Movie Review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

In an alternate reality (viewers know because Koka-Soda has taken the place of Coca-Cola), Miles Morales is bitten by a radioactive spider and gets the same powers that Peter Parker has. This reality already has a Peter Parker who has been saving New York for years and years. Miles recognizes the Spider powers and goes back to investigate where the spider was. His discovery is interrupted as Spider-Man and Green Goblin crash through a wall and fight over a gigantic machine in the next room. Spidey is trying to shut the machine down but fails, i.e. he is killed in the battle. He passes on the mission to Miles, who reluctantly joined in the battle. The machine is an inter-dimensional transporter that got a whiff of Peter and pulls in Spider-Beings from other dimensions, including another Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker with her SPDR robot, and Peter Porker, the spectacular Spider-Ham (yes, he is a literal pig, though he can talk). The group bands together to get back to their own dimensions and stop the machine from wreaking havoc on this world. Miles is almost ready to help out, if he can get some mentoring from all these good Spider-folk.

The visual style of the film is interesting. They pay homage to the old four-color print style of earlier comics (1950s to 1980s) with spotty colors and the occasional dialogue box showing the words Miles is thinking or speaking. The style isn't limited to classic comic-book flavor--anime visuals are used for Peni Parker (who is an orphaned Asian child adopted by Aunt May and Uncle Ben in the 31st century) and Looney Tunes styling for Spider-Ham, who is very cartoonish in the best possible way. The different elements are not jarring, they blend quite well and seem like the natural consequence of different realities bleeding into each other. The movie is enjoyable just to watch.

The plot is far-fetched and more of an excuse to bring all the characters from different comics together. Each Spider-Person has their own personality and interesting twists in their back stories. The focus is on Miles (it's his universe, after all) and his origin story, which echoes the Peter Parker origin in a fresh way. The Miles Morales universe is not the classical Spider-Man universe, so a few of the characters, including the villains, have some nice surprise changes. The main villain, Kingpin, has an interesting motivation for using the inter-dimensional portal, giving him a lot more depth than other villains in other movies. The plot comes together quite well with its mixture of humor and drama and well-developed characters.

Usually a film that is dripping in visual style lacks in story and character, making it unsatisfying to me. Happily, this movie gets the balance right and turns out to be a top-tier Spider-Man film and a great film in general.

Highly recommended.