I saw the film at the preview screening on 6th December. It left such a huge impact on me that I had to organise my thoughts before I went on to write this review. Now I’m glad to say that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best (if not the best) Spider-Man film adaption and overall animated film ever.



The screenwriter part of me wanted to start with talking about the script, but I was way more impressed with the visual style. I haven’t yet seen a film that looked so gorgeous. Honestly, the ‘every frame a painting’ phrase just got a whole new meaning. Every single shot in this is so incredibly creative, stylistic and nuanced. The fictional cinematography is an absolute masterpiece (I actually have to check if there isn’t any big name behind it like Roger Deakins was a cinematography consultant on Rango, if not - I’m beyond impressed). I can’t imagine how did they come up with all the visual ideas or how they communicated them if someone envisioned the direction. The pacing is insane in some parts, but I mean it in the best way possible. I could go on and on praising the animation, but I think you get the idea by now. Go see it in 3D if you can, there aren’t that many films justifying the existence of that technology quite like this one. It’s simply stunning and if I could I would personally thank each and every animator in the team for the amazing experience.

Okay, now back to my jam. Phil Lord (and his BBF Chris Miller, but this time he only produced) is a comedy genius. I knew we were in good hands from the beginning, but the writing somehow managed to exceed my expectations. Get this - there are 7 Spider-People in that film, almost as many villains and supporting characters AND everyone feels properly characterised. Okay, maybe Avengers did it first, but now - one character belongs in anime, the other in slapstick cartoon and another in Sin-Cityesque noir AND IT WORKS. HOW!? Credit is also due to Rodney Rothman, who was also a co-director. Kudos, gentlemen, outstanding achievement.

Speaking of direction, the flow of the narrative is perfectly balanced. I believe it’s also thanks to the brilliant editing. It’s so smooth and seamless one could compare the experience of watching it to riding a rollercoaster, but the cart is a Bentley. That’s how nice it is to watch this film.

Voice performances. Perfect. The casting is fantastic and the acting is just top notch. If you watched the film with closed eyes, you wouldn’t know it’s an animation, because the performances are that genuine. Most animation’s VO is over the top, it’s a convention. This one doesn’t follow it and it’s great.

As for the negatives, I think there is a small chunk in the middle that could use some breathing space, but it instantly jumps to more action set pieces and dramatic twists. It made it harder to absorb, not completely incomprehensible, but felt like the rollercoaster tracks became a bit bumpy (so proud of that metaphor). While Spider-Verse is perhaps the best attempt of handling multiple major villains in the same story (surely they needed all the Spider-People to have someone to fight for the action sequences, not to feel like the heroes have the quantity advantage), but they made them less compelling than they could have been individually. Especially Liev Schreiber’s Kingpin feels like he’s got one scene too little to be properly developed. But I might change my mind on the consecutive viewings.

Last thoughts:

- I love the music choices, not your typical animation soundtrack, but it’s great. Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee = yasss <3

- One of the best Stan Lee cameos and a beautiful tribute. RIP, a true legend.

- One of the best after credits scenes. Be sure to stay for it.

- Although I’m the MCU fan, I’m glad it’s not part of any established cinematic universe nor tries to kickstart one. The deaths feel sincere and meaningful, the story doesn’t waste time for any sequel, prequel, spinoff bullshit - it’s a complete work of art.



For me, watching this film felt like witnessing another (maybe not groundbreaking, but nonetheless a—) milestone of pop cultural and cinematic entertainment history, hence such a long review.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a fresh superhero film and despite my worries (a 4th big screen reinterpretation of the character in less than two decades, sic!) it completely justifies its existence. Even if you’re not into animation or comic book films, I recommend going to see it in the cinema. Not only it’s a visual feast, but also a beautiful story about identity, responsibility, self-improvement and growing up.

95/100