In the history of comic books and even in comic book movies, there are few characters as famous and widely recognizable as Spider-Man. Spider-Man, and subsequently Peter Parker, is a story that has been woven into the fabric of American culture. But in the comic book world, Spider-Man has been a story changed and explored using many different styles, worlds, and characters. That is where the Spider-Verse comes in. A multiverse filled with dozens of stories about different interpretations of Spider-Man. It’s a place finally explored in the absolutely wonderful Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Into the Spider-Verse follows Miles Morales, a teenager adjusting to a new school, while also discovering he has gained the abilities of Spider-Man, a person already existing in his world. After discovering a device creating a wormhole under New York, he comes into contact with an alternate universe Peter Parker. Shameik Moore voices Miles and does a phenomenal job, making Miles into a fully formed character, providing the voice that accurately sounds like a teenager, while also bringing great emotion with his performance. The alternate universe Spider-Man, designated as Peter B. Parker, is portrayed by Jack Johnson. Like Moore, Johnson does an excellent job. He makes Peter his character and is able to play it well as a man who is so very tired of his job.
As Peter and Miles go on their journey to shut down the device, they encounter other alternate spider people, including Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, Spider-Gwen and Spider-Ham. These characters are played respectively by Nicholas Cage (playing a great hardboiled type and straight-man), Kimiko Glenn (brings a nice amount of bubbliness to Peni), Hailee Steinfeld, and John Mulaney (who is hilarious as always). With these many characters, it may seem like they wouldn’t get much time to shine, but the film utilizes the characters effectively, giving several of them arcs to go through in the film that gets wrapped up nicely.
Speaking of arcs, the most powerful in the film is Miles and Peters. Both of theirs are about family and the relationship between an adult and their child. It is a story I was not expecting in the film, but one I really enjoyed. The film also tells a story about heroism, but not like ones that we have recently seen. It goes beyond the typical “with great power comes great responsibility” and goes into detail about what makes a person a hero and about using their own ability to become one.
The biggest trait that makes this film worthwhile is the animation. The style of the film is stunning. Even from the get-go, it embraces the comic book style (even putting a comic code authority seal on screen). It’s a film that wants to be seen as a comic book. Every image in the film is a work of art and one that only grows in beautiful creativity as the film goes continues. When it brings in the other Spider-people, they do not automatically blend into the style. They are allowed to stand out, from the cartoon style of Spider-Ham to the anime style of Peni. It’s a joy to look at and more importantly something new and creative done in the medium of animation. Something like this may be possible in the realm of live action, but it would defiantly lose creativity.
A small note I want to make is the use of sound in the film. In a few scenes of the film, several songs were used very effectively. They do not break the immersion from what is going on, and in certain cases, increase the emotion of the scene. The score of the movie was also very good. The score makes the characters their own, with a distinctive score for the villain The Prowler, and for Miles himself. Each of the characters is allowed their own music that evolves throughout the picture and makes it have a truly distinctive sound.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a joy at almost every level. It brings something new to the world of animation in its creative stylings, and it was a risk that paid off enormously. The story does an excellent job serving as an introduction to characters we have never met and gives us enough to want to see them again. It’s a movie not afraid to tell an excellent story in a new medium for superhero cinema. It is simply one of my favorite movies that came out last year and I cannot wait to go back to that world.
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