Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Picture, came out on DVD/Blu-Ray this week. Here’s ten thoughts after watching it for the second time from my sofa.
- 1. I enjoyed the movie more the second time. The visuals lose a bit by not being on the big screen. But the movie is so fast and furious, I missed half the gags the first time around.
- 2. For me, the sign of a great movie is when I’m both enjoying the current scene and giddy with anticipation for the scene to come. This happened a lot while I was watching Spiderverse.
- 3. The best point about the diversity of the characters is made by Suderman in contrasting it against Captain Marvel. Spiderverse is “progressive”, I guess. But it just accepts that and moves on to being a damned good movie.
- 4. The scene where Miles Morales’ dad drops him off at school is something that any parent with a teenager or preteen will appreciate on several levels. Another sign of a good movie: sometimes the quiet scenes are as enjoyable as the loud action scenes.
- 5. The voice casting was top-notch all around. I didn’t even realize that Chris Pine and Nick Cage were in it until the credits. And Mahershala Ali continues to impress.
- 6. Does Chris Pine ever disappoint? He was one of the better things about the lackluster Nu-Trek movies. He was great in Hell or High Water. He was a delight in Wonder Woman. To steal a line from Cinema Wins, Chris Pine is always a win.
- 7. I’m an animation fan, but not a fanatic. But I’ll note that the animation in this movie is beautiful, with a great mix of styles and palettes.
- 8. What crossed me both on first and second viewing was just how much damned fun the movie is. In a time when movies take themselves too seriously and are generally half-an-hour too long, Spiderverse is fun as hell and doesn’t have a wasted scene.
- 9. I’m slowly catching up on my Oscar nominees from 2018. Spiderverse is still the best movie I saw last year.
- 10. Spider Gwen was my favorite.
After I wrote this, Cinema Wins put up his review, which I agree with. Also contains some insights on the visual style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ubmvZ-CUrQReport
I saw it in the theater by myself, since the volume of the theater still annoys my son too much, but as soon as it popped up on Amazon, I bought it, I loved it that much.
Then Bug and I had a movie night at home, and he was transfixed while holding his Spider-Man Lego minifig in his hands.
Clearly one of the best Marvel movies out there.Report
An absolute masterpiece of a movie and also shockingly funny. Also the cameo tribute to dear ol mercenary Stan Lee was very funny and appropriate. No refunds ever *grin*.Report
I think I need to see this. I am not big on going out to the movies (people here can be really loud and annoying in the theater and also I had no one to go with, and I don’t like going alone) and I’m usually not big on superhero movies, but every person whose opinion I respect who has seen it was like “Wow, that was FUN” and I like fun movies.
I also enjoy the kind of mash-up things where different animation styles are used so I bet I’d enjoy this. (Maybe once my Lenten “buying frivolous stuff fast” is over, I’ll get it on dvd. I’ve already planned to get Paddington 2 after hearing tell it was fun)Report
You won’t regret buying it, -especially- for the animation style which is like nothing I’ve seen before but is really fresh, funny and pretty.Report
For me, it is the best superhero movie, full stop. I am always jazzed whenever my kids want to watch it.
And the big emotional sequence coupled with Miles coming to believe in himself? That part is just masterful.Report
The part with “What’s Up, Danger?” Yeah, I love that scene. So beautifully shot with such great music. I’ve watched that sequence like a dozen times and it still give me chills.Report
Both “What’s Up, Danger?” and the interaction with his father that happens just before it. It really is as good a moment as exists in superhero movies, right up there with properly accounting for Magneto’s motivations (in an otherwise forgettable movie).Report
We disagree so often I do need to chime in on agreeing both with your analysis of Spiderverse and also especially with your admiration for how the movies dealt with Magneto’s motivations which were masterful.Report
Suderman says (of Captain Marvel) “but there’s no big moment that truly sells her powers”. I disagree strongly. She destroys a spaceship by flying through it . It explodes. If that weren’t enough, there’s the offhand shot just before, “I have nothing to prove to you”. These are her powers. She is buttoned down, controlled, which is to say, military, and this does make her seem a bit distant.
But I did like Spiderverse better, anyway.Report
And not just any spaceship, but one of those big, bad, armed and armored accuser dreadnoughts that got everyone anxious.Report
I think we know why some folks looked at Captain Marvel and found it to be wanting, and it has nothing to do with the movies themselves, and everything to do with the people watching.Report
It’s a shitty situation, because it is of course possible to just not like the movie. It’s also possible for a sexist dipshit to not like the movie because of sexist dipshittery, but who then grasps at straws to explain why they didn’t like the movie.
It’s a boring conversation. On the other hand, the sexist dipshits generally reveal their sexist dipshittery in so many other ways.Report
We need a stronger norm in favor of ignoring critics (armchair or otherwise) who’ve already demonstrated themselves to be sexist dipshits, thus increasing the likelihood criticisms we’re still listening to are not motivated by said dipshittery.Report
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Sorta the opposite of what I’m looking for. I want to know whether the movie is good, not whether it’s Good. People insisting that the movie isn’t Good because it has girl cooties just get in the way.Report
The new Spider Gwen books have been great, and seeing this made me want a Spider Gwen standalone movie so badly.
Here’s hoping.Report
Hell I’d watch a Spider Ham production, if done in this style and by these folks, let alone a Spider Gwen one!Report