Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2018

A

This movie has gotten some very good reviews, especially for an action movie, and especially for Spider-Man which has been rebooted so many times in the past. This animated version is a new approach entirely. It has a very noisy animated look that seems straight out of the comic books. Given that all of these superhero movies are based on comics, it is surprising that animation isn’t used more often. In this case the result is something that would be hard to achieve even with ample CGI. The basics of the plot are pretty neat even if the villains are a little less impressive. It isn’t really about the villains though. I went in knowing very little and expecting it to possibly be a bunch of shorts with different Spider-Men. Since I was enjoying the first story, I was glad that is really the only story though a number of other characters would show up. I can see how some people would get really, really excited about how new, different, and vibrant this movie is, and while I appreciate that, I think some of that is just flash. Still, the story and characters are still good, so it’s not like all that flash is wasted. The movie delivers on a lot of different levels with some humor (sometimes self-referenential Spider-Man stuff for fans), family drama, some pretty good sci-fi regarding alternate universes, and a new Spider-Man with a different origin story and challenges.

Written: 11 Jan 2019

Owned on: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital