Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
starring Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld
directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
117 minutes
Teenager Miles Morales gets bit by a spider while hanging out with his Uncle Aaron. He thinks nothing of it until he discovers he has acquired super powers. He can stick to walls. He stumbles across a fight between Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and the Green Goblin.
The Green Goblin is working for the Kingpin and is trying to stop Spider-Man from interfering in an experiment being conducted by Dr. Olivia Octavius, who is also working for Kingpin. She is attempting to open an inter-dimensional portal. Spider-Man gets killed but entrusts Miles with a thumb drive or goober (as he calls it) which if used properly can shut down Dr. Octavius' portal.
Miles is chased by another one of Kingpin's superpowered henchmen but he escapes. The next day he buys a Spider-Man costume and starts to test out his new found abilities. He reads a lot of comic book stories about Spider-Man. He had hoped that Spider-Man would teach him how to use his new found abilities.
Miles visits Peter Paker's grave. He runs into an older version of Peter Parker, Peter B. Parker. Peter B. Parker is very reluctant to work with Miles but eventually he comes around and together they go to try and steal the information they will need from Alchemax, Dr. Octavius' company.
Miles and Peter B. break into the lab. They escape with a computer that they think will have the information they need. Dr. Octavia stops them and goes after them. They are almost caught when another spider hero shows up, Spider-Woman. She is Gwen Stacy, a Spider-Woman from another dimension. She, like Peter B., was drawn to Miles dimension, unwillingly. Miles first encountered her at his high school although he didn't know anything about her superpowers at that time.
Miles, Peter, and Gwen go to see May Parker. She shows them her Peter's secret lair and introduces them to three other Spider Heroes who came to see her: Penni Parker, Peter Porker, Spider-Man Noir. Miles wants to team up with the five other Spider Heroes but they don't think he is experienced enough.
Miles leaves despondent. He goes to see his Uncle Aaron and discovers that Aaron is the purple clad villain, the Prowler, who works for the Kingpin and tried to kill Miles earlier in the movie. Miles gets out of there but not without being spotted by his uncle. Miles returns to May Parker's home only to discover that he's been followed. Kingpin and all his supervillain henchmen break in. The prowler catches Miles. He is about to kill Miles when Miles peels back his mask and shows his uncle his face. Aaron can't kill his nephew but then Kingpin kills Aaron.
Miles tries once again to talk the other Spider Heroes into letting him help them. They turn him down again in part because he still doesn't have complete control of his powers. They leave him behind. Miles finds the confidence he needs, masters his powers, and makes himself a proper costume. He joins the other Spider-Heroes, stops the Kingpin, and returns the other Spider Heroes to their own dimensions.
Thoughts
I saw this movie for the first time when it was on Netflix, in 2019. This time around I borrowed the DVD from the library/
There are a lot of things that I didn't pick up on the first time I watched this movie. I don't recall noticing it the first time I saw this movie but when you say it out loud Alchemax sounds a lot like Malcolm X.
The reason why Kingpin is funding the interdimensional portal is to bring back his wife and son who were killed in a car accident. This, as with a lot of things in this movie, does not get much screen time.
There are more than a few moments in this movie that moved me. I don't recall if I was moved quite as much the first time I saw it. I remember being impressed by it but I also remember how overwhelming it was. I think that as with the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), it pays to break this one down into two to four shorter pieces and watch it that way.
There is too much going on in this movie. Some things happen so quickly that if you blink or only watch it once then could miss them. The movie would have been good with just Miles, Gwen, and Peter. There was already plenty of icing on this cake. The other three Spider Heroes were like icing on icing. I liked some of their contributions but they didn't need to be there.
This is a fun ride and I really enjoyed revisiting it. I enjoyed picking up on things that I missed or quickly forgot the first time around.
See also
No comments:
Post a Comment