Okay all Avengers fans, if I say that Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse is better than Avengers Infinity War, would you kill me? Look, I had loved both the movies in equal measure. But Avengers Infinity War is effective mainly also because that I also loved the journey before through the 18 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse has just one movie, not just to impress you but also to create its own Spidey universe! Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse Movie Review: Miles Morales Confidently Swings His Way Into This Beautifully Crafted Superhero Film.

Needless to say, it does a mighty good job on both counts. With the creative inputs from The Lego Movie directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and the combined efforts of directors, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse is an excellent watch with a lot of elements to praise. I have no doubt that it is not only the best animated movie of the year, but also the best superhero movie too. And I have five reasons to prove that (Some minor SPOILERS ahead)! Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse: What Do Both The Post-Credit Scenes Mean? (SPOILER ALERT).

The Animation and the Music

The first that you notice about Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse, even in the trailer is how amazing the animation looks on screen. Even for an animated movie, each frame looks gorgeous to look at even when the scene is all about explosions. If there is any justice in the Oscar world, the movie should bag a nomination in the Best Visual Effects. And definitely for the Best Animated Feature. Also, the selection of songs is simply superb!

The Plotting and the Direction

Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse has a lot of things to do in a movie. Primarily, it is an origin story for Miles Morales as the new Spider-Man, after the death of Peter Parker. It also has to introduce the idea of multiple universes with multiple iterations of Spider-Men. Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse is also a team movie, when six Spider-Men work together to bring down Kingpin. Not to mention, giving a playful tribute to Marvel comics. And guess what, Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse balances all the threads wonderfully.

The Characters (and voice-cast)

Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse is primarily the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and it is refreshing to have a new Spidey on screen, having see just too many films made on Peter Parker. That said, Peter Parker has an important role too, first as the one to pass the baton on and then to be a reluctant mentor to Morales. Their scenes together are a treat to watch. Morales' equation with his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) fits well with the premise and has an emotional conclusion. All the other Spidermen, including Nicholas Cage's inspired casting as Noir Spider-Man, get their moments to shine, while Gwen Stacy's tragic plotline also manages to touch you. Even Kingpin, the main villain, gets explored as a character in his brief screentime. Above all, all of these characters are so true to their comic-book counterparts, even in their looks.

Humour Blended With Emotions Perfectly

Despite the heavy-duty premise, what works for Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse is that the humorous moments work well and they are seamlessly integrated into the drama. Marvel movies are often accused of inserting needless jokes when not necessary, while Deadpool movies can't really while that balance between when it wants to make us take it seriously and when not. Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse shows these movies how exactly to make the humour and drama work in effective measures!

Respecting the Legacy

By the time the credits roll up, your opinion of the film is how it brings an actual comic book to life, with text boxes, frames designed as comic pages, and thought bubbles filled in. This is a movie where Spider-Man comics exist in the film itself and even paralleling some of the events in the movies with that in the books. Not just comics, Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse also pays tribute to both Saim Raimi and Marc Webber's movies on the web-crawler, and even trolling some of the derided scenes in the film. Above all, it has a posthumous Stan Lee cameo that is befitting his legacy of creating Spider-Man as a character.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2018 07:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).