The Cinematheque

All Ages

“The best Spider-Man film ever … I was stupefied.”

Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight (Best of the Decade)

In a decade with no shortage of superhero movies, was an animated kids’ film in the reboot-fatigued Spider-Man franchise really best of the bunch? You bet your Spidey-senses it was! An Oscar-winning triumph of panel-to-screen ingenuity, Into the Spider-Verse endeared itself to comic-book fans big and small by incorporating graphic elements from its source medium — Ben-Day dots, thought balloons, motion lines, visual sound effects — into its groundbreaking CG animation. Oh, and it’s also whip-smart, silly, and surprisingly big-hearted! The origin story sees Brooklyn teen Miles Morales become the web-slinger of his home universe, before joining forces with four other Spider-folk (and one Spider-Ham) from alternate realities to stop crimelord Kingpin. The stellar voice cast includes Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage, and John ​“Peter Porker” Mulaney. Phil Lord (The Lego Movie) co-penned.

“Contains a vital element that has been missing from too many recent superhero movies: fun.”

A.O. Scott, New York Times