Sexuality/Nudity No Objection
Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity No Objection
Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable
This is the best Spider-Man movie that has been made.
I don't say that lightly or in the mode of a fanboy who is pre-set to love anything comic book related. I have several times noted my dislike of Miles Morales (the main Spider-Man character in this movie) from the comic books. He was made up out of thin air by Brian Michael Bendis and inserted into the Spider-Man mythos with no connection other than his powers were similar. He had no connection to Peter Parker or any of the larger Spider-Man family. He was also incredibly boring as a character, not given any real flaws or even universal appeal. He was as bland and as uninetersting as you could make a character.
Thank goodness for Into the Spider-Verse. It is the best thing to happen to Miles Morales.
The story centers around Miles (Shameik Moore) who is the son of a cop Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) and a nurse Rio (Luna Lauren Velez), who send him to an elite school in New York City. Miles is smart, but he doesn't want to lose the connection he feels to the neighborhood. He tags street signs with stickers and spray paint, much to his father's chagrin. He enjoys the the more laid back style of his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali), with whom he is hanging out when he gets bitten by a spider. Before he knows it, Miles is drawn into a plot involving all different versions of Spider-Man from across the multiverse (the collection of multiple alternative universes) who have been brought here accidentally by a device made by the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber). The two most important allies of his are:
-Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) - a washed-up slacker version of Peter.
-Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) - a teenage girl who was bitten by the spider instead of Peter.
Also helping them are:
-Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) - a version of Spider-Man from the dark 1940's
-Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) - a genius with a robot spider from an anime style universe
-Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) - a pig version of Spider-Man from a Looney Tunes type world.
If the description above seems outrageous, it is. And yet it all works! Like my experience with Guardians of the Galaxy, everything in the previews told me that I was going to hate this movie and I was so delighted to be wrong.
Credit must first be given to writers Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman. First of all, they completely embrace the concept of multiple universes into the story and weave it in without dumbing it down for the audience. They throw you into the deep and and challenge you to keep up. Second, they have crafted a very powerful hero's journey. All of the other Spider-men are seasoned veterans. Miles is all new to the hero business. He is scared and unsure, prone to mistakes and lapses in judgment. But throughout the whole process, he has to grow and step into the role. Nothing about this journey seems pat or easy and when Miles finally does step up it is immensely satisfying. Finally, Lord and Rothman have crafted on of the funniest scripts all year. I laughed out loud so many times, not only because of the punchlines thrown, but because they had gotten me to care about the tangled relationships of the characters. Character driven jokes mean more because it draws you deeper into the lives of ones on screen. The best gag in the entire film is when Miles, who has no technical expertise is told to hack into a computer in the enemy's lair. Miles' ultimate solution to the problem had me laughing long after the joke had passed.
Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman all should get special accolades for their bold visual style. I don't know of a single other movie that looks like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. If you go too idyosyncratic with your style, you could alienate a lot of casual viewers. But their risk paid off in this truly gorgeous film. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that feels more like an actual comic book come to life. The spotted-color effect makes gives the impression of old newsprint. The digital stylings make for some truly dynamic visuals. And I love how they seamlessly blend different animation styles. Spider-Ham will pull out a cartoon mallet that looks like it just teleported from a Bugs Bunny cartoon while Peni Parker moves and feels like something out of modern anime. And while the visuals are flashy, they are all there to serve the story. All of this is about making Miles into a hero.
And, like a comic book, it isn't afraid to make deep cut references to a host of stories past that may go over the head of casual viewers but do not distract from the story. It also throws in crazy complications. What happens when a Peter Parker from another universe sees the MJ from this one? Even if he knows they aren't the same, how would you react if you saw an alternate version of your family? Those kind of conundrums are sprinkled throughout the film.
A good Spider-Man movie always has at its heart the central theme of "with great power comes great responsibility." And this movie is no exception. Unlike the comic book version, this Miles Morales is someone you can easily relate to in his ordinariness. His reactions to the extraordinary circumstance of the movie feel like actual human reactions, not reactions of noble characters as need by the script. The power of this is that it opens up the idea that ordinary people like us could rise to the occasion if we are called.
The movie may be just a little too violent for smaller children. And even though they don't dwell on it, Miles' parents are not married. This would probably go over the heads of children, but parents should know that this is present in a movie geared towards kids.
This is the kind of movie that comic book movies should emulate. We have the mythic hero's journey told in a new, exciting style that both honors the history of the characters and forges a whole new path.
This movie is a must-see for anyone who loves superhero films.
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| image by Yasir72.multan |
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