There’s a new Spider in Town
Miles is a normal kid, adjusting to his new school. When he is bit by a radioactive spider, he ends up living his own superhero origin story. The catch here is, there is already a Spider-Man in his universe. But things get really weird when multiple Spider-People start showing up.
Loosely based on the comic event of the same name, we see Spider-People from different universes teaming up against a common enemy. Instead of overloading us with every Spider-Person in existence, we are introduced to a handful. Even with names like Spider-Ham, Penny Parker, and Spider-Man Noir, we mostly follow Spider-Gwen, Peter B. Parker, and our main guy, Miles. From lazy bum Peter B. Parker, to the ultra serious Spider-man Noir, the casting of each character feels perfect. They did a good job introducing characters without packing too much and rushing through storylines.
Although this traces back from a big comic book event, it is accessible to anyone open to watching it. By this time, any fan of the character may be tired of watching Uncle Ben die, but this entry manages to tell several origin stories with stylish and fun abridged versions. We get a simple evil plot that unravels to a dimension clashing storyline. Themes of tragedy and loss are weaved in with the fun antics of the classic comic book hero, multiplied several times by the guest stars.
The alternate-universe concept brings the character of Miles Morales to life. In all of the movies we’ve seen of the web-slinging hero, it’s always been about the same Peter Parker from Queens. This time around, we get the half-black, half-hispanic, offering audiences a different origin story. We also briefly see how this part of New York differs from Peter Parker’s neighborhood. Telling Miles’ story offers representation in a medium that hasn’t always been very diverse.
The animation style is unique and stands out amongst most any other animated movies. When I first heard that this was coming out in wide release as an animated movie, I was worried about how it would fair, compared to the big blockbusters of the live-action MCU and DCEU. To my surprise, it almost feels like a movie like this was only possible in animation. It actually felt like a comic in motion, including tropes like halftone dots, to comic panels and word bubbles. The animators even went as far as to manipulate the frame rate to give it a unique look, similar to the Lego franchise movies.
With great visuals, comes a great soundtrack. With a kid from Brooklyn and with a black/hispanic lineage, the hip-hop soundtrack fits naturally. Whether it’s setting the scene as Miles strolls through town, giving us a feel for what he’s going through as a new hero, or simply mumbling the words during daily activities, this was set of songs was carefully picked out. This goes up there with the likes of the MCU’s Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy.
With this movie coming out in wide-release, it definitely opens up the possibilities of different stories to come to the silver screen. I just couldn’t imagine this being presented with live actors. Sharp visuals, and a hand-picked soundtrack help fill out this vibrant world. Hopefully we get to see more of Miles’ universe. With a diverse cast, his is definitely a film for any comic book movie fan.