Representation matters.
Our review might be a tad biased. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time. It didn’t take much more than a couple of minutes, but there we were, represented on screen. “I had those Jordans when I was a kid!” “They’re speaking Spanish!” The film is full of moments that had us tearing up. Miles had a black book, he threw up a piece, he had stickers, hip-hop music, turntables! That could be us on the screen, WE COULD BE SPIDER-MAN!
We grew up idolizing these heroes and granted, most of the time we didn’t notice. We related enough to a nerdy kid getting picked on, or a group of weirdos that were out of place, but believe me, it matters. Before Miles, there was a guy by the name of Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099. Miguel was an engineer of Irish and Mexican descent. It blew me away. I was Mexican (with supposedly Irish blood as well, more on that later) and he was wearing a Day of the Dead outfit. I had a new favorite hero. Time passed by and I think at some point his backstory got ret-conned (as did mine, thanks Ancestry.com) but it was still an incredible feeling to see myself in this universe.
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Okay, so all of that being said, how was the movie? In a word, amazing. I’ll try not to give much away, but die-hards will see a few things coming, there was one that even surprised me. The animation style worked well, there was a certain frantic quality to it that fit the story well. I know our wives weren’t super psyched to see it but then ended up enjoying it as well. My wife really liked Spider-Ham and both of my daughters were on the edge of their seats. My youngest shed a couple of tears during a bittersweet cameo that I’m sure you’ve all heard about by now.
Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider/Gwen and the other Spider-Verse characters add a lot of excitement to the film without overshadowing the main storyline. It’s a sort of coming of age story for our reluctant hero. There are mentors, but this is still a story about Miles Morales. It was a pleasant surprise, I was worried that they might focus too much on the rest of the Spiders.
Yes, Miles Morales is biracial (like our kids!) and the movie doesn’t hide that fact, but they don’t hit you over the head with it either. The fact is that at the end of the day, he’s an average American kid that makes mistakes, and is put into an extraordinary situation. To paraphrase a line from the movie, “he’s the best of us all”.
TLDR Review: “It was my new number one favorite movie.” – Serafina, age 8
“Go see this movie.” – Gil, age 42
Final Thoughts: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a fantastic addition to the Spider-Man movies. It is perfect for those that are new to the Spider-verse and for those that are already familiar with the other characters. There is a lot of heart in the movie and some great action sequences. You should already know this, but stay after the credits.
Kid Friendly: The movie is great for all ages. There are some sad moments in the film, so just be ready for a few tears.
Violence: There is animated violence in the movie but nothing too intense for younger children. If your children have seen Avengers: Infinity War, they will be ok with this.
Fandads Rating: 5 out of 5
We're giving away a Spider-Man: Into the Multi-Verse prize pack to one of our readers. To win enter in the rafflecopter below.
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