"This is a pretty hardcore origin story!"
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is just your average awkward teenager struggling with fitting in at a new school and relating to his NYC cop father Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) while having a stronger relationship with his criminally-inclined Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali). Things get weirder when he's bitten by a radioactive spider that gives him similar powers to local hero Spider-Man! After stumbling onto a multi-verse portal being built by Wilson Fisk (Liev Schreiber) and Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn). When the machine is turned on, a different Peter Parker Spider-Man (Jake Johnson), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and her robot Spider from the future, Spider-Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage) and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) arrive in Miles' New York! Together they'll have to figure out a way to stop Fisk, reverse the damage of the multiverse machine, and get each Spider-man, Peni, Gwen, and Pig back to their own respective universe!
I got my first comic book when I was about five years old. My older cousin was a rabid comic collector and whenever he'd come to visit, my mom would take him to the local shop as a present. I wasn't allowed to look in the bag let alone touch any of his comics - so to keep me occupied, I was given my first comic book - Web of Spider-Man #28. That single issue endured years of abuse, tape, and staples as I read and reread it over and over again into shreds. 32 years later, my collection is in the thousands - a large percentage of those span several eras of Spider-Man lore and history. As probably one of the few people out there who actually read the whole way through the often terrible Clone Saga I give Spider-Man adaptations a lot of rope because I've seen how low rock bottom can be for the character. When Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was announced, I thought it could be fun, but didn't think much of it. It was going to be something that I might get around to renting, but probably not seeing in the theater during a busy holiday season. I didn't expect it to be arguably one of the best comic book adaptations yet to reach the big screen.
When the overwhelming reviews started pouring in I didn't want to believe it. I was cynical. Reviewers are a fickle bunch often throwing shade on films that don't deserve that level of scrutiny and then heap overwhelming praise at films that are perfectly fine but hardly genre defining or are at best only mediocre. I don't like going into movies with my expectations set high and not have the show live up to the hype. With a bit of trepidation, I bought my ticket and took my chances. Thankfully I wasn't let down! Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse isn't just a terrific comic book adaptation perfectly capturing multiple iterations of the classic character, but it brings a truly heartfelt and endearing story to the screen!
Nothing in the trailers could prepare me for what the movie actually had to deliver. I loved the bright colors, the spotty 4-color printing inspired effect whenever different parts of the frame are in focus just like the old comics I used to read as a kid. I loved how they captured the origin of Miles and then managed to introduce the black and white Nazi-smashing Spider-Noir, the hilarious Spider-Ham, the overweight down on his luck Peter Parker, the neo-future Peni Parker, as well as the amazing Spider-Gwen. That says nothing of Lily Tomlin's awesome version of Aunt May!
I could go on and on about how much I loved this movie, but I'd be dipping into some serious spoiler territory if I kept going. The character design was impeccable. The film is visually arresting. It was an absolute joy to watch in 3-D in the theater creating a truly unique three-dimensional experience that I can't want to see again as soon as I get my import copy from Germany in a few short weeks. Watching it again on 4K UHD Blu-ray was a colorful delight that still delivers the fun and adventure you want from this movie. And with the included Alternate Universe Mode on the 1080p Blu-ray fans get a truly complete experience and then some! The best news of this year's Oscar's was this film's well deserved Best Animated Feature award. it deserves it. Hopefully, the sequel is fast-tracked - we need more animated Spider-Man movies like this ASAP!
Vital Disc Stats: The 4K UHD Blu-ray
Sony Pictures web-slings Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse onto 4K UHD Blu-ray in a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital set. The discs are housed in a standard black snapper case with identical slipcover artwork. The disc loads to Sony's standard UHD menu structure. Some - but not all - of the bonus features can be found on the UHD disc. The Alternate Universe Mode, as well as some of the smaller less interesting bonus features, are all found on the standard Blu-ray disc. The included digital copy slip is Movies Anywhere compatible and redeems the full 4K streaming copy with Dolby Vision HDR.
For a great review of the 4K UHD Dolby Vision HDR Streaming experience, read that review HERE.
Even though it's not Dolby Vision, this 2160p HDR10 transfer really kicks where it counts! The Standard Blu-ray is impressive and offers a number of terrific presentation highlights, but this 4K UHD adds an extra layer of refinement and dials everything up to 11 and beyond. For starters, in terms of detail and the film's unique focus effect, I felt that this 4K UHD viewing experience was much cleaner. Fine lines in the character animation and important background objects felt sharper and more clearly defined. When that focus effect happens it looks much smoother while also allowing that great 4-color "dot" color pattern to emerge with terrific clarity.
On top of some refinement in clarity and details, the HDR10 color grading really lets the primaries, black levels, and crisp whites shine. One of my favorite sequences throughout the entire movie is when the various Spider-man (and Gwen and Ham) are introduced, in particular, Spider-Noir with his hard black and white photo-negative quality leads to some impressively rich inky blacks and bright bold crisp whites that don't give off any blooming. Black levels are also a highlight of the larger than life Wilson Fisk character design! As the films crazy psychedelic multi-verse visuals wash over the screen during the climax, the added resolution and WCG handle the workload perfectly.
Now, taking a look at the Dolby Vision HDR stream, I'm pleased to see the static-metadata HDR10 isn't such a dramatic difference in color saturation, black levels, and white levels as say something along the lines of what I saw with The Nun. In an apples to apples comparison, Dolby Vision is the preferable HDR experience with much more intricate refinement to the colors, blacks, and whites, however, the HDR10 ain't no slouch and it looks amazing on disc!
Considering how amazing this Dolby Atmos audio mix is, I honestly don't have anything more to add from our Streaming Review beyond saying that for the best possible experience - play it loud. Not because there are level troubles or softness issues but because it's that much more fun! Needless to say, it's a good time when your neighbors knock on your door to complain but then see what you're watching and want to join you! Play it loud and maybe make a new friend at the same time!
Doing some switching between the streaming and the 4K UHD disc, the disc does sound like it delivers a little extra sonic punch in the LFE department. Big action beats like the fight at Aunt May's house our the inter-dimensional climax fight where there are a lot of heavy impacts felt like they resonated a tad stronger than the streaming version. With that, the core basics of dialogue, scoring, and surround effects all enjoyed some relative similarities. The streaming mix is still damned impressive but I'm giving the disc a little bit of an extra edge.
Tip of the hat to Sony for not skimping on the bonus features giving fans of the film a truly worthwhile collection of bonus features to spend several hours working their way through. The first big highlight of the show is the Alternate Universe Mode that adds some 25 extra minutes of cut and unfinished material to the film. Like I said, it's unfinished so there are effects that are incomplete or just outright static storyboards - think Criterion's release of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and the extended material they inserted via seamless branching. Backing that up is a really good commentary track featuring directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman with producers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller is a real treat as they discuss influences for the story, characters, and the film's visual stylings. The rest of the features are all solid material. The cast and crew bits are a tad canned EPK but still offer some fun insights into the film.
4K UHD Blu-ray Bonus Features
Audio Commentary featuring directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman with producers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Spider-Ham Caught in a Ham Short (UHD 4:01)
1080p Blu-ray Only Bonus Feature
Alternate Universe Mode Viewing Option (HD 1:23:31)
Audio Commentary featuring directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman with producers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Spider-Ham Caught in a Ham Short (HD 4:01)
We Are Spider-Man (HD 7:51)
Spider-Verse A New Dimension (HD 5:09)
The Ultimate Comic Cast (HD 15:02)
Designing Cinematic Comic Book Characters "Heroes and Hams" (HD 7:45)
Designing Cinematic Comic Book Characters "Scoundrels & Scorpions" (HD 5:11
Tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (HD 8:34)
Spider-Verse Super Fan Easter Egg Challenge (HD 5:02)
Sunflower music video by Post Malone & Swae Lee (HD 3:00)
I don't usually like to apply "the best" or "greatest" when describing any movie. I usually have to add some sort of qualifier like "of the last X number of years" or some such nonsense. I can't do that with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This isn't only one of the best animated films to deservedly win an Oscar for that title, but it's also one of the best Comic Book adaptations ever made while also being just a damn great film all around. As one of my favorite movies of 2018, I'm glad to report that this 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray lives up to the film's reputation. Featuring a bright bold and colorfully beautiful 2160p transfer with HDR10, a thunderingly impressive Dolby Atmos mix and a swath of excellent informative bonus features, my only complaint is that we have to wait for the sequel. This 4K UHD disc is a Must Own for comic fans, film fans, and 4K UHD fans!
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