8/10

Here we go again: another Spider-Man movie. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse represents the fourth distinct screen iteration of the Marvel tent-pole in less than 20 years. For some, a sort of ‘superhero fatigue’ has gradually set in with each new release, and it’s hard to disagree with the detractors. To put it bluntly: I’m starting to get tired of these movies. Even the good ones.

Thankfully, Into the Spider-Verse is a very good one. Helmed by a team of innovative animators and inventive storytellers, Spider-Verse is an action-packed, emotional, artistic thrill-ride that features groundbreaking set pieces and hilarious new characters. Any movie that makes room for John Mulaney as Spider-Ham (an anthropomorphic, radioactive pig – what else?) is at least swinging for the fences.

Is it a home run? Not quite. But there’s a go-for-broke irreverence to Into the Spider-Verse that imbues every scene with heart and humor: this is a movie starring at least six diverse Spider-People; its animators fill comic-style text boxes with countless jokes in the same way The Simpsons uses road signs. I did not expect an extended psychedelic climax that references 2001: A Space Odyssey, but that’s the kind of cinematic showmanship we’re working with.

Our main Spider-Man is Miles Morales, a prep-school kid who doesn’t quite fit into his new surroundings. Like a normal teenager, Miles shuffles through hallways with headphones on, awkwardly mingling with mentors and classmates, including the mysterious ‘Gwanda’. Unlike a normal teen, he soon joins a posse of multidimensional spider-bitten superheroes after Gwanda reveals her true identity.

The film owes much of its success to its impeccable cast. Along with aforementioned Mulaney, Shameik Moore plays Morales, Jake Johnson is Peter B. Parker, Hailee Steinfeld is Gwanda – there’s even room for a few Oscar winners: the great Mahershala Ali appears as Miles’ uncle Aaron, and Nicolas Cage gives us his best James Cagney impression as the Rubik’s Cube-obsessed Spider-Man Noir.

Parts of Into the Spider-Verse do feel underwritten, including bad guy Kingpin, whose trite motivations recall nearly every antagonist in the Marvel mythos. But Into the Spider-Verse isn’t really about its villain. Above all, it’s a bildungsroman aimed at budding adults with big dreams. In that sense, the movie is a microcosm of its message: a ragtag group of filmmakers uses Miles’ story as a way to laugh, to innovate – and most importantly – to inspire.