Right from the very beginning, as colored pixels are seen when passing passed the Sony logo and the Columbia torch-bearer glitches into a variety of forms, the filmmakers want the audience to know they are in for something completely different with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a visually stunning animated film, that is arguably the most comic-book like of comic-book movies.
Buy Spider-Man: Into the Spider-VersePeter Parker (Chris Pine) tells audience he has been Spider-Man for 10 years, and there are little nods to past films. But the main character of this Spider-Man movie is Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a high-school student whose has a strained relationship with his police-officer father (Brian Tyree Henry). Miles is closer to his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) who is a criminal. Aaron encourages Miles’ graffiti art, and while they are out one night, Miles gets bit by a special spider, and soon notices his mind and body acting differently.
Returning to where he was bitten, Miles discovers Spider-Man fighting a monstrous Green Goblin in an secret underground lab where Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) has a group of scientists led by Dr. Octopus (Kathryn Hahn) testing a super collider, intended to open a portal into parallel universes because Kingpin hasn’t gotten over the loss of his son. Spider-Man gets hurt and asks Miles to destroy the device. While left behind, Kingpin kills Spider-Man and the city mourns his loss.
Miles decides he needs to step up in Spider-Man’s place. He encounters Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), who has Spider-Man for 22 years in another universe and is separated from Mary Jane. Miles wants him to a mentor but Peter isn’t sure he’s right for the role. Seeking help, they head to Aunt May’s (Lily Tomlin) home. There they encounter other heroes: Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) from 1933, who appears in black and white’ Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) who has psychic link with a spider that lives in inside her father’s robot from 3145, who appears in anime, and Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) who appears like a Looney Tunes character. Team Spider also includes Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), a new girl from Miles’ school who is also a superhero.
Things become complicated for Miles when he learns his uncle is the Prowler, a henchman for Kingpin. Also, Miles doesn’t have control of his powers yet, so the other heroes don’t trust him. They leave him behind. The question becomes will Miles take a leap of faith in himself and his abilities.
The screenplay by producer Phil Lord and co-director Rodney Rothman is brilliant. They found a way to balance telling a heartfelt, universal story about a young man growing up and finding his place in the world while placing it within, not just a superhero movie, but within a multiverse movie filled with numerous Easter eggs for comic-book fans yet never losing the average viewer because it stays rooted in characters and relationships that are all understandable. Even the motivations of the villains are understandable and make them somewhat sympathetic.
But the real heroes of the movies are all those involved in the animation, which can be relentless during the action scenes. Styles are meshed together, and at times forced, keeping the viewer as off-kilter as Miles is with his new powers. In a nod to comics, some times Miles’ thoughts appear in caption boxes.
The Blu-ray video is available in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer displayed at an aspect ratio of
2.39:1. Colors pop off the screen in vivid hues. Blacks are inky and whites look accurate, contributing to a strong contrast. The image detail is at the filmmakers’ discretion. Some images are intentionally out of focus to achieve an appearance of depth.
The audio is available in DTS-HD MA 5.1. Dialogue is clear. Composer Daniel Pemberton’s score fill the surrounds as do the effects which are positioned in and move across channels. The bass is strong and rattles the subwoofer’s cabinet at times
The Special Features (HD) are:
- Alternate Universe Mode Viewing Option
- Filmmaker Commentary featuring Lord, Rothman, co-directors Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey, and producer Christopher Miller
- Spider-Ham Caught in a Ham Short (4 min)
- We Are Spider-Man (8 min)
- Spider-Verse A New Dimension (5 min)
- The Ultimate Comic Cast (15 min)
- Designing Cinematic Comic Book Characters “Heroes and Hams” (8 min) and “Scoundrels & Scorpions” (5 min)
- Tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (9 min)
- Spider-Verse Super Fan Easter Egg Challenge (5 min)
- Sunflower music video by Post Malone & Swae Lee(3 min)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an outstanding film and it doesn’t require the “animated” qualifier. Fans should be content with the Blu-ray, but in this rare instance, I’d suggest seeking out the 4K UHD if capable. This is a film where the better quality a/v experience will surely enhance the experience.
