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Friday, December 14, 2018

#73: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse


Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey ("Rise of The Guardians") and Rodney Rothman - and who expected this, a Spiderman movie, to be the standout movie of 2018?

One that has the focus on Miles Morales, not Peter Parker (so much)?

We had faith in Marvel, and knew Black Panther would be great.

But Sony? They couldn't get their Live-Action Spiderman right without Marvel's help, though I enjoy those Sam Raimi films.

And Sony Animation? Emoji Movie Sony Animation? Excuse me if my hopes were just kind of...mellowed.

But with the rising positive word of mouth and repeated instances of this being not only the best animated movie of the year, but one of the best period - my hopes rose too.

Many great movies have come out, but only a handful have made me consider placing them in my #1 spot of favorite movie ever, a spot that has been held by Kung Fu Panda since it's premiere day.

I think this is the film to finally take the crown.

Well, I'm going to have to rewatch it. KFP starts off establishing character moments a little quicker, this is a bit slow in telling us who Miles is as a character, but it's a minor quibble and it's really there for us to get used to the animation style before it goes balls to the wall crazy.

Yes, it's not directed by Lord and Miller, though Lord did co-write the script and they did produce. You can see their fingerprints on it in some of the wry humor.

The visual styles take some adjusting too. I never really got used to it because I kept going "Damn, how did they do this? This is beautiful. Whoa!" There are also tiny touches that remind you this is a comic book come to life, from thought bubbles to action emphasis (bagel!).

The frame rate is visibly slowed in some earlier instances, which is purposeful. What is also purposeful are character shots that have someone in focus, and there's usually another part of another character that's out of focus - but it looks like a 3D movies without your glasses. That was really clever.

Spider-verse really guts you with its emotional moments, it's almost a parallel of gang - or state-sanctioned - violence without directly stating it, and thus not overwhelming the story (or alienating white people who think wanting to end police brutality is a bad thing). I legitimately cried at a good portion of this movie.

But what if you're not big on your superhero knowledge? Don't worry, I have a vague, rather vapor-like knowledge of these things - Enough to know that there are several runs - and enjoyed the film.

In fact, all of these runs are shown in the various characters who show up from other multiverses. All of them are canon.

The moral isn't as poignant or hard-hitting as Ralph Breaks the Internet, but it's just as important. It's very relevant to me, and that's probably why the film got to me so much.

This movie is a treat to the eyes and ears - and so far, I think it's a worthy Favorite Movie.

(& Stick around for the credits).

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