Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse ***1/2 (2018)

2018 may go down as the greatest year for superhero movies, with Black Panther kicking things off and Into the Spiderverse capping off a watershed year for the genre. I'll confess I was getting weary of Marvel movies and their increasingly pre-fabricated feel that culminated with Age of Ultron (2015). But they've been getting better.

Intro the Spiderverse looks and feels unlike any other animated film. Not just a beautiful film to look at, but also tells an imaginative and complex story. The opening sequence references the past films in a hilarious matter, then the story takes off and never misses a beat.

The animation style blends all sorts of style  from 60s psychedelia to 80s style Saturday morning animation. Full of dramatic color and pulsating movement, the imagery is striking and made for the big screen.

The story takes the "anyone can wear the mask" concept into creative and progressive directions. Into the Spiderverse imagines an alternate universes with different variations of Spiderman, all similar and unique. The central character Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a young African-American teen who befriends Peter Parker and discovers secrets about his own family - and destiny. All the characters are fleshed out and play a pivotal role in the story.

Not just another superhero movie, but one that builds upon and broadens the mythology, Intro the Spiderverse will be considered a classic.