Webbed feat hard to beat

is a computer-animated adventure that capably pays tribute to its comic book roots.

AS the main Marvel Cinematic Universe gets darker and darker, Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse is exactly the film superhero fans need right now.

Standing apart from the MCU, Into the Spider-Verse is a pure joy on every level, a hyperactive, stylish, entertaining, fun, visually stunning and skilfully written comic book movie.

A co-production between Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, it is a computer-animated adventure that capably pays tribute to its pulpy comic book roots, as well as delivering more action and story than you can thwip a web at.

Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) is a Brooklyn teenager who has won a scholarship to go to an elite private school, forced to leave his friends behind and hiding his intelligence in an attempt to get kicked out.

Already a fan of the city’s web-slinging superhero Spider-Man, Morales finds himself suddenly becoming a Spider-Man himself, after being bitten by a strange interdimensional spider.

Meanwhile, crime boss King Pin/Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) has funded a science project beneath the city that is attempting to open a portal to parallel dimensions. And when a botched test ends

MARTAIN

up sucking Spider-people from five alternate universes back into Morales’ dimension, the fledgling superhero teams up with his allies from the multiverse to destroy Fisk’s machine before it destroys the entire planet.

Seriously, there is just so much awesome packed into this flick, it’s ridiculous.

The animation style is so wild it is almost too gimmicky to work, but it just looks so damn good. It incorporates a heap of comic-book conventions, such as multiple frames, words spelled out on screen, and little boxes of text adding information to the story.

One trick that did irk me a little was the way they deliberately made the backgrounds look like images from old comic books by making it look like the colour registration was out of alignment. While I see what they were going for, it had the effect of watching an anaglyph 3D movie without the red and blue glasses. It was a bit hard to look at, but clever.

And wow, there is a lot of neon. If you have trouble with flashing lights, you might want to think carefully about seeing this one.

The full pantheon of Spider-heroes is terrific as well. The “Spider-Verse” is an established part of the comicbook lore, it has been the basis of a number of stories on the canon, and it just happens to be a great device for getting numerous heroes all jammed into the same story at once.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, all the alternate versions of Spider-Man seen in this film are actual pre-existing comic book characters. Yes, even Spider-Ham. And yes, that really is Nicolas Cage voicing Spider-Man Noir.

It was nice to finally see a cinematic version of Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), and if you thought Spider-Man 3’ s “Emo Peter Parker” was tragic, wait until you meet washed-up, middleaged, fat-round-the-middleand-wearing-sweatpants Spider-Man”. Oh boy.

And this film also includes an animated cameo from the late Stan Lee, Spider-Man’s co-creator, which is quite a touching moment.

Not only is the story well written, but the characterisation is great as well. We learn about Morales very quickly, absorbing everything we need to know through some great storytelling, not from clunky exposition. And his character arc is also engaging and satisfying. Even Wilson Fisk is written so well that you might find yourself feeling a little sorry for him.

Also interesting is that this movie includes a number of references to the original Spider-Man films, starring Toby Maguire, and also to the more recent Spiderman: Homecoming, which is part of the MCU. But there are no references to the Amazing Spider-Man reboots starring Andrew Garfield — even the studio is trying to forget those ones, it seems.

Into the Spider-Verse also stands alone from the MCU, so don’t worry, despite the Homecoming reference, this one doesn’t require you to have followed all 400 other Marvel films to date. This one isn’t even made by the same studio as the MCU films, and the alternate universe plot device makes for a pretty convenient way of explaining away the differences in any case.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is just great fun. Watching it is like seeing a comic book come to life right before your eyes in a riot of colour and artistic flair. Visually it is quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and while the style took some getting used to, it is worth the occasional sense of overstimulation.

The action on screen flows beautifully, from those classic acrobatics to the neon-fuelled interdimensional fireworks. The pacing is perfect, and the writing is as sharp as a blade.

Stylistically, Into the Spider-Verse is a bit of a risk, because it is just so different from everything else. But it is a risk that pays off. Everything just works.

involves superheroes from different dimensions.

(PG) is now showing at Village Cinemas and Cmax. Rating: