spider-man: into the spider-verse

[pete]

Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.

Directors: Peter Ramsey, Robert Persichetti Jr., Rodney Rothman
Story by Phil Lord.

it's so fucking good. I haven't seen animation that made me this giddy in a long time. It also is just a lot better than it had any right to be. I like coming out of a theater feeling like cinema is still full of possibilities and unexplored avenues. I mean who knows, it might be like Avatar where a few months later we all collectively realized there was nothing underneath that pretty 3-D stuff, but for now I have a movie high.

[jenkins]

i want to see it

[Alethia]

Okay I'll see it. Would you believe I haven't seen one of these things since Raimi's Spiderman 2?

[Drenk]

Okay I'll see it. Would you believe I haven't seen one of these things since Raimi's Spiderman 2?

You basically didn't miss a thing since then.

(Logan is nice.)

[modage]

it's so fucking good. I haven't seen animation that made me this giddy in a long time. It also is just a lot better than it had any right to be. I like coming out of a theater feeling like cinema is still full of possibilities and unexplored avenues. I mean who knows, it might be like Avatar where a few months later we all collectively realized there was nothing underneath that pretty 3-D stuff, but for now I have a movie high.

100% agree. 2018 was a weak year for film but this might've been the best thing I saw all year. Better than anything in the MCU by a mile and the best animated studio film since Pixar gave up almost a decade ago. I'm as surprised as you are. Gotta see it again.

[Robyn]

average ratings:

rateyourmusic: 4.03
letterboxd: 4.5
imdb: 8.8
rotten tomatoes: 97%

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[jenkins]

in the grand scheme it's a kids movie, which is different from The Black Panther, which is an adult movie in the grand scheme. the theme is overcome obstacles and grow as a person to find strength in yourself.

but i got what i wanted. it's a classic "can't do that in your backyard" hollywood movie, animation style. it's a refreshed perception of animation, which frankly usa has been behind on, compared to, of course, anime. have i seen animes that were better than this? ah the hard question is if i haven't seen an anime that was better than this, that i'm not sure about.

the narrative design was pro. the comedy hit. it was all very contemporary. i have nothing to be mad about, except i might have should have seen The Favourite instead after all

[csage97]

I saw this tonight. The animation was incredible and fresh, and the soundtrack was (mostly) contemporary and really well-done. I knew going in that I should expect awesome animation based on what people had been saying, but possibly a story I'd seen before since it's a superhero movie after all. And that's exactly what I got.

The first maybe hour and 20 minutes of plot were really good. Still, every superhero movie is obligated to have the 30 minute action climax at the end where the goodies battle and defeat the baddies. Do I have the right to complain knowing fair well that that's what would happen? Probably not. But it was a reminder why I can't stand superhero movies, and how I can't understand why audiences are okay with and even giddy about being fed the same old tropes and story arcs dressed up in different packaging. It kind of sucks because this movie had a chance to go somewhere different after the first half, but I found myself hoping it would be over soon about 20 or 30 minutes from the end. By then, the animation was still cool and keeping it afloat, but the soundtrack had mostly devolved into run-of-the-mill typical Hollywood strings and the story had gone exactly where I predicted a superhero movie to go.

Nonetheless, the way the story was delivered was incredibly creative and well done. As jenkins said, it's a refreshed perception of animation, and for that, it's a big achievement for a US production. Yeah, I expected the story to more or less be what it was, and it was still competently done -- so I'm not let down there, but it probably holds this movie back from being something more, and from possibly being a full-on masterpiece. That's all okay, though; it succeeds and innovates in most ways.

[Jeremy Blackman]

My feelings actually echo csage's very closely. The animation is absolutely mindblowing, all the way through the end credits. I'm not a huge comic book fan or expert, but I can't imagine any film, before or after this, more fully bringing the essence of a comic book onto the screen.

My very first thoughts leaving the theater were basically this: Requires a rewatch. I was so taken by the images that I barely had any remaining capacity to properly take in the story and characters.

Now I'm not so sure a rewatch is required to appreciate the story, because it's very standard. The characters are okay, but they end up feeling kind of standard as well. Really makes you appreciate The Last Jedi and other genre films that take narrative risks.

Spoiler: ShowHide

Someone please explain how the uncle makes ANY SENSE.

[Ravi]

This was a lot of fun. I had the same issues with the story, but it's such a visual delight, and it was genuinely funny and thrilling, so I could forgive issues I had with it. I wish I enjoyed any of the Disney Marvel movies half as much I enjoyed this one.

These superhero stories work better for me as animation than they do as live action. A good animated film can seem like a comic book come to life, but seeing real actors in those costumes and delivering that dialogue makes everything seem silly, I guess  :yabbse-undecided.