By: Sophie Carey

I was spending my Saturday night at a friend’s house. We were browsing Netflix for something to watch, having exhausted ourselves with Worst Cooks in America. She sees Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse come up and her face instantly lights up. I remember that when it came out, it was all she could talk about. Her face morphed into one of shock when I mentioned that I had not seen it yet. We continued to look through the selection, but nothing really caught my eye other than that. So I asked if we could watch it. An hour and 56 minutes later, and I am confident that was the best choice. 

The animation, the story, and the character design are all magnificently done. They did a really good job developing Miles and his journey to master his abilities. There’s a genuine struggle, and it takes time before he can control his powers. The heroes from the other dimensions are all really unique, (Gwen Stacy is definitely my favorite), and while the villains aren’t necessarily scary, there are many encounters and fight scenes that had me on the edge of my seat. Miles’s relationship with his dad is the other factor that not only progresses really well, but shares its moments of sadness, joy, and irony. His father, who starts out distrusting of Spider-man, now has a son who is said hero. There was no part of the plot that I was unsatisfied with. To bring up the animation again, the use of the comic book stylization is really fun and interesting to watch. I haven’t seen anything like it so stunningly executed. Finally, the soundtrack is amazing. It really works with the theme of the movie. I am not invested in the superhero universe, but I do find myself enjoying the movies whenever I happen to go see one. You don’t have to be a spider-man fan to enjoy this, as it is about so much more.