Voiced by Natalie Gadeikis, Staff Writer
Written by Cameron Erickson, Staff Writer
“Needless to say, I keep her in check / She was all bad-bad, nevertheless / calling it quits now baby, I’m a wreck’’ I’m singing with my friends as we stroll out of our third viewing of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Yes, and that is correct, my third viewing of this movie. Expectations were set low going into the first showing.
I was not too impressed from the trailers, the plot looked convoluted, and I thought the concept just appeared plain dumb. Boy, was I wrong.
The reviews came in hot: a whopping 97 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 87 percent on Metacritic. The word was going around fast that this wasn’t just an ordinary, amazing Spider-Man movie.
First, the animation was unbelievably beautiful. My eyes have never seen an animated movie this gorgeous.
The style is meant to be interpreted as a comic book, and it truly feels like that. The animation immerses you into the pages/screen and makes you feel like you have been placed into this spider-verse.
This film follows a completely new and original story. No Spider-Man adaptation has portrayed Miles Morales in this fashion before, and also introducing the Spider-Man multiverse feels like something that’s always been desired.
This movie is hilarious. Almost every joke landed throughout the film. A few fell short due to them not matching my sense of humor, but they may be comical to other viewers.
The chemistry between Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and the fat, lazy, older Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) is a journey that begins as soon as they meet.
The characters are polar opposites, yet they work so well. As the movie rolls along, we are introduced into new characters who play keen roles in the journey of Miles Morales’ superhero come up.
The other Spider-People were entertaining as well. Spider-Gwen was a nice compliment to Miles. Is she a possible love interest in a sequel? Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) was a dark and grimm version of the web-slinger that was absolutely hilarious. Every line of his dialogue was genius.
As if this movie couldn’t get any weirder, it does. A Spider-pig is present and an anime-inspired Spider-Robot fights side-by-side with Penni Parker.
Fans are loving this new film, as well as the critics. Into the Spider-Verse has already taken a few awards from the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards, winning Best Animated Feature in both. And by the way, it is also nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse wasn’t just another Spider-Man movie. It was a fun, fresh, family film but was also a relatable telling of this idea that anybody could be “Spider-Man.’’ We all have the capacity to do and be something great. That’s the difference between a good movie and a great movie. A good movie leaves you entertained, while a great one teaches you something about life.