Spider-man, arguably one the most popular comic book character ever created, and fans were excited to finally see him on the big screen. When Sony acquired the rights to bring the web-head to theaters almost 17 years ago, they immediately jumped in with Sam Raimi’s version with Tobey Maguire starring. The film would lead to a trilogy that started out as a smash, then bombed critically with the third and final film. Things wouldn’t get any better with Andrew Garfield putting on the mask as the planned trilogy didn’t even get passed the second film. It was only until Sony allowed Disney/Marvel to use the character for three of their M.C.U. films did interests still show for the superhero.
Sony went ahead and decided to do a less costly version by doing a cartoon version and introducing a new spider-man. Miles Morales, a character that’s been introduced to fans via comics, cartoons and the recent Spider-Man game for PS4.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse seeks to solidify Morales as a new fan favorite with fans with a film primarily focused on him. Miles Morales, much like Peter in the beginning, is a teenager growing up in Brooklyn with issues that most teenagers in today’s society face until history repeats itself. The only difference is a different tragedy strikes Miles that inspires him to dawn the mask, but not without difficulty.
It turns out that Kingpin, a villain mostly related with Daredevil, has a plan to open a door to other realities for a specific purpose. While Miles tries to come up with a plan in order to stop him, he’s aided by Spider-men from other realities. Some of them are fan favorites, others are well known, and one is mostly for comic relief. It’s a fun rollercoaster ride that has plenty of action and comedy that you would expect to see from the famous webslinger. The film also does a good job at paying homage to films that came before it and has a touching moment with creator, Stan Lee, who passed away just a short time ago.
The film has great voice acting by some big-name celebrities such as Chris Pine, Nicholas Cage, Zoe Kravitz and Mahershala Ali. It’s got some dark tones but is overall a great family friendly film with a great soundtrack that gets the people going. The only problem I can say about the film is that it’s a little rough on the eyes with its use of animation. Some of the transitions are too fast to catch and the main boss fight is hard to follow because of the setting. Overall, it’s a risk that Sony took and I’m hoping that it’s going to pay off, so I give this film a nine out of ten.
As good as this film is, it’s got the unfortunate task of going up against upcoming blockbusters like
Bumblebee and
Aquaman in the following week
. This film cost 90 million to make, so it shouldn’t be hard to make a profit from the film, but it needs to have a big opening week. I hope it succeeds because this was the fresh start that Sony needed for Spider-Man and Sony has been hot after the financial success of
Venom. It would be great to see how Miles’s story plays out if it succeeds at the box office and there’s a touching tribute to Stan Lee mid-credits and a hilarious post credit scene.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a great way to kick off the holiday season with your family, so go see it and enjoy.
