Spiderman Into the Spiderverse

Spiderman Into the Spiderverse is one of those superhero flicks that you can really enjoy, maybe even more so than Avengers [fight me if you disagree!]. What makes this movie so enjoyable is that it goes into the human mind, the human framework of the superhero. It turns out that what makes superheroes super isn't their powers, but they're inherently human traits and characteristics, and perhaps even their failings. Here, we have a young black/Hispanic kid [just like me], who ends up getting spidey powers after getting bitten by a radioactive spider underground in some sewers.

Its the same old Spiderman story but this kid is a lot different from Peter Parker. His parents want him to go to this preppy smart kids school and he just wants to go to regular city house school. On top of that, he watches as Kingpin kills Spiderman! [Peter Parker] 

Not only that but it turns out that there's a multiverse which Kingpin is activating with the help of Doc Oc's [famous old Spidey villain] daughter, Liev. Once the multiverse is opened up Miles Morales [this movie's main star and Spiderman], ends up meeting a bunch of other Spidermans, and Spiderwomen. It turns out that Gwen Stacy [young girl, high school] is Spiderwoman. There's a steampunk Spiderman with a trench coat who fights nazi's in his world. There's a fat Peter Parker from another dimension where he breaks up with Mary Jane. There's an anime Spidergirl who uses a mech [modeled after Overwatch's D.Va maybe?] And there's even a Peter Porker, a Loony Toons inspired Spiderman who happens to be a talking pig. [Spider pig anyone?]

So the story here is that Miles has to fight Kingpin and shut down the multiverse machine they're running in order to send all these various Spider people back to their own universes. But there's all these problems along the way. Fat Peter Parker has to show him the ropes. He does this by just shoving Miles out into the fray, learning by doing. This isn't something Morales is good at right away. In fact, all the other Spider people think he isn't ready for a job this big and that in fact, Peter Parker should do it. Miles gets upset at this and tells them he will figure it out and do it on his own. Along the way he ends up fighting a villain named the Prowler, who turns out to be his uncle. When he lifts his mask to reveal himself to the Prowler, the Prowler doesn't kill him. When Kingpin sees this, he fires his gun at Prowler, killing him. This is the catalyst for Morales to become a true hero. Life is struggle and contradiction. You must persevere to get to the good stuff. 

So Miles ends up finding the strength and courage within himself to fight the good fight. This is pretty tough for a high school kid. After all, he saw Peter Parker get smashed to death by Kingpin. It could happen to him too! This is the main story and theme of the movie, and it is a great one. It shows you what it takes to become a hero. Sometimes it can take everything. 

The other great aspect of this movie is the computer animation. The colourful, glowing pixels here are astounding, some of the best in the business using today's current technology. Some other great animated movies come to mind; Rango, Incredibles, Big Hero 6, Coco, Wreck-It-Ralph. This movie is apart of long line of other great animated movies. Those pixels were lush man! And all the other Spider people had their own unique animations. The anime girl Spider had a unique anime look and attacks. The pig Spider had cartoon puns and a funny little hammer that he used to fight. [you have to suspend your belief for that one] Heck, even Peter Parker's fat looked realistic. The art style of the movie had a cartoon 3D look to it but it was still realistic. Certain video games come to mind, mainly Overwatch with its graphics. But to debase the art style down to say that it looks like a video game doesn't do it justice. It looks better than a video game. 

The cool thing is that there's going to be more animated films based off this story arc here. At the end, after the credits we see another Spiderman, this guy is named Miguel. Looks like we're going to start seeing a much different breed of supermen and superwomen in the future. More minorities and more women. Looks like Marvel is changing a lot for the better. 

*Puts hand on shoulder of hot girl* "Hey"