MOVIE THEATER REVIEW: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is voiced by Shameik Moore (Dope, The Get Down [TV series]), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World, The Mummy [2017]), Hailee Steinfeld (Ender’s Game, True Grit [2010]), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, House of Cards [TV series]), Brian Tyree Henry (Widows, Atlanta [TV series]), Lily Tomlin (Nashville, Grandma), Luna Lauren Velez (Dexter [TV series], Oz [TV series]), Zoë Kravitz (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men: First Class), John Mulaney (Big Mouth [TV series], Mulaney [TV series]), Kimiko Glenn (Orange is the New Black [TV series], Nerve), Nicolas Cage (Adapatation. [2002], The Wicker Man), Kathryn Hahn (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, This is Where I Leave You), Liev Schreiber (Isle of Dogs, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness, Wonder Woman [2017]). It is directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), and Rodney Rotham, who also wrote it with Phil Lord (The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). After getting bit by a radioactive spider, Miles Morales (Moore) must own up to something bigger than himself: being the next Spider-Man. Oddly enough, he isn’t the only Spider-Man in New York, as a whole slew of different Spider-Men arrive from different dimensions, a ploy done by none other than Kingpin (Schreiber).

Man, has this film been blowing up the movie world. It’s critical praise and sweeping of award ceremonies only begs people who haven’t seen it to head to the theater. I was skeptical of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” but that mainly came from the high expectations created by critics. I’ve been wanting to see this animated spectacle for a while now, and am happy to have finally caught it before exiting theaters. Is it the best animated movie to come out of 2018? Yes, I believe it is. Why? Well, let’s talk about it. Clearly, the biggest pro of this flick is its style. Hardening back to the classic comic-book days, the animation of “Into the Spider-Verse” mimics a paperback, from the little dots that fill the details of characters to the written action verbs that pop on the screen when an action scene takes place. In short, it’s immaculate; while the style is familiar, seeing it on a movie was fantastic. Next, the voice acting and music score are great. You saw the names above; this feature showcases a lot of talent, and everyone knocked their roles out of the park. My favorite was Spider-Man Noir, voiced by none other than Nic Cage. He did great for the small role he was given. The music was good and catchy, which is big praise coming from the guy who doesn’t really care for rap or style the soundtrack presents. It fit with the story, and I nodded my head quite a bit while watching it. Almost all of the aspects this film presents are near-perfection. It’s an intricate animated film, filled with many details that would require further viewing, at least when it comes to the animation alone. It’s a fast-paced story that is unrelenting, hardly having a moment to catch your breath. While that may seem like a slight problem, I thought it was fine. For its runtime, the pacing is good, and I think there were enough moments of reflection to warrant a solid script. It’s a unique take on Spider-Man, not only having Peter Parker, but other Spider-Men from different versions/dimensions. While they may not all have deep character development, they were all entertaining to some extent (though I didn’t care too much for Peni Parker). The character of Miles Morales was really solid. Nothing seemed cheesy or choppy with his development, and I liked how smooth his transition was from a kid who doesn’t believe in himself to someone who stands tall in what he was born to do. I thought he was a great main character, and I liked how the writers eased him into this world by having a version of Peter Parker there for him. If you don’t want a Spider-Man other than Parker, this isn’t for you. I for one prefer Peter Parker over the others; he’s the OG and it’s hard to replace him. With that in mind though, I enjoyed this new experience. It breathes life into a spider fossil, and I would be lying if I said I hated my time watching it. When it comes to issues, I would say there are specific story problems that leap out. One in particular is Miles’ connection to his school. While school takes a backseat to being Spider-Man, there wasn’t much light shed on the repercussions of him hardly showing up to classes. There’s a lot going on in this movie, so it’s easy to leave some story arcs in the dust; I just think it would’ve been more air-tight and natural for this to be a weighing problem (at least for his parents’ concerns). Other nitpicks fall to certain story moments that choose artistic value over realism. What I mean by that is, you’ll question how something can happen (in respect to the fictional world that is presented to you), but figure that the writers did it just because it looks cool. An example of this is when Miles fights Kingpin. Given their area of fighting, it was weird seeing Kingpin get around to fight Miles when he doesn’t possess the ability to stick to surfaces (I’m trying not to give spoilers). Overall, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is a fantastic animated feature that breathes life into the mythos of Spider-Man. I had a blast watching it and implore everyone who likes the hero (or heroes in general) to check it out! FINAL SCORE: 95%= Juicy Popcorn

Here is the trailer: