Scorecard Weekly- 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse'

Christmas is ten days away!!!!!

What can I say? I love getting into the holiday spirit especially now that I have children. There are gingerbread houses, Christmas tree decorations, and the notoriously devious Elf on the Shelf. Yet, here we are! What will Santa bring us? And he better not remove my name off the list again…

YOU HEAR ME SANTA!?

Now. Now. Let’s all just settle down. Kick back. Have a drink and get ready…

WELCOME TO SCORECARD WEEKLY! The place where you come to get honest, uncut, and uncensored reviews of the newest and oldest, TV series and movies. Before we begin today’s card, let’s recap on what we are grading shall we? Please turn your attention to the invisible, non-existent whiteboard codename JARVIS—

Using our state-of-the-art scorecard, we grade:

1. Setting/Characters
2. Obstacles/Conflict
3. Tone
4. Concept

The minimum score for a section and card is one. The maximum score is five. Finally, we decide if it’s a recommend or pass.

In honor of Superhero Saturday, we are taking our leap of faith into the film SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE based on the Marvel Comics characters, brought to us by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation.

1. Setting/Characters

As with ALL movies based on Marvel Comics, settings or timelines don’t mean shit but we do know that the film is set in Brooklyn, New York (Jay-Z screaming BROOOKKKKKLLLYYYNNNN just played in my head repeatedly). Besides that, we aren’t presented too much about the year, but one can assume that it’s set in the future, probably because the main antagonist literally has a particle accelerator—That’s used to access parallel universes. If you’re love Spider-Man, then we think you’ll enjoy how the Spider-Verse is brought to life.

We are introduced to a unique lineup of characters throughout the course of the film. Our main protagonist though really is the only one you should focus on. Honestly, the supporting characters are a bit one-dimensional in the sense of them potentially becoming mentors for our young protagonist, which sadly never happens. We’re given small moments where you hope for some mentoring, but the film fails miserably at taking advantage of it. Don’t get us wrong, the characters are brilliant together but speak on them individually—Ouch! We’d rather not bore you but quite honestly, we just don’t want to talk about them. They aren’t that interesting compared to the main protagonist. (I guess they made it that way intentionally)…

Score–3

2. Obstacles/Conflict

Besides going through puberty, a particle accelerator could cause a fuck ton of problems for anyone involved—We’re adding extra emphasis on fuck ton. From the beginning of the film, we are shown that our main protagonist isn’t having the best time dealing with the struggles of his life. Take boarding school, expectations of parents, and a crush then throw all of that into a blender with parallel universes, multiple Spider-Man’s, his lack of composure, inability to use powers….

BREATHE! (Inhale. Exhale.) This kid is clearly over his head.

Our heroes’ odds are stacked against them and if they were to fail, their worlds and ours would be destroyed. Drizzle on a little personal loss and what do you have? A full-fledged Spider-Man, you couldn’t call him Spider-Man if he didn’t lose something along the way. With internal and external conflicts occurring simultaneously, it’s only right that our main protagonist falls repeatedly before things start coming together (Oh and when they do… soooooo sweet!)

Score–4

3. Tone

Upbeat. Imaginative. Our main protagonist loves art and even graffiti’s a subway station, I would say his passion for creating something original and beautiful plays to the mood of the film and it’s superb. Once things go from BAD to WORSE, you see a sense of urgency within our characters that displays just how high the stakes are. There’s no time for a million questions or Spidey training but if we live to fight another day then maybe… just maybe… Seriously, who are we kidding? You won’t know when you’re ready! Now, let’s save the world!

Score–4

4. Concept

As a fan of not just Spider-Man but Miles Morales, I will attempt to not show bias for this film. Somewhat of an origin story, the idea merged with the style of animation work perfectly. Also, they gave Miles the Retro 1’s—THE RETRO’S! Anyways, the idea provides a new look into the Spider-Verse with its abundance of characters and universe’s. With the different movies and TV shows created around this character, we were finally given something original. This is the Spider-Man we’ve been waiting for (Aside from Tom Holland… sue me!).

Score–5

Overall Score–4/5

Final Verdict–Recommend

Final Thoughts

I think that Miles Morales is here to stay, I hope that one day we will be blessed with a live-action version but for now, this film is perfect. Even with its flaws, this film is fresh and enjoyable. It keeps you engaged. You will root for these heroes. You will fall for these heroes. You will not be disappointed but if you ultimately are—we don’t care!

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for stopping by! Until next time, that’s all folks!