The Multi-Dimensional Movie of the Year: Review of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” in 4DX
What’s full of creepy spiders and kids learning about their new destiny? It’s not Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; it’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the exciting new take on the classic comic book character. We had the chance to see the film in 4DX thanks to CJ 4DPLEX!
The 4DX format is supposed to enhance your viewing experience by introducing you to movements that the character is experiencing in the film. This includes seat tilting, water getting sprayed in your face (we turned that part off), and a seat that practically punches your back when the characters on-screen begin to enter a fight scene.
Like we said, it’s “supposed” to immerse you. Instead, for us, it kept taking us out of the story and reminding us we were in chairs in a theater due to all the distracting features. Instead of drawing us in, the experience made us feel like we were taken out of the engrossing story of the film as we braced ourselves for punches, sudden movements, and blasts of air. Never again.
But as for the film itself, wow.
The soundtrack was wildly phenomenal. It was a mix of both rap/R&B and a score that perfectly encapsulated not only the modern Brooklyn within the Multiverse but also Miles, our main Spider-Man protagonist, in his character journey. Music is a big part of who Miles is – it’s his way to relax, which leads to several hilarious situations where singing the words he knows to a Post Malone song probably isn’t the greatest idea, but he’s going to do it anyway.
The plot itself surrounds the idea of loss and what it takes it to be Spider-Man. We start out with Miles Morales and his adorably awkward life. When he gets bitten, he meets his dimension’s Peter Parker and makes a promise to him, leading us into the main issue – how to shut down the Super Collider, a machine Kingpin designed to find alternate versions of his wife and son who left him when he almost killed Spider-Man the first time. Kingpin uses the machine successfully for the first time before it blows up and he works on correcting it.
From here, we dive into the spider’s web, with Miles meeting Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy), Spider-Ham (Peter Porker), Spider-Man Noir (Peter Parker), and SP//dr (Peni Parker), along with another dimension’s Spider-Man (Peter Parker) – all of whom have assumed that they are the one and only Spider-Person.
Together, they fight off Kingpin and his goons, try to shut off the Super Collider, and get home before they run into the problems of interdimensional travel, all while trying to mentor Miles in his own “coming-of-age” into his Spider-Man phase. It is both hilarious and heartwarming, drawing parallels to real life while being extreme comic book fantasy. In short, it’s the kind of superhero movie we don’t deserve and never even knew we wanted, and it leaves the door open for another.
Though there are some slight disappointments on one end for diverse representation (Zoë Kravitz voices a character that is drawn white but very easily could have been animated to reflect the more diverse versions of the character that we’ve seen in other depictions), it also presents Miles’ family in the best way possible, blending both his African-American and Hispanic heritage in music and action.
Lastly, the main thing this film has been getting raving reviews on – the animation. Holy smoke. We’re massive fans of animation that strikes closer to home with 2D, and this film introduced a totally new look for animated movies. It grabs you in a realistic, smooth, and breathtaking way. The colors are bright, and the use of common comic book visuals to indicate things like the Spider-Sense is better than anything that could have been produced by live action. It’s by far the best comic-book-to-screen adaptation we’ve ever seen.
We were floored: It’s paved the path for animation and superhero films for miles and miles down the road. Swing into a theater before it leaves, or snag a copy with a web-shooter when it arrives on Digital/Blu-ray!
