Monday 21 January 2019

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse review

I've realised that I haven't done a proper movie review in a while so I've decided to do a review of the recent Spider-Man animated movie.

It's fair to say that I was skeptical when this movie was announced, it was difficult not to feel that this was yet another poor decision by Sony motivated by greed and likely to take away from the live action Spider-Man movies. Despite Spider-Man: Homecoming setting up the potential appearance of Miles Morales this animated movie would now be the big screen debut of the Miles Morales Spider-Man. Whilst I do think Sony have a lot to answer for such as pushing forward with their Spider-Man spin-off universe (Venom being one) which although not connected to the MCU they keep teasing that it is and keep teasing the appearance of Spider-Man which very unlikely. There is also the problem of Spider-Man: Far From Home which releases in July, it's hard not to suspect that if were soley up to Marvel that it wouldn't be being released so soon after Avengers: Endgame, in fact it is already causing problems with the trailer having been released before Avengers: Endgame is actually out (it doesn't give away any major spoilers for that film but it is a problem).

Putting all of that aside I'm glad to say that I was wrong to be skeptical about this movie, it is both a very good movie and one of the best Spider-Man movies we have had. It is set in a world where Peter Parker's Spider-Man has been around for quite a while and is very well known. However the movie doesn't follow him, instead it follows a young Miles Morales, a teenager who is dealing with the challenge of moving to a new school and trying to fit in only to get bitten by a radioactive spider and gain powers of his own. He has to try and learn to use his abilities and become a hero whilst teaming up with other Spider heroes from across the multiverse to stop a major threat.

Miles Morales

It's a great looking film and the fact that it is animated means they can do stuff that wouldn't work in live action. It is very comic booky (if that makes sense) at times and each of the Spider heroes has a unique style befitting their universe. Some of the characters look a bit over the top but it doesn't detract from them too much. The action looks great and there are some fantastic fight scenes as well as awesome little touches if you are paying attention. There is one weird thing in terms of the look of the movie with some of the background having the appearance of a 3D movie if you aren't wearing 3D glasses, I only really noticed it early on in movie though.

The voice acting is definitely well-done, Nicholas Cage somewhat steals the show as Spider-Man Noir, a vigilante Spider-Man who comes from an old fashioned black and white universe. I wasn't overly fussed on Spider-Ham when I saw the trailer but thankfully he isn't too irritating. Shameik Moore is great as Miles and has a lot of great back and forth with Jake Johnson's world weary Peter Parker. The sound is also well done and helps to make The Prowler a seriously intimidating villain.

Spider-Man Noir

 It is a genuinely funny movie at times, there is plenty of slap-stick humour to keep the kids happy as well as lots of moments to entertain adults as well including one sequence which had two of my favourite comedy moments in the movie. The use of multiple Spider heroes provides a lot of potential for comedy and given the post-credits sequence there is potential for a lot more in any sequels.

Overall I'm very glad I decided to go and see this movie in the cinema, I ended up seeing it in early January in the early afternoon and it was only me and another man and his young son in the screen. It is a great looking, action-packed, funny and heart-felt movie. It's clear that a lot of effort and love went into this movie and I would definitely be interested in going and seeing a sequel.

Thanks for reading.

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