The biggest question today for Marvel fans are which Spider-Man film adaptation was the best and who the best Spider-Man is. Since the New Millennium there have been three live action Spider-Man’s, the Sami Raimi Spider-Man that starred Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, the Mark Webb Amazing Spider-Man that starred Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and The MCU Spider-Man that starred Tom Holland as Peter Parker. It has been up to debate these last couple of years of which Spider-Man film is the better of the three Spider-Man’s but what if the best Spider-Man adaptation wasn’t about Peter Parker and wasn’t a live action movie but an animated film. In 2018 Sony Pictures Animation released a computer animated Spider-Man but with the lesser known character of Miles Morales as the leading role. The film gained positive reviews and became a huge success in the box office, taking home over $375 million. The film would also take home many awards including Best Animated Film in the 46th Annie Awards, 76th Golden Globe Awards and 91st Academy Awards. It is pretty safe to say that the story of Miles Morales as Spider-Man won the hearts of many and became in many ways the best animated film of the decade and possibly the best Spider-Man film of all time. But was it the best Spider-Man adaptation of all time? What makes it better than the other 3 live action films and why does this one stand out other than it being an animated film and not a live action? Most of all what is my opinion on this subject as I never really thought about this until now. Alright so let’s go back into the beginning and let’s review Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. *SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD*
Okay so this film wouldn’t be possible without many people but the main two people that helped make this film possible was Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. They helped produce this film but they were the backbone of multiple films that became successful including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The 21 Jump Street franchise and The Lego Movie. The film however was directed by Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman and making his directorial debut Bob Persichetti. The film stars Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Jake Johnson (Peter B. Parker), Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy), Brian Tyree Henry (Jefferson Davis), Mahershala Ali (Aaron Davis), Lily Tomlin (Aunt May), Chris Pine (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Zoe Kravitz (Mary Jane), Nicolas Cage (Spider-Man Noir), Kimiko Glenn (Peni Parker), John Mulaney (Peter Porker/Spider-Ham), Luna Lauren Velez (Rio Morales), Kathryn Hann (Dr. Olivia) and Liv Schreiber (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin). The voice cast for this film is probably one of the best voice casts of all time as these actors and actresses put on great performances and I think they were perfect choices for their roles. Now reviewing this film as a whole means I need to also film the animation for the film so I’m going to leave that part after I talk about certain scenes or moments of the film that gained my attention and had great character building or built up to the plot. However one thing I do want to talk about I the fact that from the beginning Sony logo to the end credits, this film made you feel like we were watching a comic book movie come to life and I guess that was the main point because there were parts of the film where we had panels within multiple scenes or there was speech bubbles/squares of when a person was either talking or what they were thinking and I thought that was pretty cool. I also liked that the film added in the words *Boom*, *Bam*, *Pow* or any other word that could appear in a comic book as I thought it was a smart decision because the animators and filmmakers want us to believe that we are in a comic book and plus since this is an animated film they could pretty much do whatever they want by adding in anything they want to make the film feel new and I really liked that about this movie that it felt different from most animated films.
I do want to bring up one thing about the film before I talk about some key moments but the film had a lot packed into the film that you would think would be too much and could loss the viewer’s engagement to the film. We go from learning about one of the Spider-Man’s then we are introduced to Miles Morales and his family but once the multiverse is open a lot of stuff is cluttered between each scene and the way the film does it is pretty smart with not including so much details when it comes to character introduction and continuing the story with comic strips as a way to quicken the story up. I thought that was a pretty cool filmmaking choice that added some depth to the film but also made it totally different from not only the other Spider-Man films but to most comic book films. Plus as an added bonus the film would have been totally different if it didn’t have the look and feel of a comic book, but more on that later.
One scene that I really want to talk about is a good 25 – 30 minutes into the film and it involves Miles Morales and Peter Parker meeting for the first time. At this point of the film Miles has obtained the Spider-Man abilities after he got bit by a radioactive Spider in the subway and he is still trying to understand what is going on. He finds Peter Parker in a heavy battle with Green Goblin and Peter saves Miles while he is free falling to his possible death. They then have their Spider Senses go off and Peter learns about Miles new ability. However Miles doesn’t want to be Spider-Man and Peter tells him straight up that it isn’t a choice and that he can help him with his new abilities. Peter then goes back to his battle with Green Goblin and Prowler and we then learn about the reason why Peter is fighting them as Kingpin has this machine called The Collider and he is using it to bring back his family from the dead by bringing them from another universe but it can possibly lead to an explosion in New York. The Collider does explode but by doing so it injures Peter. Miles goes to check on Peter and you know just by his face that Peter isn’t going to live much longer and Peter knows it too so he gives Miles a flash drive that will destroy The Collider for good and asks Miles to promise that he would get the job done. It was at this moment that in a way Peter is handing over the Spider-Man name and job to Miles. Even though it takes a while in the film for Miles to finally go full Spider-Man it’s pretty easy to say that it was at this moment where our film to a change and killed off our hero that we know and love and made us now look for guidance and hope that our new hero, Miles Morales, will be ready for the task in hand and become the new Spider-Man. This scene secretly shows our main message from the film, “anyone can be a superhero”. Even though Miles isn’t fully ready to be Spider-Man, he knows that he needs to believe in himself and work hard to get himself into that superhero mentality. Once Peter Parker dies you can see the sadness from the people of New York and Miles as these people looked up to Spider-Man as a way we look up to our heroes as Spider-Man was the one people can look up too and try to be like. Even though Peter and Miles share two moments together, he stands out and is a big influence on the future of his life and he doesn’t really know that until the end.
One thing that I think the film did very strongly was revealing the villains of the film. Now having Wilson Fisk has the main antagonist of the film is pretty cool considering we never have gotten him in a live action adaption through 3 different franchises and it then introduces us to a new character that many fans of Spider-Man might not know about. So great job on having Wilson Fisk as the main baddie Sony. However it is the reveals of the other two big villains that stand out. The first one happens when Peter B. Parker and Miles head to Kingpin’s research facility where they can create a new drive and get the data to stop the Super Collider. In this scene we meet Dr. Olivia and she is astonished about the fact that Peter B. Parker, aka Spider-Man, is in her universe after the original Spider-Man was killed. So she then reveals herself as Dr. Olivia Octavious, better known as Doc Ock. I think the reveal of Doctor Octopus (Doc Ock) was brilliant as we had no clue what her full name was until this moment and the fact that in this universe of this film she is a woman instead of a man is a pretty cool choice and is different considering we know Doc Ock as a male. The other villain reveal is a bit more intense and fits very well with the film’s story as it doesn’t just hit the viewer at home, but it hits the main character, but for Miles it hits him really hard.
The Prowler is pretty much the 2nd antagonist of the film and he is the enforcer for Wilson Fisk. He has this badass look that is also very menacing and intimidating as he looks like Spider-Man but more cruel and instead of red and blue his color schemes are purple and black. When we find out who The Prowler is Miles is looking for his Uncle Aaron because he needs someone to talk to after all the other Spider-Man’s and Woman’s said he lacked the experience of being Spider-Man. Aaron Davis, Miles uncle, plays a big role in his life as Miles looks up to Aaron, more to the fact that he looks for guidance from his uncle more than he looks for guidance from his own father. It is at this moment that The Prowler’s true identity is revealed as while Miles is invisible The Prowler unmasks in front of him and it is revealed to be his Uncle Aaron. You can see the terror and heartbreak on the face of Miles and while you can only see his eyes because he is wearing the mask you can still see the true emotional heartbreak this kid is feeling when he finds out the one man he goes to and trusts the most turns out to be the man he is running from this whole time. This scene is truly powerful with an amazing score and great animation and it also leads me to when Aaron finds out that Miles is Spider-Man as you can see the heartbreak in his face, not that he is upset with the fact that Miles is Spider-Man, but the fact that he has been trying to kill his family and that Miles is probably the one person he cares about the most. It’s in that moment where Wilson Fisk kills Aaron and both moments themselves are truly sad and the film itself finds a way for the viewers to feel these powerful and emotional moments that has great storytelling.
The next and final scene I want to talk about is a pretty powerful scene for not just the movie but it can inspire many people. We all look for that push to move forward in life and sometimes it’s hard to find that push. Others look everywhere for it and can never find it. But for this animated film to have shown this in the most perfect way is beyond incredible. At this point of the film Miles just watched his uncle get killed right in front of his eyes so he goes to his high school dorm room to let out some anger and in return the other Spider people try and show him that they know what it is like to lose someone and that you can’t always save everybody. However they also came there to say goodbye and Peter B. Parker tried to get that spark out of Miles and unfortunately he didn’t. Miles knows he is the one who needs to stop Wilson Fisk and his Collider but Peter B. Parker knows he isn’t ready for the task in hand and be Spider-Man because he hasn’t taken the leap of faith, something all the other Spider-Man’s have done. Each back story in the film we have learned about their struggles and what they lost but we also learned how they took that leap of faith and became Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen or….Spider-Pig…okay that last one might be just for comic relief but I mean he still knows what it’s like to have that push. If Peter B. Parker couldn’t be that full push then what will push Miles. He has all these great expectations in his life yet he doesn’t have his full powers because he hiding all the time and not showing what he can do. He is scared and fears for the worse but he knows he needs to be the one to finish the job. But he can’t for some reason because he can’t find himself; he can’t find that spark in himself to make those great expectations a reality. That is until his father comes to talk to him. Throughout the film we see and hear that his father sees something great for his son, that he will do big things in life, but in a way we never see his father actually say those things because we are watching through the eyes of Miles and his father figure, the man he looks up to, was his Uncle Aaron. His father doesn’t want to drift apart from him like how he and his brother Aaron drifted apart because they had different morals and ideas and in this film there really isn’t a father/son relationship happening between Miles and his father. So in this one scene, this one speech of Jefferson Davis talking to his son Miles, we get to finally hear how proud of a father he is of his son and that he knows that Miles has this spark in him and how amazing it is and why he pushes him so hard and that he will be proud of his son for whatever he does with that spark. He loves his son and cares for him so much and it is at this scene where Miles finally can feel his father finally show how much he cares for him but that little spark metaphors as well to his full powers coming out as that spark awakens Miles and pushes him to finally take that leap of faith. This next two minutes of this scene has one of the most badass tracks included in the background, What’s Up Danger by Blackway and Black Caviar, and the lyrics in the song is so powerful to what is going on in the scene, like go stop reading this review, put this song on and come back, you’re welcome. It’s at this scene where he creates his own Spider suit and then he finally jumps off a huge building, we get this amazing shot of him free falling and the colors and animation is so beautiful and perfect and what it is representing and trying to show the viewer is powerful. But this little spark was able to bring Miles to this Leap of Faith and finally he can keep his promise to Spider-Man, he can start believing in himself and stop hiding from his problems, he can become Spider-Man and stop Kingpin and save the world. This scene isn’t just any regular animated scene about a young boy becoming Spider-Man, it’s about pushing yourself and finding that push somehow and someway. Sometimes it takes a person, a moment, anything to get you there and when you are there keep pushing and going forward. That is why this scene is so powerful and I learned a thing or two because of this scene. I learned something about myself and you know what it felt good to get that feeling.
I would talk more about the film after the Leap of Faith scene but I feel like I spoiled enough of the film so spoiling the finale will kind of just ruin the film for you all. But in the end Miles defeats Kingpin and saves the world and all of the other Spider-Man’s and Woman’s go back into their universe and yeah that’s our Spider-Man film. Now I mentioned Great Expectations earlier and there is a reason why I did. It is brought up multiple times in the film and it plays a key role to the film’s narrative and the character development of Miles Morales. The novel Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens and the novel follows the character Pip in his younger years to his adult years. Pip is a blacksmith who comes into a large fortune from a mysterious benefactor. Pip then moves to London where he enters the world of high society. The message of the novel though is Ambition and Self Improvement, where affection, loyalty and conscience are more important than social advancement, wealth and class. When it comes to this film though Miles is given the gift of being Spider-Man after he is bitten from a radioactive spider and now he has these powers. But also in the film he doesn’t go to a school in his neighborhood and instead goes to a private school, called Vision Academy, and he is dorming. He rather be in his neighborhood in Brooklyn and hanging with his uncle while showing off his art and being himself. Even when he gains these powers he doesn’t want them at first but he self improves himself, gets this spark and proves that he can be loyal to his new friends and Spider-Man but at the same time be able to save not only his home of Brooklyn, New York, but the world. Plus his main tag he creates has the word Expectations in it with him in the middle of the word so in a way the novel kind of inspired him. He has all these great expectations and it takes a while for him to make it a reality. There are a lot of reasons why the novel and film parallel to each other but I really don’t think everyone reading this wants to read about the Charles Dickens novel, there here for Spider-Man. But still great job for the filmmakers to find a way to make our story parallel to a great Charles Dickens novel.
I mentioned in the beginning I wanted to talk about the animation and I think now is the best time to do so. The animation of this film is phenomenal like the color scheme looks so amazing as it literally pops right in front of your eyes and you can’t look away. The fact that this animation is also multiple types of animation in one film is crazy but awesome. Like the film looks like a comic book but it also uses computed 3-D animation but at the same time Anime animation, 2-D animation and noir animation all in one film like they shoved all of these in front of our face and in the end it was done so beautifully. You also have to remember that the characters in these animated films are from different universes so the people in charge of the animation and the filmmakers in general needed to work around this idea and in the end it worked perfectly as they were able to create awesome characters and at the same time create some awesome animation. But in this animation there were some amazing camera work that made it feel live action and the frame rate in some scenes would go from 12 frames per second to 24 frames per second and it’s amazing how this production team on the film can make that happen. Also there are moments in some scenes where certain characters or things in the scene are out of focus and I never have seen that in an animated film, or never noticed it, and to see it in this film it kind of changes how we create animated films and you can then be able to do anything in an animated film. I feel like this was done to make it seem more like a comic book but I’m not a hundred percent sure about this but in my opinion I liked it and thought it was a great choice. The animation in this film as a whole is amazing and it helps this film stand out from other animated films.
I honestly think this film would be nothing without the enjoyable characters. Each character of this film is enjoyable and interesting, at least the main characters and most of the supporting characters are. For what it is worth I enjoyed Spider-Man Noir the most and it’s weird because he was barely in the film but I found his story interesting, I really enjoyed how he reacts to certain things in the Miles’ universe and he’s not like most of the other Spider-Man’s as he gets business done with his fists and fighting skills rather than his Spider abilities. He is this gritty dark character that has some great comedic moments and amazing lines. I’m not a big Nicholas Cage fan but I really enjoyed his work with this role and in the movie. The other characters however are very amazing and I love each character in different ways. I think Peter B. Parker is a great version of Spider-Man as he has gone though a lot in his lifetime as he is struggling in his universe with his life but at the same time he needs to still be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. And in this universe he kind of helps guide Miles into becoming Spider-Man. They both parallel to each other in a way so it’s pretty great that Miles was able to look up to Peter B. Parker and learn a thing or two from him and they had such great chemistry in the film as they had great dialogue together and they had some great scenes together. I also liked Spider-Ham as he is legit a Looney Tunes cartoon character pretty much and while he is barely in the film it’s just hilarious that the creators of the film added him in for comic relief. It wasn’t needed and we didn’t ask for it but I mean you can do anything in animation and this is one of those things.
This film had a lot of Spider-Man in it as it legit had so much Spider-Man Easter Eggs from the comic books, to the other live action adaptations and they even created a Spider-Man Christmas song created for this film, why I don’t know but it is just awesome. Hell the film also had a Stan Lee cameo, but this one kind of hit hard. A month before the film came out Stan Lee passed away and his line in the film kind is used in a way for Miles Morales to become Spider-Man. While Stan Lee lines of “I’m going to miss him” can metaphor to his fans going to miss the legendary icon, it is the line of “It always fit’s eventually” that plays with the story’s narrative. Miles wonder’s if the suit he buys in the costume store will fit and in a way he already is questioning himself if he will be a great fit to be Spider-Man and Stan Lee’s response with it will fit eventually is pretty much a way to say that you will fit in this role as Spider-Man but with great power and responsibility you too can be Spider-Man. In a weird way this film is able to make a character that is not well known to the public and make him loveable and he then becomes a big part of the conversation of who is the best Spider-Man. I asked before is this film the greatest film adaptation of Spider-Man and while the other three live action films are about Peter Parker, this one has Peter as the other character that we are interested in and enjoy but our main focus is Miles. I think as an adaptation to the comics this is a very great adaptation of Spider-Man and the film as a whole is probably the best adaption to the comic books. But in my general opinion, I think it’s a better film and adaptation than the Amazing Spider-Man films and it’s equally as good as the MCU Spider-Man. I think it has time to reach the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films because that version is legendary and brought Spider-Man into cinemas. Now I think the film is defiantly better than all the other Spider-Man films and each time I watch the film I pay attention to something different and notice something new each time. I’m kind of annoyed with myself for not having this film in my Top 10 Films of 2018 list as I could replace Ralph Breaks the Internet with this film because one it is better and two I enjoy this film a lot more. Not saying Ralph Breaks the Internet isn’t a great film, it’s a very good animated Disney flick, but this film reaches me better in an enjoyable and favorable way. Like I love the animation of this film, I love the characters, I love the color scheme, I love the musical score and soundtrack of the film, pretty much I love this film. It took me a few viewings to finally feel this way for the film and I can argue that this is one of the greatest animated films of all time, top 20 for sure, maybe even top 10. But as a Spider-Man film it stands out from the other three Spider-Man’s as we don’t need to be reintroduced to Peter Parker, have an origin story for him again, watch Uncle Ben die or watch him be an Avenger. We get Miles Morales, a half African American half Puerto Rican teenager who obtains super powers from getting bit by a spider and needs to save the world with different Spider-Man’s and Woman’s from different dimensions and universes. You don’t always need Peter Parker to make a Spider-Man film and this film proves that point. Anyone can wear the mask; anyone can be Spider-Man.
Final Review: 4.5 out of 5 Stars, 95 out of 100
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