Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Movie Review
Updated: May 5, 2021
"When will I know I'm ready?"
"You won't. It's a leap of faith."
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse brings us along for the story of a young teenager named Miles Morales, who, after gaining extraordinary powers, must learn to use them to become the hero his city needs. The film shows us a twisted version of the classic monomyth, where Miles is pushed to become a hero because he wasn't accepted as one by his mentors.
The film's story was beautifully written by Phil Lord, and it embraces the cliches it uses. The characters were all incredibly well developed, with Miles being the star of the show. This film plays very much like a moving comic book, with classic quips and speech bubbles just like you would see in one. The entire ensemble has great chemistry with each other, especially Miles and Gwen. We see great diversity throughout the cast, and the writers figured out how to include a powerful message about it without hitting you over the head. The villains all had very understandable motives. Kingpin just wants to have his family, and Prowler just wants to be someone. There are a few twists in this story that will leave your jaw on the floor, and you'll need to take a step back for a second and think about what you witnessed. This is also a very funny movie. Every character is able to crack a joke at some point and the best part is they all land. John Mulaney as Spider-Ham is hilarious and serves as the main source of comic relief.
The movie's only issue is that the supporting three spider-heroes (Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, and Peni Parker) were very underused. They had so much potential to be great but it just felt like the story was too focused on Miles, Gwen, and Peter to let these characters shine.