More the Merrier- Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse [2018]

Given the source material, I wonder if this could have been done in live-action and be part of the cinematic universe. Then again, they do have a moment that would never have been allowed in the live-action films. And then, we have the Kingpin as the ‘big bad’ and he’s more associated with Daredevil at this point (both in the Ben Affleck movie and the Netflix series). Establishing another villain may have been too much, perhaps? And that’s on top of establishing the various spider-people that appear here.

Then again…
Gotta say they did a pretty good job of establishing those characters with the opening setting up a baseline. Spider-Man (Chris Pine) introduces himself and goes through his origins and a few highlights that seem to reflect the Sam Raimi films (including that bit from Spider-Man 3 that we never want to talk about). Each of the subsequent Spider-Heroes that turn up follow that same format, thus establishing the various discrepancies in each universe they come from. The focus of the movie, however, is on Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), originally created as a follow-up to the Ultimate Spider-Man before a cosmic event in the comics put him in the same universe as the current Spider-Man.

So Into The Spider-Verse is very much an origin movie for the Miles Morales Spider-Man, and what a ride it is. The pace is a rush, the action and animation is energetically kinetic, the entertainment level is up there, and the characters are solid. Miles is an intriguing protagonist, coming into the powers of a Spider-Person and trying to come to terms of what it means to be Spider-Man. He gets guidance from an older over-the-hill Peter B Parker (Jake Johnson), and the awesome Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), a Gwen Stacy variant Spider-Girl. Then there’s a 30’s hardcore black-and-white private investigator Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage), an anime inspired Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and her spider infused Spider-Bot, and the cartoony Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). Each of them a unique character in their own right and they all bring something different to the story even if they share particular similarities.

They’re  brought together by the MacGuffin at the centre of the plot, a dimensional dipper of sorts created by Wilson Fisk (Live Schreiber) for his own personal purpose, one that is true to his character. And of course, there’s the slew of super-powered villains.

There’s just one minor complaint and it’s more to the design aesthetics.
Because of the dimensional break (I think) some of the characters or buildings or objects sometimes have this odd outline / glow / blurring which makes me question either the projector and the adjustment of the lens, or my eyesight. (note the buildings in the image below.) Granted, the colours are popping most of the time and the animation style, looking like a cross between typical CG and pen scribbles, work… even with the inclusion of dialogue boxes you’d typically find in the comics.

The direction and the design suits the story along with a rollicking score from Daniel Pemberton. The vocal cast do very well indeed, and again… one has to wonder if they could have done this in live action while maintaining the energy imbued into this movie. It really shows off the discrepancies between what can be done live action, and what they can get away with, and would be considered acceptable, in animation. Where else are you going to get a cartoon spider-pig and a mecha-spiderbot existing on screen at the same time?

Oh, right… there is a post-credits scene.

Rating: 🕷🕷🕷🕷 /5

Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Written by Phil Lord & Rodney Rothman

Stars (vocally) Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Zoë Kravitz, Kimiko Glenn, John Mulaney, Kathryn Hahn, Liev Schreiber, with Lily Tomlin, Chris Pine, and Nicolas Cage

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