SPIDER-MAN : INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018)

SPIDER-MAN : INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE (2018)

I don’t do a ton of reviews on animated movies. I am not really sure why, because I have seen a ton, but given the attention and love this movie got I decided to see it. One great thing off the bat is that we get a Spider-Man movie that actually has King Pin in it. Growing up one of Spider-Man’s ultimate foes was King Pin and yet the movies keep avoiding putting him in a Spider-Man movie. For some reason I have always found King Pin to be a more diabolical character than Lex Luther in the DC universe. That statement isn’t made to start a debate, it’s just a personal view on the two characters. The other great thing this movie has going for it is Miles Morales. Ever since the comic came out I have been interested in seeing this version of Spider-Man in a movie.

In this one King Pin is trying to utilize a giant machine to bring back his wife and son from an alternate universe. The reason is given in the movie, but in the process all of the multi-verses are starting to collapse, and only putting things back together again will fix it. Meanwhile Miles (for some reason with almost no-explanation) is bitten by a radioactive spider and now must adjust to his new found powers which include your typical Spider-Man stuff, plus a few new tricks. So after this review I am going to go looking in random abandoned buildings for radioactive spiders. The storyline is great if you absolutely have to throw “multi-verse” crap into it. I can’t stand multi-verse stuff, just because it shows that you have given up on all the crazy stuff that can happen in one universe that hasn’t even been 1% explored yet in real life.

This one could have also done without the first 15 minutes or so, for me it just kinda drags aside from the opening sequence which strangely kills off a character almost completely un-necessarily. Along with some family issues for both Miles and Peter Parker thrown in SPIDER-MAN : INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE is a strong entry into the Spider-Man movie catalog, but no, it is not the best. In fact it’s not even better than SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING. With issues ranging from comic-book type scenes to almost realistic scenes and oddly choppy scenes throughout a lot of this was just a rough watch in some parts. Other parts of the film felt innovative and extremely well done with an overall animation style I would like to see more of. It also felt like some characters were thrown in, to get characters from other Spider-Man comic book universes into the movie. So I would have taken about 15 minutes out of the first part of the movie and spent it in those universes so you care more about these characters as well.

Overall this effort doesn’t deserve a 3, but I will give it a 4. Even though I would say it’s not as good as SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING it’s definitely almost on par.