In November 2014, a hacker group called, “The Guardians Of Peace” leaked Sony’s information of employees’ personal data, e-mails from their colleagues/family members, salaries, a string of proposed pre-development movies etc. One of the pre-produced films is an animated Spider-Man project which is supposed to reinvigorate the franchise after The Amazing Spider-Man 2 disappointed critics, fans & movie goers.
Phil Lord & Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, The Lego Movie) officially signed on to write and produce the film. Instead of focusing on Peter Parker as the main protagonist, his successor turns out to be “Miles Morales.” For those who don’t know, he is from the Ultimate Marvel Universe introduced in 2011 inspired by Barack Obama & Donald Glover/Childish Gambino’s failed campaign to play Spider-Man in “The Amazing Spider-Man.”
Like Bruce Wayne’s successor Terry McGinnis from “Batman Beyond,” Miles earned positive reception from critics fans and readers alike. Miles immediately earned his reputation as a popular superhero.
Fun Fact: Similar Samuel L. Jackson allowing Marvel to lend his image as Nick Fury in Ultimate Marvel, Donald Glover also allowed Marvel to lend his face as Miles. Ironically, he played Aaron Davis, Miles’ uncle in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
“Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” earned critical acclaim from several critics, fans & movie goers alike. It’s currently making money at the box office. Spider-Verse is nominated at “The 76th Golden Globes.” As a result surrounding unanimous praise, a sequel is in the works & spin-offs focusing on other Web Slingers like Spider-Gwen in her stand-alone film are currently in development, allowing Sony the opportunity to expand the Spider-Man mythology as well as their own cinematic universe with Jared Leto set to portray “Morbius The Living Vampire.”
Besides Spider-Verse, 2018 was an epic year for Spidey fighting Thanos with the aid of several heroes in “Avengers: Infinity War” & headlining his video game developed by “Insomniac Games.”
Today’s review will not mention any potential SPOILERS. If you have not seen this movie, feel free to read this non-spoiler article. Is Spider-Verse on the level as Spider-Man 2? Let’s find out shall we?
Amazing & Unamazing Qualities
Amazing: The Main Leads including Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailie Steinfeld, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn & Nicolas Cage all did a fantastic job for their respective voiceover performances as The Web Slingers.
Other Cast Members such as Mahershala Ali, Liev Schreiber, Brian Tyree Henry & Lily Tomlin all did a great job for their respective voiceover performances.
A famous actor named Chris, (insert surname if you’ve seen it) has a prominent role.
Animation looked excellent bringing a comic book to life. The atmosphere visually felt unique.
Action Sequences were fast paced filled with flashy kinetic energy.
Humor felt appropriate lacking stupid jokes. I’m relived Sony didn’t go too far with Tobey Maguire’s dance scene from “Spider-Man 3.” Speaking of which, Spider-Verse did a jab on that scene.
Phil Lord & Chris Miller did an awesome job writing the script. If you’ve already seen the film, you can look it up online without paying!
Character Development involving Miles. As the film progresses, he learns to follow Peter’s footsteps with the latter teaching him to control his powers.
Chemistry between Miles & Peter served as the highlight for both of them factoring in the plot.
We already know about Peter’s origin story. It’s not a recycled origin story. This time, it’s Miles’ turn as the main character. Peter acts as a mentor towards Miles similar to Bruce Wayne giving his batsuit to Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond.
The film adapts story elements from Miles’ origin story & a storyline titled “Spider-Verse” with many Wall-Crawlers from a different universe band together.
Earth-616 (the original Marvel universe) Peter also earned Character Development as well.
Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, SP//dr & Spider-Ham’s origin stories were pretty interesting. They don’t give you too much information nor copy the original Peter Parker’s origins. Each one’s backstory is quick to help you remember.
Stan Lee makes a posthumous cameo appearance. Before The End Credits roll, the film dedicates Stan’s memory along with Steve Ditko. Sony deserves a truckload of points for honoring the founding fathers of Marvel.
If you have a keen eye, Donald Glover/Childish Gambino makes a cameo on a television set as his character, Troy Barnes from “Community.” Donald also appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming & also voiced Miles in Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk’s motive is understandable. I can’t tell you why, you’re gonna have to see for yourself.
The Sony Logo/Columbia Logo begins with a unique take, indicating what we’re about to see is gonna be one heck of a fun ride.
The soundtrack is filled with good tracks.
The film contains many Easter Eggs. If you’re a fan of Spider-Man, you’ll understand stand some inside-jokes.
Each Wall-Crawler teaming up reminded me of the video game “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.”
The PS4 Spider-Man suit is shown in one scene. Thus confirming the game is canon in Marvel’s multiverse.
A Post-Credits Scene is shown, make sure you don’t forget!
Unamazing: Product Placement featuring brands like Coca-Cola, (courtesy of Sony owning a percentage of the company) Sony (duh) & Fed-Ex. I’ll let this con slide due to a lack of brands to shove down my throat.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is perhaps the best Spider-Man since Sam Raimi’s second installment of the original Spider-Man trilogy. Sony officially redeemed themselves without Disney’s help. If you have nothing to do over the week, I strongly recommend Spider-Verse as it’s now one of my favorite films of 2018. Bravo Sony, bravo! I’m rooting for Spider-Verse to win “Best Animated Feature” at The 76th Golden Globes.
Bill Maher if you’re reading this review, SCREW YOU for insulting Stan Lee’ legacy claiming readers transform into delinquents. You’re wrong, Stan created his characters like the X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk among many others to reflect a certain person’s strengths & weaknesses most readers can relate in social issues. His iconic characters encourage many readers like us to become a hero in all of us during our lifetime.
R.I.P. Stan Lee & Steve Ditko. Thank you for introducing your beloved character many readers can relate to the ups & downs as an individual who will overcome many obstacles externally & internally. In the words of Uncle Ben: “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.”
Nickthemoviecritic.com 