We’ve seen quite a few Spider-Man movies over the years, so it’d be fair to say we came into this one a bit jaded. What could they possibly have to add? But if you’re a fan of Spider-man at all, or if you’re even the teensiest bit interested in animation techniques, you’re gonna love this.
The film features Miles Morales, a thirteen year old, bilingual, and very artistic kid from Brooklyn, whose Dad is a cop and whose uncle is what every thirteen year old boy wants to be: COOL. Miles’ world is upended when—no, not when he’s bitten by a radioactive spider—when he must change schools and tries to fit in. Homesick, he turns to his uncle, who encourages Miles’ talent with graffiti in a dark tunnel. Okay, NOW cue the radioactive spider.
Throughout the rest of the movie, Miles struggles with using his new set of powers. He’s aided (or distracted at times) by all the other iterations of Spider-Man, leading to the one drawback to the film: a divergence from developing Miles’ story in order to make room for all the others.
However, what some might find lacking in plot, others will find refreshing, as all the variations of Spider-Man make an appearance. Yet what is lacking in plot is more than made up for in animation. Visually stunning, with iconic, reach-out-and-grab-you-frames, the newest Spider-man movie is quite an achievement. Seriously. Some frames are so realistic, you completely forget it’s animation. Some frames are so saturated with color, you think the hot pink, electric chartreuse, and boiling red are dripping from your very own fingers. And because of the directors’ commitment to a completely new aesthetic style, “Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse” is not only a feast for the eyes and an all around fun film, it’s the film that will majorly change the way we do animation. Perhaps you could even say radioactively.
