‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is an absolute gem. Simple as. As a life long Spidey fanatic and when I saw the initial release trailer a few months back, I knew this film was going to be something special. The art style is vibrant and electric, the voice-over work has such incredible depth and the soundtrack is packed with absolute bangers. I really want to hug every single person involved in the creation of this film – it’s such a beautiful feat in animation and film-making. The plot, sub-plots and character arcs are airtight, the dialogue and pacing feels so natural that you almost forget you’re watching an animated film. ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ is produced by Columbia Pictures, and Sony Pictures Animation, in association with Marvel.
The film follows high-school student, Miles Morales as he struggles to balance his personal and academic life within the confines of a new elite boarding school. Just when he thinks things can’t get any more complicated – he’s bitten by a radioactive super spider, and is thrust into the world of the infinite ‘Spider-Verse’. We’re introduced to classic characters we know and love such as Peter Parker (the OG!), Gwen Stacey and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, and every character is matched with their perfect voice-over actor, for example, Shameik Moore IS Miles Morales, Jake Johnson/Chris Pine are the perfect duo to voice Peter Parker (at different ages), Hailee Steinfeld plays a blinder as Gwen Stacey, the ever-incredible Mahershala Ali as Miles’ gangster uncle Aaron Davis and my personal favorite? Liev Schreiber as Wilson Fisk was GENIUS casting. Each character has such an extraordinarily crafted persona, and they absolutely crackle off the screen. This film was clearly made with absolute love – for the fans, by fans.
Phil Lord (Writer) and Christoper Miller (Producer) stated that they wanted the film to feel as if “you walked inside a comic book”. ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ merges computer animation, with traditional hand-drawn comic book techniques inspired by the work of Miles Morales’s co-creator, Sara Pichelli, and other comic artists such as Robbi Rodrigeuz, John Romita Jr. and the legendary Steve Ditko. The aesthetic of the film like a beautiful, intense fever dream – a pure feast for any artist or designer.
Can we talk about the music for a sec? The soundtrack is brimming with absolute tunes. It sounds like it’s been plucked straight from Morales’ Spotify Playlist. I’m not going to lie – when Biggie’s ‘Hypnotise’ blared out of the cinema’s Dolby Atmos speakers, I screeched internally, I was that excited. One of the movies anthem’s is linked above – Post Malone and Swae Lee’s ‘Sunflower’. Spring Aspers, head of music and creative affairs at Sony Pictures, said that “Post and Swae have delivered a song that’s both heroic and emotional, which is exactly what a Spider-Man story needs. It’s anthemic, but also heartfelt — the perfect soundtrack for Miles to discover the Spider-Man inside himself“. I can’t wait for the official soundtrack listing to be released – it’s just hypnotic.
I’m going to be completely honest here, I think ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ is my favourite Spider-Man film. It absolutely blew me away. As much as I adore the Raimi ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy, and I love Tom Holland’s interpretation of Peter, I think this outing is the most true to form that a cinematic Spider-Man (Men? People!?) incarnation we’ve been gifted with yet. I URGE you, if you’re a Marvel fan, if you love Spider-Man, please go see this film – don’t let the fact that it’s animated sway you. It’s incredible. It’s what makes the film so incredible. Its art style elevates it to a whole other level. So do yourself a favour sometime this week, stock up on some serious snackage, hit your local cinema (particularly if yours has PLF screen (Premium Large Format, eg. Omniplex’s MAXX screen) and absorb this incredible spectacle.
PS. Make sure to stick around for the truly AWESOME post credits scene!
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