Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

★★★★★ - A Review by Cameron Kanachki

Ever since I was a little one, Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero. His amazing abilities, coupled with his charm & him being a teenager, made me enjoy him so much.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a wondrous blast of animated fun. The film follows Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), a young adult living in Brooklyn with his mom, Rio Morales (voiced by Luna Lauren Velez), & his dad, Jefferson Davis (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry). Miles has just been admitted into an elite boarding school, which he is not excited about. However, Miles is a huge fan of Spider-Man, AKA Peter Parker (voiced by Chris Pine), but Jefferson thinks he is a menace.

One day, while with his uncle Aaron (voiced by Mahershala Ali), Miles is bitten by a spider, & not long after, he develops the powers of Spider-Man. He goes to a subway station & finds himself in a laboratory run by Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin (voiced by Liev Schreiber), & Olivia Octavious, AKA Doctor Octopus (voiced by Kathryn Hahn). Fisk has built this laboratory to open up an alternate universe to see his wife & son again. Here, Spider-Man has arrived to disable the accelerator, but he fails to do it, disappearing from the world, but not before passing on the task to Miles, who now tries to be a new Spider-Man.

Not long after, Miles encounters Peter B. Parker, AKA Spider-Man (voiced by Jake Johnson), an older, chubbier Peter Parker from another dimension. Wanting to get back home, he decides to train Miles on how to use his powers in exchange for stealing data from the laboratory. Eventually, Miles & Peter encounter other Spider-People: Gwen Stacy, AKA Spider-Woman (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld); Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man Noir (voiced by Nicolas Cage), a dark universe Spider-Man; Peter Porker, AKA Spider-Ham (voiced by John Mulaney), a pig Spider-Man; & Peni Parker (voiced by Kumiko Glenn), a young girl controlling a robot named SP//dr, all of whom are hiding out at the home of May Parker (voiced by Lily Tomlin), Peter's aunt. They must all come together to send themselves back to their own dimension & stop Fisk once & for all.

The voice cast is fantastic. Shameik Moore brings a lot of command to the role, & I expect great things from him in the future. Jake Johnson is superb in his role. Hailee Steinfeld does a great job. And John Mulaney is so hilarious here, as he always is the funniest person wherever he goes.

The direction by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman is excellent. Persichetti, Ramsey & Rothman are able to create so much wonder & keep the film so incredibly interesting.

The screenplay by Phil Lord & Rodney Rothman is amazing. The plot is incredibly intriguing, the characters are well-fleshed-out, & the dialogue is supremely funny.

And the animation is wonderful. The animation is reminiscent of a comic book, & every frame of animation is just so incredibly captivating.

This is the best animated film this year. It's hilarious, heartwarming, & above all, a unique chapter for Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was seen by me at an advance screening at the MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, MI on Friday, December 7, 2018. It is in theaters everywhere. Its runtime is 117 minutes, & it is rated PG for frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, & mild language.