Since Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire brought us the first big screen Spider-Man movie in 2002, we've seen the web slinger on the big screen more than any other hero. Now, Spider-Man makes the jump to animated feature with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a movie with more Spider-Men (Spider-Mans? Spider-People?) than any that came before. How does the new movie compare to those that preceded it? Remarkably well.
CinemaBlend Events Editor Eric Eisenberg wrote the official review for us here and he gave it a perfect five-star rating. He says it's creative and funny, and really has only the most glowing things to say.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a phenomenal, electrifying and legitimately special work. After as many Spidey movies we've seen in the last 16 years, you might think that Hollywood would have little more to offer from the character in terms of new and original big-screen adventures, but it's brilliant and mesmerizing to see what this one brings to the table. It's creative, the unusual animation style is mind-boggling in the best way; it's hilarious throughout; and, perhaps most important of all, perfectly exposes all of the elements that have made the web-slinger a pop culture icon in the last half-century.
While we've seen Spider-Man on the big screen before, and we've seen the character in animated form on television, this is the first time that the two things have come together into an animated feature film. Shift Editor Adam Holmes says that the film's unique animation style is one of the reasons that Into the Spider-Verse is something special.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse isn't just one of the best Spider-Man movies, if not the best, it's also a triumph of animation in general. In this case, it's not cliched to say that the movie feels like a comic book come to life, both through its unique artwork and its use of superhero tropes that would be difficult to pull off in live action. The fact that Into the Spider-Verse is able to include so much Spider-mythos material without the movie feeling overcrowded is an impressive achievement.
Spider-Man is one of the most popular comic book characters in the world, but for Managing Director Sean O'Connell, the character is very special. As such, he can be quite critical of the nuances within the story and the character, but for him, not only is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse a great movie, it is, to date, the definitive version of the character on film.
Into the Spider-Verse faced an immense challenge. How do you make a character who has been in countless comic books and nearly a double-digit amount of films feel fresh, creative and relevant? The answer is to shift to Miles Morales, but also to use the multi-verse to introduce numerous iterations of the beloved Spider-Man mythos, all while tunneling to the heart of what makes this character special. This is the definitive Spider-Man movie. It's hilarious, touching, exciting, and the animation is next-level brilliant. Plus, the Stan Lee cameo destroyed me. When it comes to Spider-Man, I thought I'd sen it all. This year -- thanks to Avengers: Infinity War, the mesmerizing PS4 game, and the gamble made by creative Spider-Verse storytellers -- I realize that when it comes to Spider-Man, we ain't seen nothing yet.
Some of the biggest changes in Into the Spider-Verse are focused on the simple character switch of making Miles Morales, and not Peter Parker, the main character of the story, but that decision affects so mucgh about trhge movie as a whole that it feels entirely fresh and different,
2018 has been a remarkably good year for the superhero movie genre. With Marvel's epic, Avengers: Infinity War to its potential Best Picture nominee Black Panther, the bar for the genre is incredibly high right now. Marvel has produced some remarkable achievements. Having said that, Senior Movie Contributor Mike Reyes is of the opinion that Into the Spider-Verse is actually a better Marvel superhero movie than anything actually produced by Marvel Studios.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is something magical. An emotional journey wrapped in an animated tentpole, it shatters all expectations. It's not just the best animated film of the year, it's the best Marvel film of 2018 as well.
It does seem like this one blows away expectations because we largely didn't see it coming. With the film being animated while most of our focus has been on live-action superheroes, this one snuck up on us. We probably should have seen it coming. Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have made a career out of taking existing properties and twisting them into new ways that we never saw coming. From 21 Jump Street to The LEGO Movie, we end up happily surprised at every turn.
And finally, you can add my voice to the choir. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is so refreshing that it doesn't even feel like it's a character we've seen before and now all I want is to see more of it.
The thing that makes Into The Spider-Verse so special is that, on top of being the best Spider-Man movie of the last two decades, it makes you want to see MORE Spider-Man. If every sequel and spinoff can be as good as this, then bring them all on.
Of course, we do already know that we're going to get more from the Spider-Verse, as a sequel and a Spider Gwen focused spinoff have apparently already been greenlit by Sony. Between the other characters that the new movie introduces and the essentially limitless number that could be introduced, we could potentially see a lot more from this particular cinematic universe. If they can be as good as this one, I'm ok with that.
We don't always agree here at CinemaBlend, but when it comes to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse we could not be more in agreement. This movie isn't just good, it's straight up great. If you're even just a casual fan of Spider-Man, superheroes or even just animation, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is in theaters now. Seriously, go, go now.
