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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 3D Blu-ray Review
MOVIE REVIEW
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 animated superhero movie about a teenager named Miles Morales who lives a normal, but somewhat unfulfilling life. One day though, that changes when he gets bit by a radioactive spider and begins developing powers similar to that of Spider-Man, the protector of New York City. While dazed and confused, Miles soon gets thrust square into a conflict between Spider-Man and a man called Kingpin who seeks to run a collider designed to allow separate alternate universes to interact with each other. When the collider ends up going wrong and Spider-Man becomes unable to prevent Kingpin from running his machine again, Miles realizes the only way to finish what Peter Parker started is to become Spider-Man. That all seems like a lot for one teenager to go through. But with the help of some new Spider-men that have arrived from different universes, Miles might just become the hero he was destined to be.
For the past five years, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been praised as nothing less than a modern masterpiece, and for very good reason. This film not only manages to succeed at being a well-rounded, expertly executed piece of cinema, but also just being just as wildly entertaining and stylistically innovative. Usually, you see films that work well enough but can still find a thing or two to nitpick that can turn a couple people off about them. Spider-Man ITSV though, is one of those rare films that manages to get virtually everything about it right, one that handles all of its elements so excellently and pulls them off with such flare its almost unbelievable. And all from an animated movie, and a superhero movie no less. This film works on so many levels, I'll simply need to quit giving my praises here and dive into it to explain why.
Story-wise, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse walks a very thin tightrope of being emotionally engaging and introducing characters you'll immediately come to invest in yet at the same time being fast paced and action packed for the young audiences coming to see it. Typically, most movies you see tend to choose one side or the other in terms of those elements. But not only does the film do a good job at walking that tightrope, but it does it so effortlessly it puts almost all other films in its genres to shame. As a superhero movie required to introduce an array of characters, it not only turns Miles Morales, Peter B. Parker, Gwen Stacy, and its other main leads into easily likable people with more depth and character development than most people in their own first superhero movies, but it does so with surprisingly little screen time. As an action movie, it moves at the exact perfect pace where the film can bounce from one thing to the other but its just spaced out so the audience won't miss any crucial details on their first viewing. As an animated film, It's fast enough to get all of its plot, little details, humor, and everything in between done with in the span of two hours (and accomplish them all well). But the story still leaves time for the slower moments to really sink in. It's the kind of balancing act that most filmmakers know they can never accomplish and thus, never try. However, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, two men who've had a pretty successful run in their career with the likes of The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street, have and did it so wondrously.
As for the action, it's absolutely frenetic and absolutely tons of fun. That's probably about as far as words can describe it. It's just eye-candy. As for the humor, Spider-Verse also ends up drawing some pretty good laughs amongst the chaos, some of which don't hit until later viewing. And the emotional moments are honestly probably some of the strongest I've in any superhero movie, aside from the ones with plenty of buildup like Endgame, of course. All the while, the score is right on point with every scene and the soundtrack is equally so.
But of course, story isn't the only thing that makes Spider-Verse work. As virtually anyone can tell you, this is one of the most creative and stylized animated movies not just created in the last decade, but probably in the history of cinema. Rather than trying to go for the hyperrealistic looks that the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks have made mainstream, this film fully embraces the comic book nature of its source material and goes as far as to have every frame of the movie look like something straight from a comic book. It's a mesmerizing effect for sure, but its the little touches the creators make that really make Spider-Verse stand out as its own movie rather than just another homage to the comic book era. First, while the textures and visuals all have that comic book aesthetic, the film was rendered in 3D, so it bridges the boundary between both comic book and modern styles of animation. And whereas sometimes like The Bad Guys, though it has 2D touches, moves at a normal frame rate, the crew behind Spider-Verse go a step further and make everyone move jerkily as if they were straight of a stop-motion movie. Not only that, but this film is also one of those movies that's so dense with little details related to the story, the humor, the characters, and the film's source material that that will fly over most viewers' heads the first time watching. I've seen the movie around twenty times now and there are still plenty of things that I've realized never hit me before.
What can I call Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse besides an animated work of art? And I don't just mean like The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast kind or art. I mean like the art that embraces the possibilities of its medium and uses them to bring us something completely unique while also bringing moviegoing audiences all the kind of fun and emotion one could ask from it. Such works of art are getting exceedingly rare nowadays, but Spider-Man ITSV ends up serving as an example of how when certain people in Hollywood are given the chance, they can still turn out something just as clever and innovative as it is entertaining and mesmerizing. Who could think I'd be saying that about a Spider-Man movie of all things? And this one doesn't even star Peter Parker. Well, I guess that goes even more to show how much of a miracle this movie is. And one last thing: I'm not the type of guy who gets goosebumps while watching movies, but this film gives me goosebumps in two specific places every time I see it. If that doesn't say something, I don't know what does. What are those two places? Well, you'll have to see the movie to find out. Yes, I could go on and on describing all the ways this film achieves greatness. But like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So you probably wouldn't dare imagine what a two hour film comprised of comic book pictures is worth.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 5/5
3D RATING
Surprisingly, for all the talk I here regarding Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, one of the aspects about it I here remarkably little about it is its 3D. That's a bit of a shame because I think just like the film does for animation, it also does for with 3D: it takes something movies use in a often predictable fashion and puts it in a new light, showing off its incredible possibilities. Sure, one probably doesn't need to watch Spider-Verse in 3D to fully appreciate it as much of its visual flare is already mesmerizing enough in 2D. But a lot like Hugo or Frankenweenie, 3D takes what already impresses and causes it to impress in much deeper, (pardon the pun) more appreciable way.
Of course, what gets brought out most here in this 3D presentation is the comic book style that accompanies the entire movie. It works well in its own way in 2D. But in 3D, when all the characters and environment carry an extra dimension to them, the results are nothing less than brilliant. The textures that surround everyone and and everything, for starters, benefit heavily from the third dimension, capturing the inherent bluntness of certain elements like people's faces and clothing while also not losing the complexities of things like people's hair and cobwebs. The bright and vibrant colors pop off the screen in spite of the dim glasses. There's even a fun effect where objects in the background are doubled with a pink or cyan version like with backgrounds in a real comic book. And in 3D, when you take your glasses off, those object get quadrupled.
Now as for the depth, there is no shortage of it here, regardless of what the flat source material might have you believe. From high up views, the cityscape stretches far into the background. Building rise high off the ground, and there are even several top-down shots of some of these buildings that just might give the sensitive viewer vertigo. The giant cylinder collider provides some excellent 3D sequences with the depth emphasizing just how enormous it is. In forests, each individual tree is made apparent. Even in places such as city streets, underground tunnels, school hallways, or even a police car, the shape of the environments and the way they are composed make them all the more immersive. There's never a flat scene. We even get some neat shots from inside narrow vents, elevator shafts, Spider-Man's hideout, grates, fence gates, and more that continually make the composition all the more interesting. A few shots even exist in the film that capture someone from the top-down and looks quite intriguing in 3D.
Films with fast paced action usually tend not to fare well with 3D as it often causes nausea and prevents you fully enjoying the depth the movie has to offer. However, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a case where the exact opposite is true. Not only does the depth remain intact and the action choreographed in a way where most viewers won't get sick, but the action here is one of the biggest examples of 3D fun I've witnessed in quite a while. The camera motions are very fluid among all the chaos and character movements that once again, feel as if they were ripped from a stop-motion film. And like before, the composition is what makes these scenes an absolute pleasure to see in 3D. The examples I can give you on how this is are too many to describe here. But I will give you a few highlights. Two of the biggest involved are the collider sequences. The first one isn't quite as crazy as the second. But it does help to exemplify the size and scope of the device. And as with all the action sequences, you have Spider-people and enemies all moving around the screen, shooting webs and launching weapons in and out of the audience which make for countless mesmerizing shots. But with the second collider sequence, you not only get that, but you also have giant buildings floating around along with vehicles, bridges, and other such city related objects. And all that comes accompanied with lasers and inter-dimensional matter which takes the form of multi-colored circles that float around in all areas of 3D space.
Aside from that, Spider-Verse is chock full of other fun 3D shots and action sequences. Like I said, forest shots bring out the overall shape of the environment. Spider-people swinging around the city with webs is always a blast to see in 3D, especially when the depth on display is strong enough to exemplify the vast distance between people and the ground. We also get a somewhat claustrophobic fight scene inside an old woman's home. There are some explosions which bounce off the screen in memorable ways. We get a fun effect in true comic book fashion where the screen will split up into several different smaller screens capturing different areas of actions. The black bars separating the screens sit right on top of the screen (or the 3D window) and the multiple images will each have their own 3D depth. This happens a good number of times throughout the movie. But my personal favorite time is when the images are all capturing a villain starting up his motorcycle and the smoke comes up out of the screens and it joins together in front of the window, leading to the transition of the next shot. There are some chaotic scenes involving inter-dimensional glitches that all service that film extremely well, especially in the opening credits (starting you off knowing this is a 3D experience to remember). Once again, the depth in the shots remain surprisingly intact and the blink-and-you'll-miss-it nature of these events wouldn't really hurt your eyes in 3D unless it already does in 2D. In fact, sometimes, it's scenes like these where you need the 3D to help you make sense of what's going on. One of my personal favorite 3D shots in the entire movie comes near the end when Miles is staring down a web of interconnected universes and the camera just continually moves deeper and deeper into the web. It's already one of my favorite shots in 2D. But in 3D, it's simply an experience to behold, almost up there with some of the scenes in IMAX: Hubble.
As for pop outs, there are some pretty good ones. However, in accordance with the film's fast paced action, most of the pop outs are of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it type. But that doesn't mean if you don't blink that you won't get a good few flinch worthy moments. Things like explosions, shattered glass, inter-dimensional matter that take the form of circles, spider webs, Doc Ock's arms, vehicles, smoke, spray paint, the Green Goblin and his menacing tongue, and even a giant metal bar make their way off the screen. However, keep in mind that this film, while certainly immersive, is more about what's happening in the screen than out of it. It only really pulls out the pop outs when you know things are getting intense. Save for a few shots involving some snow falling to the ground.
In this world, you have good 3D movies and bad 3D movies. While good 3D movies aren't as hard to come by nowadays as they used to be way back when, a lot of the time, many films with 3D treatment can still be just about as easily enjoyed in 2D (take The Bad Guys and In the Heart of the Sea for example). Then you have films like Avatar that you clearly need to see in 3D or not at all. However, then you got movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, films that don't initially seem to beg for 3D treatment. But upon seeing them in that format, you'll know you need 3D to fully appreciate it. Yes, Spider-Verse is an absolute treat in the third dimension, taking the visual comic book style already present and building off of it into something immersive, mesmerizing, and just sheer fun. It hits you in a way you simply won't get in 2D. This is the kind of 3D film that even those who visit the format only on occasion should still get the opportunity to see. The extra dimension here is utilized in fantastic ways from the intense depth to the fast-paced action to the overall aesthetic that make for an unforgettable experience. If you haven't checked Spider-Verse out in its 3D glory, what are you waiting for? Do yourself a favor and check out one of the greatest 3D outings the past decade had to offer.
3D RATING: EXCELLENT
OTHER SOURCES THAT REVIEW THIS MOVIE'S 3D:
Cinemablend's To 3D or Not Review: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2463537/to-3d-or-not-to-3d-buy-the-right-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse-ticket
High-Def Digest's Review: https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/72891/spidermanintothespiderverse3d.html
Tommy Boy 3D's Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMxq2eLNzdo
Shane Lee's Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UoXdAHPLXY
FINAL THOUGHTS
I think it's no secret that nowadays, with studios constantly dishing out into old and familiar IPs to turn into films, it seems like creativity is becoming more and more of a rarity in Hollywood. However, it's films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that prove that movie studios still have it in them to create something truly worthwhile. This film is a visual concert, a masterfully told story of a reluctant hero with an inspiring message, and a sheer boatload of fun, and all done in the name of a Spider-Man movie. It's an unlikely place to find one of the greatest animated films to hit theaters in recent years. But I guess that goes to show how with a fresh vision and a passion for storytelling, people can still put out something amazing. What more can I say about this masterpiece of a film? If you haven't seen it, you definitely need to. And when doing so, be sure to pick up the 3D version. The 3D not only adds a large amount of depth to this already perfect film, but it completely takes advantage of the the composition brought on by its chaotic nature and stylized imagery. And the result is nothing less than a one-of-a-kind 3D experience both hardcore 3D fans and casual moviegoers should definitely check out if gotten the chance. And that honestly makes me a little sad to see that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won't be getting a 3D release when it hits theaters next week on June 2nd. On the note of that film though, I do still have high hopes for it and I can't wait to see what it has in store when it comes out. But the 3D will be sorely missed. On the bright side though, it'll give most 3D enthusiasts an opportunity to brush up on this absolute must-see movie. And hopefully, this review might convince a person who hasn't yet seen this movie to pick up the 3D Blu-ray and give it a watch. If you're that person, I assure you. You will not regret it in the least.
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DID YOU LIKE "SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE" IN 3D
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