By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Maybe I just need to let Steve pick the movies from now on. The only real reason I went to this was because I’m a dutiful wife married to a great guy who deserves it. I had no intentions of really enjoying it. I got pretty high beforehand as I thought it would bring out the colors of the animation if nothing else.
I really don’t know why this film didn’t initially strike a chord with me. I’m not really big into the SPIDERMAN movies. I haven’t even seen the last Andrew Garfield film nor the new Tom Holland entry. It just hasn’t been on my radar.My expectations were so incredibly low for this. The best I was expecting was “meh.” I’ve never been happier to be wrong – well maybe I was a bit happier that time I thought I was dying and just had diverticulitis. That was good too.
The movie begins with young artist Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) angry with his parents Officer Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Velez) for sending him to a private school. He wants to hang with his old school friends, but Jefferson and Rio don’t want him to pass on the opportunity. They also don’t want him hanging around his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali). Aaron is a nice guy who took the opposite path of his brother. He’s into some bad deals, but has a great relationship with Miles.
Aaron even takes Miles places he can let his artistic streak run wild on the walls in Brooklyn. While spray-painting an amazing mural, a mutated spider bites Miles. He begins experiencing the side-effects, but at first thinks it’s just puberty.
At school he meets Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) who temporarily conceals her identity. During a break in the space/time continuum different dimensions have collided into this one.
The collision was initiated by Kingpin Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber). Fisk is upset because his wife and child died in a car accident. He blames Spiderman because his wife ran off when she saw him with Parker against the wall ready to kill him. Distressed and trying to calm their child, she crashed and died. He wants to bring her back by any means necessary and even if it means stealing different versions of them from a different universe.
He enlists the help of Doctor Liv Octavius who invented the technology to make it happen. Peter Parker (Chris Pine) is intent on not allowing it to happen. He gets a jump drive that can kill the program. While fighting Kingpin, Miles happens by. He’s too fresh to know how to work his spidey senses. Parker is killed and Miles left only with the drive must learn to kill the computer before Kingpin goes too far. He also must learn how to send back all of the other versions of Spiderman to their own universe before they permanently glitch out.
One of the alternative Spidermans, Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) serves as a reluctant trainer. In his reality, he is no longer with Mary Jane (Zoe Kravitz), he’s put on a few pounds and is depressed out of his mind. He’s really a lost soul when he gets sucked into this universe. Soon the duo is joined by Gwen, Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) and Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn). Together they work to fight against Kingpin, Doc Ock and their cronies.
I loved this from beginning to end. The throwback style is perfect. The story is equal parts laugh-out-loud humor and emotional sentiment. The characters are fully developed, entertaining and portrayed with heart and a level of genuineness that speaks to the viewer on a very human level. The absurdest humor with Spider-Ham and Noir actually enhance the film and the tone. Somehow the filmmakers and cast were able to create something that was absolutely ridiculous in one scene and something that can make you tear up in the next. It’s lovely.
The colors and action are fabulous. The energy is wonderful. It’s like a family-friendly DEADPOOL (2016) with far fewer winks to the camera but just as many laughs.
It’s witty, it’s smart, it’s energetic and it’s exciting as hell. The high-flying, acrobatic and gravity defying maneuvers are spellbinding on the big screen. Against the lively neon colors and music that speaks to the soul, you can’t ask for better. The entire cast was phenomenal. When Noir came out and spoke I was shocked. I had no idea until then that Nic Cage was in it. He, as always, was awesome. All hail Cage.
Stan Lee’s cameo was sweet and the homage to him during the credits was a pleasant showing of earned respect.
I know the cinemas are costly, but if you got a gift card for the holidays this is the movie to see. Stay for an absolutely terrific after credits sequence too. It’s worth the wait!
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
