Brilliant in groundbreaking comic book visual style innovating the genre, masterful scripting balancing decades of Spider-lore & pure storytelling, perfect tonal mixing, & magnetic Miles performance fueled by swanky jazz beats, ITSV is Marvel’s Best Movie Of All-Time. 9.5/10.

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Plot Synopsis: Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from another dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.

*Possible spoilers ahead*

Official CLC Review

The biggest genre of moviemaking in the world right now is comic book movies. Grossing over $30 Billion and counting across the MCU & DCEU alone in the last 10-12 years, the genre has blossomed from geekgasm-niche to the world’s pre-eminent stage of blockbusters. Many critics, CLC included, have become exhausted of comic book films – bludgeoned to death by origin after origin; sequel after sequel; formula plot after villain revenge scheme after big budget blockbuster explosions evoking yawns from the genre we once loved as part of the audience too. The type had gone stale as B-theater popcorn – and needed that spice, that cool edge, that jazzy innovative x-factor to re-energize and reinvigorate the medium of superhero movies. Little did we know that Marvel: the leading cause of this decline releasing 2-3+ big blockbusters a year in the MCU alone and never changing up the formula, Sony/Spider-Man: the brand responsible for an eclectic mix of Spider-Man films – from the iconic Raimi trilogy to good ASM 1 to awful ASM 2, and Animation: not live-action the biggest blockbusters we know would be the holy grail. Brilliant in groundbreaking comic book visual style innovating the genre, masterful scripting balancing decades of Spider-lore & pure storytelling, perfect tonal mixing, & magnetic Miles performance fueled by swanky jazz beats, ITSV is Marvel’s Best Movie of All-Time.

One of the most visually-striking films ever, ITSV is a masterpiece of visual stylism. A comic book in motion, the film is pure artistry and breathtaking VFX/Animation that will awaken your inner-child – and be groundbreaking in the genre. This is a type of feel other CBM’s, as great as they are in live-action and realism-centric cinema, have been missing – one opened by the limitless possibilities of animation taking cues from Pixar’s books and bringing it to superheroicism. The vibrancy of colors, brilliance of textures, hyper-details, three-dimensional cues to optically-trick our eyes into that classic comics-feel, actual comic book transitions and word processors, action, energy, and jaw-dropping cinematographical shot constructions in a wildly-diverse canvas of graffiti-decorated, cool, swanky street NYC settings is second-to-none; ITSV is one of the greatest visual canvases I’ve ever seen. No wonder the film won an Academy Award for its animation, this is the film’s greatest achievement (and one I’m sure will spawn a collection of competitors for the crown in animated features for a new market segment in CBM’s) – but it’s not the only one, by far.

My word, bravo Sony. THIS is how you do a Marvel movie (take notes, MCU), and break open the doors of possibilities in CBM’s (Comic Book Movies) in the process. The visuals are absolutely groundbreaking and pure comic book epitomization and innovation if I’ve ever seen it. Literally like the pages of a comic book in motion, elevated to blockbuster scale and one-of-a-kind. But beyond that, it’s centered by strong vocal performances (Miles steals the show with a perfect portrayal of one of the most magnetic fan-favorite Spider-characters from the comics. Spider-Gwen’s spot-on too) and a well-written script juggling its many characters.

The tone is just-right, balancing superheroics and humor while not making it overwhelming on your palate, compelling villains with strong emotional payoffs and arc resolutions (The Prowler arc/reveal is brilliant, as was Kingpin’s humanizing with serious emotional depth making us truly feel sorry for him – as the best villain writing does), and phenomenal characterization and development all-around.

The soundtrack mirrors the visuals in its cool, innovative, swanky jazz-like style, fitting in popular songs too but with a musical range as vast and unseen at this level. And the Easter Eggs and comic book homages: incalculable; you truly get an overwhelming sense that this film was made by people who love comic books and thoroughly understand and care about these characters, and it shows through every shot and cut that blows the MCU out of the water (Feel sorry for ITSV because of all the mostly-unwarranted hype/bought reviews MCU movies get making it like boy-who-cried-wolf so that logical audiences (starting to see through the charade) never know if it really deserves its scores like this one clearly does.)

There are flaws, like an over-stuffed Spider-roster with some ridiculous choices like Spider-Pig, Spider-Penny, a scary Aunt May and Batcave-copied Spider-Lair (isn’t Spider-Man’s central crux that he’s a normal teenager?.. must’ve cost millions), Diablo/Bane-like Scorpion, and inflatable/Anchor Arms Doc Ock as well as occasional kiddy goofiness mostly pandered to by Spider-Pig..

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Conclusion

Overall, these flaws are mostly sequestered in the final act and don’t detract much from the viewing experience in what is otherwise a groundbreaking work of art that that could potentially open up great possibilities for the genre. Brilliant in groundbreaking comic book visual style innovating the genre, masterful scripting balancing decades of Spider-lore & pure storytelling, perfect tonal mixing, & magnetic Miles performance fueled by swanky jazz beats, ITSV is Marvel’s Best Movie of All-Time.

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