Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

“Do animals talk in this dimension? Cause I don't wanna freak anyone out.”

Filmology Rating: 3.25 out of 4

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is something Sony wants you to like. The 169th adaptation of Spider-Man focuses on Miles Morales, a kid who has infant spider powers. When a giant laser portal, opens a bunch of dimensions, different adaptations of Spider-Man leap into Miles' world and they have to stop a giant laser plot.

Everyone loves this film. Nothing but love for this film. I'll be honest, I did not enjoy the film that much. It is certainly a good film. Sometimes being a reviewer, the question is, should I grade it on my enjoyment or my critical evaluation? With this film, there is no denying that it is a good movie. The movie's script is very tight. Nothing feels out of place and everything in the film serves a purpose and pushes the narrative forward while focusing on Miles Morales. He is a terrific protagonist, perhaps the best written I've seen in a while. There were also really fun different adaptations of Spider-Man. Most notably, Noir Spider-Man voiced by Nic Cage. There were prominent themes and had an emotional core where it wasn't afraid to get serious.

However, there was one thing that kept me from getting into this film: the animation. For Sony, this style of animation is very nuanced and it's incredibly stylistic. And with a new type of animation, it has its issues. There were times where the animation looked to drop a few frame-rates (the look of your Netflix when it has issues buffering and everything is blurry and choppy). There was also some issues with parts of the frame that were out of focus. Sometimes, the screen would look like a 3D movie without the glasses and it hurt my eyes. The animation felt too pretentious to me to the point of distraction.

There is no denying that this is arguably a perfect movie. Its structured perfectly, its tone balances humorous, meta, and drama incredibly well. But it was that animation that bugged me the entire time and prevented me from enjoying the film.

If I had to grade it on enjoyment, perhaps it would be gracious enough to give it a B. Perhaps others will really enjoy it and look past animation because they are not familiar with the different styles of animation. It wasn't for me.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan