All the spoilers all the time. You have been warned!
My Thoughts While Watching:
We watched this MONTHS ago. Just getting around to the review. It was lost in the overflow of Oscar chat.
The first “recorded” comic book convention took place in 1964 in New York City. Decades later it would be the first con I would attend. As a kid, I would buy my comic books from a spin rack at whatever department store Ma happened to be shopping in (and when I could bum the $0.75 or so it took to purchase the colorful treasure). Recent generations will never understand the hardship for a teenage female from rural southern West Virginia as she expressed her interest in comic books, artwork and super heroes. Boys were not cool with a little girl trying to edge in on the conversation. Adults could not understand why I did not choose Barbie over my Evel Knievel action figure. I read incessantly and was a few steps past most of my fellow students’ reading levels. To say that I was somewhat awkward in my youth – well, that would be an understatement. It is that kid, that little girl, who sat in my chair watching this animated feature. And I watched with utter joy as all the various spider-men played out on the screen before me. The artwork, the animation, the homages to all things needing homaging – I geeked so hard that my geek broke for a moment. THAT is how much I loved this feature. Well played, well done, well…thank you.
My complaints are minor:
I would have preferred Vincent D’Onofrio over Leiv Schreiber. I will never understand MCU and why they invest us in the Netflix version of characters and then fail to utilize those same actors when portraying those roles on the larger screen. It would be nice for my consistency’s sake.
(after-the-fact) Why is there a Spider-man trailer during the Cpt Marvel movie and not an Avengers one (that dropped like the next day)? Is the Spider-man trailer fake? After all, we saw him dust away at the end of Infinity War? If not, – way to fuck up the illusion.
Will Miles Morales EVER make it to live feature? I want a stand alone live action. Please and thank you.
I saw this with my kids, the photographer and the game designer. Al said he liked the way they paid homage to the old style comic book by “coloring outside the lines” and Mander liked the use of complementary colors (the ones the art world pair up because of the “pop”). Stylistically it was a hit with both of them.
I have a ton of questions that will hopefully be answered on April 26th (fingers crossed). Until then, I plan on watching this again. And maybe again.
Some Interviews and Extra Video:
IMDB Synopsis: Teen Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
Starring:
 |
Shameik Moore | … | Miles Morales (voice) |
 |
Jake Johnson | … | Peter B. Parker (voice) |
 |
Hailee Steinfeld | … | Gwen Stacy (voice) |
 |
Mahershala Ali | … | Uncle Aaron (voice) |
 |
Brian Tyree Henry | … | Jefferson Davis (voice) |
 |
Lily Tomlin | … | Aunt May (voice) |
 |
Luna Lauren Velez | … | Rio Morales (voice) |
 |
Zoë Kravitz | … | Mary Jane (voice) |
 |
John Mulaney | … | Spider-Ham (voice) |
 |
Kimiko Glenn | … | Peni Parker (voice) |
 |
Nicolas Cage | … | Spider-Man Noir (voice) |
 |
Kathryn Hahn | … | Doc Ock (voice) |
 |
Liev Schreiber | … | Wilson Fisk (voice) |
 |
Chris Pine | … | Peter Parker (voice) |
 |
Natalie Morales | … | Miss Calleros (voice) |
 |
Edwin H. Bravo | … | Brooklyn Visions Security Guard (voice) |
 |
Oscar Isaac | … | Interesting Person #1 (voice) |
 |
Greta Lee | … | Interesting Person #2 (voice) |
 |
Stan Lee | … | Stan (voice) |
Directors:
| Bob Persichetti | ||
| Peter Ramsey | ||
| Rodney Rothman | ||
*******************************************************************
My ranking scores –
0-19 Levels of: Ugh
20-39 Levels of: Meh (aka I cannot reach the remote)
40-59 Levels of: I don’t hate it?
60-85 Levels of: That was solid.
86-100 Levels of: I Loved It!
I rank this movie a 99.999!
*******************************************************************
Trailer:
Additional Movie Info:
It received a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 97% Fresh. It received a Rotten Tomato audience rating of 94% liking it. Average Rating: 4.6/5 with a number of User Ratings: 12,610.
Movie Reviews:
Specs: Release date: 14 December 2018 (USA) / Runtime: 117 minutes / Budget: $90M
IMDB Trivia:
- It was announced shortly after Stan Lee’s death, at age 95, that he had recorded a cameo for the film and that it would be his final voice-acting role. Lord and Miller felt it was important that Lee was given a bigger moment compared to previous Marvel films because he was “so integral to the spirit of this movie,” and considered his role “extra meaningful” following his death.
- Completing the animation for the film required up to 180 animators, the largest crew ever used by Sony Pictures Animation for a film.
- This film was dedicated in memory of Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko, who died on July 6, 2018, while this film was finishing production. However, this was not the only dedication, as a month before the film released, Stan Lee died on November 12, 2018; the film was dedicated to both of Spider-Man’s creators.
- When Miles first visits Uncle Aaron’s apartment, the television is playing the television show Community (2009) (Season 2, Episode 1 “Anthropology 101”). The beginning of that episode shows Donald Glover’s character Troy getting out of bed wearing Spider-Man pajamas. This was a reference to an unsuccessful 2010 online campaign to get Donald Glover a chance to audition for the lead role in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Miles Morales co-creator Brian Michael Bendis describes that image of Glover in the Spider-Man pajamas as one of the major inspirations for the creation of the character and the character’s design. Additionally, Glover appeared as another version of Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), in which he makes brief reference to his nephew. Glover also voiced Miles Morales in Disney’s “Ultimate Spider-Man” cartoon series.
- One of the many ways the Imageworks team paid tribute to old comic books through the visual style was to imitate the imperfections of offset printing.
- According to John Mulaney, the producers encouraged him to “have fun” with his role as Spider-Ham, so he added cuss words to his dialogue. He eventually asked what the rating of the film was; which was PG.
- There are many small details in Miles’ universe that set it apart from ours, such as using “PDNY” in place of “NYPD,” and instead of Chance the Rapper wearing a “3” hat, he has a “4” on it (evident from a poster in Miles’ room).
- When Miles is scrolling through the contacts on his phone, the name “B Bendis” appears. This is a reference to Brian Michael Bendis, long-time author of the “Ultimate Spider-Man” series and one of Miles’ creators.
- One of the billboards in Time Square is for a film called Clone College, which is a reference to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s canceled series Clone High (2002), which must have been more popular in this universe.
- When Jefferson is scrolling through his phone contacts, “S. Ditko” is shown as one of the contacts. This is a reference to Steve Ditko, one of the original creators of “Spider-Man” and one of the two men the film is dedicated to.
- A restaurant named Romita Ramen can be briefly seen. This is a reference to longtime “Spider-Man” artists John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr., who created “The Prowler” while still a teenager, his first professional work in comics.
- Among the logos shown for Columbia Pictures is a woman in western wear shooting six guns. This is from the film Cat Ballou (1965) starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin.
- In the background of the scene in Times Square, there’s a billboard advertising “Hi, Hello,” an alternate universe version of “Oh, Hello,” featuring Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. John Mulaney is the voice of Spider-Ham. Kroll and Mulaney also voice the two lead characters on Netflix’s Big Mouth (2017), a show they both produce as well.
- The trainers Miles wears are Nike Air Jordan 1 retro high tops.
- Kingpin is modeled after the Kingpin in Daredevil: Love and War (1986) graphic novel by Frank Miller and Bill Sinkiewicz.
- When Miles is scrolling through his phone, the name “Sara Pichelli” appears. Pichelli is one of the artists who had worked on the “Ultimate Spider-Man” comics with Brian Michael Bendis, creator of Miles Morales.
- At the beginning of the film, the famous phrase “With great power comes great responsibility” is actually said by Cliff Robertson, who played Uncle Ben in the original “Spider-Man” trilogy with Tobey Maguire. The quote was pulled from “Spider-Man” archival footage, as Robertson passed away in 2011.
- Amongst all of the alternate Spider-Man suits in the deceased Spider-Man’s underground lair are the Iron Spider suit from the “Civil War” comic arc and the suit from the Sony’s PlayStation 4 game with the white spider detail.
- Originally, Peni was going to die along with SP//DR, but this was deemed too brutal for a “kids movie,” so she survived the destruction of her mech.
- The Peter Parker of Miles’ universe being blonde is a reference to Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider and a clone of Peter Parker, who for a time took over as Spider-Man and even dyed his hair blonde during his time as Spider-Man.
- During the early scenes of Miles as Spider-Man, there are references to the specimen number 42 on screen. “42” is the specimen number of the spider that bites Miles in the comics. The number 42 is referenced multiple times throughout the film, which takes place in Brooklyn, NY. New York was formerly home to Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) and legendary baseball player, Jackie Robinson. Robinson’s jersey number was 42.
- When Kingpin’s Super Collider is activated for the first time, it shows the various dimensions each of the Spider-people come from. This includes; E-1610 (Miles’ Universe), E-616 (Peter B. Parker’s Universe), E-65 (Gwen’s Universe), E-8311 (Spider-Ham’s Universe), E-90214 (Spider-Man Noir’s Universe), and E-14512 (Peni Parker and SP//dr’s Universe). Additionally, these are the same designations for the different dimensions in the comics.
Thoughts and Ponderances 