Swinging it successfully across realities

Johnson Thomas

A 3D animated spider-man film  from the Marvel Universe, this comic book franchise version is fanciful, conceptually inclusive in terms of race and age and broadens the spider-verse into several dimensions - with each Spiderman existing in a time capsule of their own before being thrown together to stop a threat to all reality.

The story, though preposterous, is full of beans. The film opens with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), an Afro-Hispanic teenager, who is bilingual, starting life at a new advanced school away from his friends. His complicated relationship with his demanding police officer father (Brian Tyree Henry) is offset by a closer bond with his laid-back and secretive Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali). When Miles accompanies his uncle to an abandoned subway, he gets bitten by a multi-dimensional spider and finds himself in Spiderman’s shoes. 

In the meantime the original Spiderman dies in the process of trying to stop Kingpin (Live Schreiber) from using an underground multi-dimensional collider meant to obliterate the entire universe.

The beauty of this spider-verse is that it has appropriated heroes who are struggling with their anointed roles and exist in the present day context of merged identities and mixed races. The older Peter Parker (Jake Johnson C) is divorced, and the new ones Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Penni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), and Spider-Woman rounded up by the mysterious Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) – have varied origins and personalities. Into the Spider-Verse propagates a multicultural ethos even while showcasing traditional comic-book heroics.

Sony’s first full-length animated theatrical feature is as complex as it is adventurous. The multi-verse of new spider folk (six in all) puts forward many back stories, plot-threads and character arcs and it does seem to have too much of a good thing. 

Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman fashion a screenplay that sets up all the thrill and adventure with great balance, thrift and care. The animation quality is top-notch lending visual dynamism and strong definition to each character and moment. The coherence thus earned is likely to enthuse kids and adults alike.