Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse review

*This is going to be a long ass review - please accept my apologies*

    SPIDERMAN: INTO THE SPIDERVERSE is a movie that I'm reviewing instead of Aquaman for various reasons despite the fact I wasm't originally going to review this movie and really liked Aquaman. Specifically, I watched Into the Spiderverse and it induced REALLY COMPLICATED AND SHOCKING EMOTIONS. I'm hardly the person who is going to convince anyone to go see this movie because everyone has said this movie is awesome (because it is). So much so that I was willing to give this movie a try despite my VERY COMPLICATED AND DEEP RELATIONSHIP WITH SPIDERMAN.

My Peter Parker is married.

    You think I exaggerate? I don't. Spiderman and I are a one true love bromance that broke up but I never fully got over. I read my first Spiderman comic when I was seven years old. I then proceeded to buy every Spiderman comic I could from the stories. I slowly filled in my knowledge of the characters then-thirty year history. I put all of my comics in plastic bags and then used them as wallpaper for my room. I wish to God I had pictures of my room then because it was a piece of ART. Art created by a nine-year-old.

    I managed to get through the Clone Saga, the second-worst thing to ever happen to Spiderman. For what the Clone Saga was about, it was effectively the first rumblings of Marvel comics worrying about having "aging" Spiderman too much. You see, from the time I was seven to the time I stopped reading Spiderman, Peter Parker was an adult. He was married, didn't have a kid, shared an apartment with his wife, and they were a monogamous mostly-solid couple. This didn't confuse me or make me not identify with Spiderman. Why? *Because I wasn't a moron*. The thing Stan Lee got but many other Marvel editors didn't is the rather basic fact that kids don't want to be kids, they want to be adults. It's only adults who want to be kids.

    Well, in the Clone Saga, Peter Parker gets replaced for a time by his (for some reason) younger unmarried clone Ben Reily who turns out to be the "real" Peter Parker. Peter Parker packs up with Mary Jane and moves to Hollywood with everyone assuming they're gone forever. The thing was, fans kept asking when the "real" Peter Parker was coming back, clone or not. It also killed (or kidnapped--it's unclear) Peter Parker's baby daughter. Aunt May also died in a touching issue that the reset button was hit so fast on that it can't be understated.

I love these three.

    Somehow, against all odds, I managed to get through that convoluted mess with my love of Peter Parker intact. I took up reading The Amazing Spider-Girl and it was fun until Peter Parker sold his marriage to the Devil. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a cliche. However, it was such a grossly out of character moment for Spiderman and the new status quo was so removed from the Spiderman I knew that I couldn't accept it. The emotional attachment I had for the character didn't carry over to the new comic. So, yeah, that was the end of my Spiderman love. The movies were things I saw but never were about "my" Spiderman.

    Which brings me back to this storyline and the fact that this movie contains my Spiderman. It's weirdly geeky and kind of embarrassing but I just wanted to reach into the movie and hug the guy, going, "PETER, YOU'RE ALIVE!" This is silly but the 36-year-old something Peter B. Parker really stuck me in the feels as it was an extrapolation of where "my" Peter might have been. I feel kind of bad because my Peter is a sad, depressed wreck of a guy who ruined his marriage entirely on his own without Satanic interference. The fact it has hope for this Peter also really appealed to me. 

Spidermen in Motion.

  The premise for this movie is Spiderman is killed during an attempt to stop the Kingpin from using a Hadron Collider-esque device for SOMETHING NEFARIOUS. Miles Morales witnesses the event and has gotten powers literally just the previous day. Miles is devastated because he might have been able to help Peter but chose to react like a civilian rather than a superhero. Miles is stunned to then encounter a seemingly very much alive Peter Parker (except a decade older as well as having hit a serious turn of "Parker Luck."). Joining them is Gwen Stacy, Spider Woman and a bunch of other Spider People from alternate dimension.

    The art in this movie is incredible. I don't use that description lightly but is an assault on the eyes of color, motion, and beautiful visual designs. Everything from beginning to end is a work of art. Combine it with an amazingly fun selection of music ranging from John Parr's "Man in Motion" to work by Biggie to a punk song for Gwen that I don't recognize. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and that never happens. The music is every bit an audio feast and makes it all a kind of mental candy.

Inconspicuous!

    The characters are better realized than anyone who doesn't have their own movie in the MCU and several characters who do. I loved Gwen Stacy, Peter B. Parker (as I mentioned above), and Miles. Plus the various other Spidermen like Spiderman Noir (the best Nick Cage superhero since, well, ever) and Spider-Ham. I loved all of them, though, and when that includes an anime schoolgirl with her mecha, drawn as an anime character to the CGI art, then you have done something special.

    The villains in this work are a wonderful collection of Spider-besties with the best portrayal of the Kingpin outside of the Netflix Daredevil show. This Wilson Fisk has gotten his family killed thanks to his Lawful Evil ways and now wants to find another Kingpin's family to steal the family of (which seems like a plan with consequences I'd have enjoyed seeing). We also have a new Doc Ock that I really enjoyed the portrayal of with their darkly sinister nature and surprise twist. We even get some good redesigns of Tombstone and the Scorpion. The fact the movie contains Alchemex, my favorite element of Spiderman 2099 was also great.

Gwen's re-imagining really improved her likability.

    Really, the biggest compliment I can pay this movie is the fact that not only does Miles Morales have a fascinating origin but it's one that works well with its themes. We've all heard "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" ad nauseum but this is a movie about responsibility and what it means. Miles wants to be an ordinary kid and he's not even doing that very well but he tries to rise to the occasion and it takes a while for him to succeed. We also see how that creed is crushing with how it's ruined Peter B. Parker's life, is killing poor Gwen, and has made Spider Noir AWESOME. Ahem.

    The action is especially deserving of compliments. Very few animated movies have such incredible flow of action as this film. Spiderman is always at his best when he's a free-flowing ball of energy and this just pops off the screen. Things are always exploding, flying at the viewer, passing by our field of vision, and happening. There's some truly amazing scenes and they need to be seen to be believed.

    In conclusion, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse is a movie you need to stop whatever you're doing and watch. The more you know about Spiderman, the more you'll enjoy this but a complete newb will still love this. It's why I'm giving this my highest possible score. Maybe I liked Peter B. Parker a bit more than Miles but that's just because of nostalgia and I could easily see a movie about either. Mostly I want a sequel now. Do I want Spiderman 2099 in the next one? Superior Spiderman? You're damn right I do. This movie is awesome.

10/10