Review: Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse

Most people should know the classic Spider-Man origin story; awkward geek gets bitten by radioactive spider, RIP Uncle Ben, becomes the webslinging hero of New York, with great power blah blah blah. However, when Sony announced that they would be releasing an animated Spider-Man film that would focus on the Spider-Man of Marvel Comics' Ultimate Universe, I doubt anyone was expecting it to be a refreshing and enjoyable diversion from the typical Spider-Man tropes

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse follows Miles Morales, a teenager who through some grand design, ends up gaining the powers to become Spider-Man. Throughout the film, we watch how Miles is truly thrown into the deep-end and has to learn quickly how to use his new powers in order to save not just New York, but multiple universes! Miles has to deal with not only being Spider-Man, but attending a new school, meeting the expectations of his parents (mainly his Father) and also attempting to maintain a relationship with the black sheep of the family, his Uncle. With the Kingpin serving as the main villain and an array of Spider-people to support him, by the end of the film it definitely feels like Miles truly earns and deserves the mantle of Spider-Man.

Many thought having Miles Morales on the big screen for the first time in animated form would be doing his character a disservice, however, the film is animated brilliantly. It has such a unique animation style that it would be hard to name another film shot like it. It's like a constant back and forth between a classic comic book, pop art and 2D & 3D animation, all of which is delivered with amazing colour grading and lighting. It's definitely enjoyable to watch in both 2D & 3D, but many may miss the true vibrancy of the films animation behind all the imagery bursting out at you.

In an age where many seek representation, Into The Spider-Verse portrays the duality of Miles's identity as a child of a Black American father and a Spanish mother living in the heart of modern day New York. The soundtrack is said to reflect music Miles would listen to and that notion is very much brought to light with tracks by Ty Dollar $Ign, Post Malone and Jaden Smith - typical artists you could expect a Black Latino teenager to listen to. It would be no surprise to see many Black and Coloured people both young and old resonate with and relate to Miles's story in some kind of way as we have seen the power representation has with films like Black Panther and Wonder Woman as clear examples.

In short, Into The Spider-Verse will stand strong among all the other Spider-Man adaptations as one of the best. When Stan Lee created the character, his aim was for him to create a hero that anyone could see themselves as. "You can wear the mask" perfectly sums up the feeling of the film - anyone can be Spider-Man, anyone can be a hero, even without superhuman spider-like abilities.

Timi, The Nerd Council