure. Aaron lets Miles embrace what free spirit he wants, like doing graffiti in an old subway tunnel. Despite his uncle’s carefree nature, Miles knows going down Uncle Aaron’s path is not for him. His father and uncle push him in opposite directions, but Miles knows he wants to be something different.
When Miles’ origin begins is when the movie kicks off. Any Spider-Man origin includes someone becoming bit by a radioactive spider, they gain their powers, become startled of the powers they have, lose someone close to them, then learn to take on the responsibility of becoming Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. The movie is Miles’ origin story becoming shaped by the stories of all the other spider-people (or pigs, in Spider-Ham’s case).
Upon leaving the theater, I found myself looking up the songs played in the movie. While not the usual genre I listen to, I found myself enjoying the songs like “What’s Up Danger” by Blackway & Black Caviar and “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee. Music is not usually the first thing I pay attention to in a movie, but what seems to stick with me the most.
I want to avoid spoiling every piece of the movie as there were a few shocks in the beginning never disclosed in the trailers. All I can say is that the animation, story, and the music are amazing. Into the Spider-Verse is definitely worth the watch, whether you are a fan of Marvel or just a fan of animation itself.
