Into the Spider-Verse Might Be My Favorite Spider-Man Movie, and Its Animation Is a Big Reason Why

I think Into the Spider-Verse is my favorite Spider-Man movie. Although, I don't know: Mysterio was really cool in the last one. Revisiting it reminded me just how clever, funny and beautiful this film is.

I came back to it to celebrate Miles Morales. I had shared a picture of a cosplayer dressed as Miles holding a Black Lives Matter sign, and it reminded me of how much I love the movie. There are other great characters here and everyone works together, but this is Miles' story and a wonderful depiction in a superhero movie. I still remember sitting in the theater for the press screening. They gave us free popcorn and soda, and the movie was so good they didn't even need to.

The animation does things live action Spider-Man cannot

This animation is insane. As much as I like the Spider-Man movies, he doesn't move like that in live action. Here he moves like only a spider can. The colors are gorgeous, and plenty of moments come right from the original comic. "Every frame makes an effort. You don't have to do that, but they do." The score and the soundtrack are both so good, and the Prowler theme is amazing.

His criminal uncle and police officer father make Miles a great character

Miles' mom is Latina and his father is African American, and I liked seeing a good portrayal of his dad as a police officer. "Having his uncle be a criminal and his father being policeman is one of the great aspects of this character." In the comics his dad used to work for SHIELD, which I would love to see on screen. I also hoped his mom would get a bigger role in a sequel, because she had a pretty big role in the comics.

The early death of Spider-Man matters too. I think it's important to show, as the comics did at first, that you can die as a superhero.

A cast that delivers

Chris Pine is great, but he's no Jake Johnson, whose Peter B. Parker had me laughing so hard I was crying. I think Jake Johnson could do a live action version. Shameik Moore does a great job with Miles' voice and sounds much younger. Hailee Steinfeld is very good, and I like that they called her Spider-Woman instead of Spider-Gwen. I'd love to see her and Shameik Moore move over to live action with Tom Holland. Liev Schreiber is a great Kingpin, and the end credits scene with Oscar Isaac is fantastic.

"This movie should have made all the money in the world." It's very annoying to me that it did not. I also think Andrew Garfield doesn't get enough credit.

So which is your favorite Spider-Man movie: this one, or another?