12/14/18 - Enter the Spider-Verse (2018) 8/10 (updated to 9/10)

My excitement level was fairly low with this, but damn did it win me over! It is just so wildly cool! Visually inventive, marrying a distinctly comic aesthetic, smart kinetic intensity, and a Kirby-esque otherworldly. The animation is done in a “four-color dot pointillism” that gives it a comic book magic; certainly unique and lets the fantasy function believably in a special way.

Not only is it cinematically distinctive, but the story is surprisingly uncommon. Granted, there is a standard “boy becoming a super hero” outline, but the film creates an amazing meta narrative about Spider-Man, comic books, and comic films. It really opens up the possibilities of what a comic book movie can be and what it can say. While it is speaking to larger cinematic elements, it masterfully tells an engaging story with a plethora of spider characters. I just got sucked in and found it so funny and fun. Hell, I even liked the Stan Lee appearance (a distinctly despised part of Marvel films). His presence was heartwarming and affirmative, while also hinting at a money grubbing nature. I appreciated that.

The film gets a little generic in the back ⅓. The final act is a story that I have seen plenty of and is pretty standard, but it doesn’t undercut its revelatory and exciting nature of what happened before . I think Spider-Verse is a witty and totally entertaining superhero spectacle. It might be my favorite Spider-Man film of all-time. I would assume being a total comic book nerd helped, but I think anyone would find this one remarkable and damn cool.