Movie Review: Spider-Verse, The Most Innovative And Best Animated Movie Of 2018

Jeff D Lowe12/12/2018 3:31 PM

They’re making another different Spider-Man franchise? Yes. What did we think? Let’s find out…

Jeff (91/100): ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is packed with mesmerizing animation, a fun story and is the best animated movie of 2018. With a great message and characters to go along with the best adaption of the style of a comic book on screen, some might even call ‘Spider-Verse’ one of the Top 2 Spider-Man movies ever made.

When I first heard that they were making another Spider-Man movie at the same time they keep making the Marvel Cinematic Universe Tom Holland version, I rolled my eyes. Did we really need two separate Spider-Man franchises at the same time? Then the story concept (the Spider-Verse, where there are multiple, different versions of Spider-Man) and trailer came out (with unique, never-before-seen in a comic book movie visuals) and drew me right into the hype. While it might have been an unreasonable move, my expectations were set at a sky-high level… and my goodness did this movie deliver.

The best thing about ‘Spider-Verse’, without question, is the animation style used to tell the story. ‘Hulk’, from Ang Lee back in 2003, is the only blockbuster comic book movie I can remember that tried to make the movie feel like you were reading a physical comic book. While it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, it certainly didn’t work all that well.

Where that movie seemed to force the style, ‘Spider-Verse’ does it in a more subtle and natural way. Some of the sounds that come from the character’s actions and movements are accompanied by text, like when Spider-Man shoots his web, the word “thwip!” appears on screen. Loud noises or bangs, for example, result in squiggly lines around the characters to emphasize the intensity of the moment. Even some of the characters and objects, most notably the villain Kingpin, have lines on their bodies and faces to simulate that they were hand drawn and shadowed by a pen or pencil. It’s not to say that Pixar, Disney or Illumination don’t make movies with great animation, but no one has really made a distinctly different looking animated movie since probably ‘The LEGO Movie’. The use of a 3D-esque effect in certain scenes, jagged-to-smooth character movement and polished environments make it look like a comic book has come to life on screen and elevates the movie to a whole other level.

They also go a different route with the story in ‘Spider-Verse’, assuring that you experience a fresh angle on a character with a pretty standard cinematic history. While the regular Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) is in the movie, it also explores the lives of other Spider-people like Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Kimiko Glenn (Peni Parker) and Spider-Man Noir (Nic Cage). They all have different stories and emotional connections to why donning the Spider-Man suit makes them who they are as a person. On top of that, the script is also hilarious and very self-aware. A few moments where they poke fun at past Spider-Man movies are laugh out loud funny. The villains were serviceable and the only real “weak” part of the movie, but the story is more about the protagonists’ development as opposed to a “protagonist and antagonist fight” story.

There’s no doubt in my mind that ‘Isle of Dogs’ is the favorite to win Best Animated Picture at the Oscars. The stop-motion animation is incredible, but, even as a Wes Anderson stan, I think ‘Spider-Verse’ is a flat-out better movie. We might be getting a ton of great animated pictures, but the ones that should be celebrated the most are the movies that innovate and give us something game-changing and new. ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ does just that.

KenJac (91/100): To set the stage for this movie, keep in mind that we have had 2 Spider-Man appearances (‘Captain America: Civil War’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’) a solo movie (‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’), and a related property (‘Venom’) come out all within the last 2 years. I was afraid that this would be the film where fatigue set in and it became exhausting. Fortunately, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was a unique, beautiful and all around awesome movie that managed to differentiate itself from the pack in the age of comic book movies.

Part of my fear of fatigue with this movie was the casting of Jake Johnson as his typecast lazy-but-lovable schlub. It ended up working very well for his character, and his chemistry with Shameik Moore’s Miles Morales was undeniable. The rest of the spider-verse castings were really fun and used perfectly sparingly in my opinion, because when you have guys like Nic Cage and John Mulaney doing voice roles, it could be easy for them to overshadow the main cast.

They played a lot of the hits for Spider-Man, including genius kid who is socially awkward at school. BUT, he had parents! No uncle Ben getting shot! They throw some twists and turns at Morales that make you connect with him emotionally, helping make his resolution at the end of the movie feel more impactful. I really can’t emphasize how beautiful this movie was. It deserves all nominations for animation in any and every film awards this season. The soundtrack was also incredible, including this Post Malone original:

If you are sick of comic book movies and don’t think this is worth your time, this review is me telling you that ‘Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” is. It’s a totally different installment for the genre that has an undeniable authentic and fresh feel to it.

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This movie is not yet Officially Not Buttered since it is not out yet, but it is on track for a quick buttering. We will review the movie next Thursday on Lights, Camera, Barstool and reveal Trillballins’ score. Remember to rate all 2018 movies below.