The number of reboots the Spider-Man movies have had during the last 16 years is 3. The amazing thing is that even being so close together, the makers still thought it was necessary to tell the story again about how Peter Parker became Spider-Man. Any superhero or moviefan knows the story, so you could ask why they’d do it. You might be surprised that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also tells the origin story (several times actually), but now from the perspective of different characters and a lot of humor, diverting expectations and making sure you won’t be annoyed. And that original approach is a property the whole movie possesses, which makes this not only different from you average superhero movie, but also a superhero film which you should have watched before making your list of favorite 2018 movies.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a teenager who needs to find his place at an elite school and who also is a fan of Spider-Man. When he gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets powers, he has to learn how to deal with them. It’s familiar territory, but it does not take long before he meets Spider-man and some other versions that come from other dimensions. Together hey must try to stop an experiment of Kingpin, so that they can each go back to their own dimension.
Of all the superhero movies released in 2018, this is visually one of the most striking. It is animated, but with a style that literally resembles a comic book. You can see the dots on every character that you also find on the page of a comic and the colors are extremely vibrant. In addition, it all moves as if it was made through stop motion. Something that I had to get used to at the beginning, but it fits perfectly with the style of the film. Into the Spider-Verse stands out in that respect, but also has a great story and characters to create something original and the concept of multiple Spider-Men dimensions feels original. In addition, fans of Spider-Man are also being served. I myself sat next to a fan, who’s happiness I heard every time a (for me) unknown Spider-Man version appeared on the screen. Those characters are very different and all have their nice features and different styles. For example, you will not normally see a Spider-Man who has a belly or looks like a Looney Tunes character. That variation works and in combination with a lot of humor, action and beautiful images, Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse might be my favorite superhero movie of the year.
[score9]
Great review! I loved this one as well, the animation was spectacular. I just loved sitting in that theater experiencing it.
Yeah, it really was a memorable experience. And a really original way to animate, mixing styles. Let’s hope other animation studios take note and try to experiment a bit more as well!