Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Movie Review

 

With the sequel coming out this weekend, it's about time I gave my favorite movie a review.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an absolute masterpiece. Released in 2018 to thunderously positive reviews, this groundbreaking piece of cinema won best animated feature at the 2019 Academy Awards, and rightfully so. Here's a quick breakdown of what makes this movie truly special:

Visual Design - Never before has an animated film ventured so boldly into a new artistic style - and boy does Spider-Man pull it off. The movie's visual aesthetic is an absolute joy to behold, and leads to some of the best animated action sequences ever put to film.

Writing and Character Design - Every character is deep, real, and capable of evoking an emotional response. The villains and heroes are all written with a level of mastery rarely seen in 21st-century cinema. The large cast of characters doesn't feel large because you so quickly and intimately get to know everyone. The writing is absolutely stunning. It feels both natural and compelling, and achieves its aim almost without fail; informative, funny, exciting, moving, inspiring.

Entertainment - This movie pulls you in from the very beginning and does not let go until the credits begin rolling. The action is fast-paced and fun. The serious moments are serious, and the epic moments are as epic as it gets. One good judge of entertainment value can be how well something holds the short attention span of a group of children. I had the opportunity to witness three groups of kids between the ages of 11 and 14 watch this movie, and nearly every eye and ear was engaged and entertained.

Story and Theme - Into the Spider-Verse is a coming-of-age story for the protagonist, Miles Morales (a.k.a. Spider-Man). But unlike so many other movies to explore this motif, Into the Spider-Verse absolutely nails every step and swing of that stage of life. The beating heart of the film is clearly and vividly expressed in some of its final lines: "Anyone can wear the mask. You could wear the mask." Like most Spider-Man movies, the weight of power and responsibility is thrust upon the protagonist. But more importantly, it forces Miles to decide what to to with that gift. Will he remain as he was, or leap into the unknown, and choose to wear the mask? I think it can serve as a powerful metaphor for the Christian life. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and a new heart in Christ. Do we choose to hide the gift under a bushel, and bury the talent in the earth? Jesus rebukes this kind of behavior most sharply. Christ calls us out of darkness to live our ordinary life in an extraordinary way, and that is exactly what this film is calling its viewers to do.

Faith Comes From Hearing - I truly don't think that creators Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman, and Christopher Miller were trying to imbue Lutheran theology into their film. But somehow, perhaps by the providence of God, they pulled it off anyway. The critical moment in Miles' transformation into Spider-Man comes in the "Leap of Faith" sequence when Miles uses his electrical powers to bust out of the webs tying him to his chair. But what moves Miles to make this critical leap? What gives him the faith he needs to proceed and put on the mask? The words of his father: "I love you. You don't have to say it back, though." The unconditional love of our heavenly Father, delivered through the Word of his grace, has the power to create faith in the heart of a man. And what does Miles need to hear in order to make his leap of faith? The loving words of his father. Beautiful stuff.

Summary - At the end of the day, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse is a film that took the time to do things right, from the visual design, to the story, to the writing, to the characters, to the soundtrack, and everything in between. The result is a truly meaningful, incredibly fun, profoundly good piece of audio-visual storytelling.

10/10