Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

[Michael Hopcroft]

This is apparently a CGI-animated film from Marvel/Disney in which there are many, many Spider-Men (and Spider-Woman and even the Spectacular Spider-Ham) all hagving to work together to prevent the destruction of the multiverse (or at least the ones they came from).

 

I haven't seen much talk about this, but it's apparently a major release from Disney's perspective -- not as big as Ralph Breaks the Internet, perhaps, but still pretty important. The first Disney animation/Marvel collaboration was Big Hero Six, which people thought was pretty good (I haven't seen it). 

 

Here's the trailer my search pulled up -- there are probably better ones. (EDIT: And I can no longer access it.)

 

I am, actually seeing this Thursday night, which is something rare for me.

 

What do you think of a movie with too many Spider-Men, Spider-Women, and Spider-Livestock?

[Bazza]

It is produced by Sony.

 

Disney has nothing to do with it. 

 

Enjoy the movie. 

[wcw43921]

And you should definitely see Big Hero 6. 

[Hermit]

It got mentioned in the Marvel thread and I'll say here what I said there. I think it's going to be a surprise hit.

 

Apparently it's acing it on Rotten Tomatoes

[mattingly]

I first saw a preview for it either late last year, or early this year. (Maybe before Infinity War?)

 

I'm looking forward to it. Spider-Ham will probably steal the show, but I'm thrilled that Spider-Man Noir is there.

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

And I've seen it. Someone remind me how to post spoiler notes here.

 

Non-spoilery stuff -- I have never seen a movie that looks quite like this, live-action or animated. Never. And I thought I'd seen just about everything. It really is a comic book brought to life, and how you feel about that idea pretty much determines if and how well you will like the movie. The visual style is so different that it might not even be watchable on a smaller screen. I saw it on 2-D, but it was clearly made for 3-d and in some sequences seems to actually need it. This may not be so good for the shelf life after the utter failure of the 3D-TV platforms.

[BoloOfEarth]

8 hours ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

And I've seen it. Someone remind me how to post spoiler notes here.

 

Put the text you want spoilered between [ spoiler ] and [ /spoiler ] (but without the spaces).

[Michael Hopcroft]

OK, here goes:

 

 

The animation really is different than anything you have ever seen before. "Thought bubbles" come to life as near-psychotic verbal hallucinations, you see visible squiggles when the danger sense is triggered, and Kingpin (the main villain of the film) looks like a grotesque hulk with a small troll-like head and face over a massive body. The story literally opens with him killing Spider-Man,

 

I'm not kidding.

 

As a result, young Miles Morales (who has received a spider bite of his own) is thrust into the position of having to save the multiverse way before he is ready for such awesome responsibility. And then Spide-rMen start popping out of the woodwork, thanks to an accident with the dimensional portal Kingpin opened. We have an older, world-weary Spider-Man, "Spider-Gwen" (who calls herself Spider-Woman), and a few more, including Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham (a spider who was bitten by a radioactive pig). Some of these do not get the attention they deserve (I would have loved to know more about Peni and her mecha). All the while Miles tries to master his new powers and figure out what to do with them so he can get the other Spider-beings to their homes -- and get them to take him seriously.

 

There are lots of really interesting bits here. The "obligatory Stan Lee cameo" is one of the best in the series. Kingpin actually has a rational reason for opening up new dimensions (which is weird, since the comic-book Kingpin rarely has time for such things),  And Lily Tomlin's May Parker is so very different from any way the character has ever appeared before -- ever -- that you wonder how they came up with it.

 

But it all goes back to the look. It really is a comic book brought to life. The trailers don't even come close to doing the look any sort of justice. How much you like this movie will depend entirely on how you feel about comic books and their place, if any, on the big screen.  I actually felt I was cheating myself by not ponying up for 3-D.[/spoiler]

 

A lot of people here would love it.

1

1

[novi]

Yeah, good stuff.  It was quite good, and I found myself far more entertained than I thought I would be.  As Mike said, the visuals are amazing AND different - it has a unique aesthetic, rather than just the standard CGI that even PIXAR is kinda settling into.  And then, on top of that, Spiderman Noir, Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker each have their own unique animation style.  And it works.  I'm not sure how they got away with doing something this experimental in a main-stream film, but I'm glad they did.

 

Which would be enough to deserve seeing it, but then it nails the story as well, as well as the editing and pacing.  It doesn't really waste any time or pad out anything.  Even the inevitable big 3rd act fight scene is kept moving and interesting.

 

Oh, and stay through the credits.  It's worth it, but to say anymore would be spoilers.

[Grailknight]

I went into this expecting good things and it still exceeded my expectations. The visuals are beautiful and distinct from any previous mainstream animation. The sound track is awesome and fits the  background of the characters. All the characters are on point and the voice actors nail them(especially Mahershala  Ali as Uncle Aaron).  And the plot is tight with great action, humor, character development, a few surprises and believable villain motivations. This movie can stand against any other of Marvel and Pixar's superhero stories.

[Michael Hopcroft]

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 12/11/2018 at 12:25 PM, Hermit said:

It got mentioned in the Marvel thread and I'll say here what I said there. I think it's going to be a surprise hit.

 

Apparently it's acing it on Rotten Tomatoes

Except for the National Review, who seem to find the whole idea of a black Spider-Man objectionable. I wish to Heaven I had chosen not to read that article.

[Lawnmower Boy]

On 12/24/2018 at 11:00 AM, Michael Hopcroft said:

Except for the National Review, who seem to find the whole idea of a black Spider-Man objectionable. I wish to Heaven I had chosen not to read that article.

 

We are not offended that Starfire, MJ, Spider-Man, the Human Torch and Jimmy Olsen are black; that Starbuck, Mighty Thor, Captain Marvel, Rey and the new Ghostbusters are girls; that Gal Gadot doesn't have a giant chest, Superman isn't cut enough, Aquaman is too cut; and that Kylo Ren is too moody. 

 

We will spend the next fifteen minutes explaining why we are not offended. However, we will make it clear that we are offended by something that has nothing to do with the thing that we are not taking offence at; and that we are legitimately offended by this thing that is not the thing that we are not taking offence at.  

 

 

 

[Starlord]

Something about that post offends me. 

[Bazza]

Michael's post above about the National Review review intrigued me so I read it.

 

Michael is correct in that the periodical finds the black Spider-Man objectionable -- there are sentences in it that support this view. However, the piece also also  retells the basic elements of the film in a straightforward manner which seems like it doesn't object specifically to a black Spider-Man per say.

 

The main thrust of the review is to make a broad point about cultural representation challenges cultural narratives. As an example it mentions Hanif Kureishi's essay “The Rainbow Sign.

 

Look, some of the review has a fair/reasonable point, and some of it is objectionable, depending on your views on current politics & race. The review didn't have to specifically focus on these issues, but chose too. And in doing so made a broad point about culture and representation, which is fair & is objectionable. And some of it is just sloppy, eg, anytime the review mentions the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

[Starlord]

Isn't the movie about many different spider-beings throughout the multiverse?  Do they also object to Spider-Man being a pig?

[dmjalund]

1 hour ago, Starlord said:

Isn't the movie about many different spider-beings throughout the multiverse?  Do they also object to Spider-Man being a pig?

Well, it’s not exactly kosher is it?

[Starlord]

I just think an objection to the black kid, but not the pig or the girl comes off a extremely ham-handed.

[dmjalund]

Spider Ham doesn’t belong because he wasn’t bitten by a spider

[Starlord]

Hmm.  That is sow piguliar.

[Bazza]

3 hours ago, Starlord said:

Isn't the movie about many different spider-beings throughout the multiverse?  Do they also object to Spider-Man being a pig?

 

Not mentioned. 

[Michael Hopcroft]

2 hours ago, dmjalund said:

Spider Ham doesn’t belong because he wasn’t bitten by a spider

He was a spider before being bitten by a radioactive pig. Which was either a very small pig, or he was a rather large spider. But Spider-Ham was originally a parody and is played largely for comedy in the movie.

 

That doesn't make him incompetent, though, even in Miles' universe.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I wonder what Miles would have done had he ended up in the MCU, where my understanding is that their Peter is early in his career and tied to Tony Stark much more closely than the mainstream comics version would even tolerate. Miles has issues with authority -- not "tear down the system and rebuild it in my image" issues, but more a mutual lack of trust that restricts both sides. I doubt he'd be receptive to taking orders from anyone, even Tony Stark. And with the MCU's "native" Spider-Man around and close to his age, the question is whether he would still need a mentor (even a mentor as irresponsible as Peter B. Parker) or whether he has enough to eventually have to fight a technologically-superior Spider-Man to get home.

 

There's a Champions scenario in there somewhere.

[Duke Bushido]

On December 25, 2018 at 7:33 PM, Lawnmower Boy said:

 

We are not offended that

 

[SNIP]

 

and that Kylo Ren is too moody. 

 

 

And that's where you lost me, Dude.

 

 

On December 25, 2018 at 7:33 PM, Lawnmower Boy said:

 

 

 

 

[Pariah]

The most surprising thing in this thread so far is the idea that anyone, anywhere cares what the National Review thinks about anything.