Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse is, in my opinion, the best animated film ever. It also happens to be one of the best Superhero films made. The follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), an African American teenage boy living in Brooklyn. After being accidently bit by a radioactive spider and the untimely death of New York’s Spider-Man (Chris Pine), Miles stumbles across Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), who appears to also be Spider-Man. Upon later realisation, they realise that Peter B. is from another dimension almost parallel to Miles’. When more Spider-People arrive in Miles’ universe (including Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), Japanese Penny Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage) and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), they venture together to get back to their homes and save the multiverse. This is one of the most creatively animated films I have ever seen, at first the animation seems a little bit jerky, but then that this is how the film is supposed to look. Lord and Miller have this excellent strategy to films where they make the film feel like the medium it represents- in this case comic books. From the traditional text boxes that reflected Miles’ inner thoughts, to the poppy, action- complete with comic strip boxes. This film feels like reading a comic book. Another thing that makes this film so amazing is the music. One moment that stands out is the ‘leap of faith’ scene, where we see Miles take the leap in his new suit and become Spider-Man. The music here works so well because it builds up to his big moment so well then climaxes when he almost reaches the ground but manages to shoot his web and start swinging through the city, with the music now in full swing. The mix of hip-hop with the orchestral score gives me chills. Every. Single. Time. Overall, Into the Spider-verse is one of the best films in both it’s genres, and completely deserved all the praise, awards, and recognition that it received over the years (and maybe is the best Spidey film)- and I can’t wait to see what Lord and Miller do with the sequel.
