Into the Spider-Verse Review

By: Ella

Marvel’s newest cinematic success Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse reinvents what it means to be a superhero. The studio had been cranking out hits like Avengers: Infinity War and Spiderman: Homecoming, but none have had such an effect on theatres around the nation as the newest addition to the MCU. The box office hit ended up hauling in an impressive 354 Million Dollars and earned a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie follows a teenager, Miles Morales, as he navigates a brand new private school and his newfound super-human powers that were thrust upon him after he was bitten by a radioactive spider. After discovering that he isn’t the only one with spidey sense, he sets out to do good in a world where universes collide.

Into the Spider-Verse is an animation masterpiece that not only shows the advances in 2d and 3d animation, but it shows the growth of American entertainment. The digital feats the animation team had to overcome to create the unique, beautiful, and comic-book-esque style of the film. With breathtaking city scapes and clever allusions to comic books, I argue that the animation techniques shown in Into the Spider-Verse rival animation feats like the Disney renaissance and Rapunzel’s hair in Tangled (which required its own programing software to even make possible).

Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse begins without the flashy nature that most superhero movies begin with. Instead, we are shown a modest, calm opening.

The movie begins by automatically creating a pleasant visual for the audience and masterfully builds Miles as a lovable character. Singing off key, he doodles what looks like graffiti art in a notebook. In a somewhat cheesy homage to teen movies, Miles is late to school like every other teenager. It’s charming and relatable. The beauty of this movie is its relatability. Everyone has felt out of place at some point, and everyone has felt as though they weren’t good enough. Miles’ story arch follows a similar pattern. While the trope of a “young boy who doesn’t know how to use his powers” may be overdone in today's superhero-hungry media, Into the Spider-Verse does it in such a way that the message isn’t overbearing.

In the end, the audience wants Miles to succeed because throughout the movie the audience watches him lose over and over again. He fights hard to get the ending he deserves. While he’s a stereotypical underdog, he breathes a new life into the trope and creates one of the more memorable and heartwarming characters in the MCU.

The triumph of this movie does not lie solely on its main character, but rather the multitude of story arcs that you can follow on screen like Gwen’s character, and one of many Peter Parkers.

Their growth as people gives this movie heart, and weaves love into its overall message. The very end of the movie, when they are all wishing each other goodbye, brought tears to my eyes simply because of the platonic love shown between Miles and Peter, two completely different people that you don’t see in mainstream media. Their love for eachother is genuine and sets this film apart from any other superhero flick.

Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse created lovable characters and showed the beauty of love between friends, and that is something that not all movies can give you. The revolutionary art style partnered with the touching stories of family, friends and personal growth transcends other movies produced by Marvel.

People may have argued for Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs for the best Animated feature, and it’s not hard to see why. Both Into the Spider-Verse and Isle of Dogs. Artistically, they are both masterful exploration of the craft, each different in their own respects. Both movies have heart and a fantastic plot, but Into the Spider-Verse has an inclusive cast and a beautiful message about love and how to find your inner Spiderman.

I urge everyone who has not seen it to watch it as soon as possible. One of the best parts about this movie is it isn’t specifically designed for those who like action movies. Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse is for people who enjoy a good story about love, loss and triumph. If you want a good story and a lovable cast, this movie is for you. This movie is for everyone. It changed my appreciation for animation and truly set the bar high for the next movies to come.