The movie this week was Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse

Everyone was raving about this movie, so I walked into it with elevated expectations, which is usually the kiss of death. But it wasn’t! Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse was excellent! It has an interesting, complex story without relying on the “Villains aiming to destroy the world!” trope — even the primary bad guy, the Kingpin, had a believable motive.

But best of all was the artwork. This was a comic book movie that was not afraid to be a comic book movie, stealing comic book styles and comic book art and comic book plots, and then reveling in the freedom of computer-assisted animation. It just flies along playing visual games in a way that highlighted the story. It’s also damned optimistic, and lately we really need that occasional taste of escapism.

I went alone to the theater, because when I told my wife it was a super-hero movie, she was turned off and uninterested. It’s too bad, because she missed out, and I think she probably would have enjoyed it, too. Maybe when it comes to Netflix…


  1. says

    I wouldn’t count on too many new Marvel properties making it to Netflix now that Disney wants their piece of the streaming media pie.

  2. HidariMak says

    I hope you stayed through the credits, what with this being a Marvel movie and all. As for Netflix, no Marvel movies will be heading there following ‘Ant-Man & the Wasp’, what with Disney getting all of the subsequent ones. iTunes will likely get it though, as well as the other usual sources.

  3. johnb237 says

    Not to worry, this isn’t a Disney movie. Sony owns it. I think they still own part of Spiderman from back when they produced the Sam Raimi movies which is why they also own Venom. You’re right, too that Spiderverse was terrific. It feels like you’re inside a comic book when you watch it.

  4. says

    Glad to hear it’s getting good reviews. I plan on going with my 8 year old son this weekend, but honestly I’m more excited to see it than he is.

  5. microraptor says

    Make sure to stay until after the credits are done.

    Just got back from seeing it myself and yeah, it was easily one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. It’s certainly better than most comic book movies by a significant margin.

  6. methuseus says

    Spider-Man has been owned by Sony for decades, I believe. They have been co-producing the movies with Marvel (now owned by Disney) since Homecoming.
    While this means that it is not an exclusive Disney property, and Sony retains all rights to distribution, I know of no sharing deal between Sony Pictures and Netflix that will ensure this gets to Netflix.
    There’s a possibility that Sony will keep the movie off of Netflix in order to not anger Disney, but we won’t know anything about that sort of thing for 6 months to a year. Or until someone makes an official announcement.

  7. methuseus says

    Actually, reading further, the animated movies are not a collaboration in any way, so it will possibly get to Netflix, though I don’t see much from Sony, and no animated Spider-Man entries, on Netflix currently.

  8. says

    It really was a very, very good movie. I really wish more films (including live action films) used CGI more expressively as opposed to trying to make everything look photo-real. Mary Poppins Returns also made effective limited use of expressive CGI. Anyway, I am pulling for Spider-verse in all the awards show now because of the clever fun story and amazing animation.