Review: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, or This Is the Best Animated Film I Have Seen In a Long, Long Time

Polygon

"I sense an Oscar win, guys."

Let me begin this review with my sentiments, which a lot of other people share: "This is the best animation style I have ever seen." Well, of course stop motion animation is still a glorious thing to behold, but Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse gives us a much-needed break from all the computer-generated animation flicks that are basically just Pixar clones. And Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), together with last year's T'Challa from Black Panther, gives us a much-needed break from all the Caucasian superheroes of the silver screen.

Into the Spider-Verse does beautifully what Ang Lee's Hulk tried to do back in 2003, and that is to blend the visual comic medium with the audio-visual medium of cinema (Lee received a lot of hate with Hulk, but I was one of the very few who genuinely thought it was groundbreaking). The result is a visual style that is totally new, a breath of fresh air in this age where every computer animated film looks the same. There are several nods to the source medium of print, such as using speech bubbles and sound effects text, using CMYK offsetting instead of blurs, and of course the iconic use of halftones. Nothing says print more than those halftone dots.

The plot's pacing was okay, although there were times when the almost two-hour running time felt longer than that. And the story is a good take on the alternate universe template. If this were a live-action flick, the filmmakers would probably put the same actor in different makeup and costumes to illustrate different alternate dimension versions of the character. But why should Spider-Man in another dimension always look exactly like Peter Parker (Jake Johnson)? Why can't there be a black Spider-Man, a female Spider-Man (Spider-Gwen, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld), an anime Spider-Man (Peni Parker, voiced by Kimiko Glenn), an animated pig Spider-Man (Spider-Ham, voiced by John Mulaney), or a black-and-white Spider-Man who sounds like Nicholas Cage? In the same vein, why shouldn't an alternate dimension version of me look like Brad Pitt?

Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman could also have chosen to go the cheesy route and have Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy kiss in the end. It's a good thing they didn't, and they replaced it with Miles hugging his dad in the end instead. This film is about friendship and family, and isn't about Spider-Man's romantic love interest, because Miles Morales just hit puberty, after all.

This review comes a bit late, as the film was released in December, but it does come off a recent Golden Globe win for Best Animated Film. And that is a good sign that Into the Spider-Verse just might take home the animated film Oscar. This is important because I've met children nowadays who would ignore a beautifully animated Hayao Miyazaki flick for a crappy Paw Patrol episode simply because Miyazaki is 2D. Sad, I know, but kids need to be reintroduced to great animation that isn't overtly computer-generated. I guess we need to wean them off gradually, so maybe give them a film that's CGI, but doesn't feel totally CGI, and that pays homage to the 2D medium – and coincidentally, that's what this film is.

Vox

Honestly, I think this would still rock even as a 2D-animated film. 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. USA. 2018.



Orinal rating: 8.0/10
Mahershala Ali looking like his character: +0.25
Brian Tyree Henry voicing Miles's dad: +0.25
Liev Schreiber's unrecognisable voice: +0.25
Stan Lee's cameo: +0.25
Final rating: 9.0/10

Review: The Get Down, o Ang History ng Hip-Hop na Gawa ng Isang White Guy

What's on Netflix

Graffiti sa tren. New York na New York.

Noong makita niyo ang promotional materials para sa The Get Down, malamang pareho tayo ng naisip: Oh, a show about hip-hop? Malamang parang Empire lang 'to, pero set in the 70s. Well actually, medyo parang Empire siya, pero hindi rin.

Siyempre, dahil si Baz Luhrmann ang co-creator nito, alam mo na more or less kung ano ang ie-expect. Malaking production ito, tulad ng ibang Baz Luhrmann films na Romeo + Juliet at Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby, at Australia. Sinasabi nga na ang The Get Down ay ang most expensive show ng Netflix, at one of the most expensive shows ever produced for television. At dahil si Luhrmann din ang co-writer at director ng pilot, na-set na niya ang standard para sa buong series.

Maganda ang production design ng series, at kasama na rito siyempre ang costume designs. Straight out of the 70s, lalo na ang graffiti sa mga pader ng Bronx, ang red Puma sneakers ni Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore), ang afros nina Ezekiel (Justice Smith) at Dizzee (Jaden Smith, na uncredited, surprisingly), at ang disco costume ni Cadillac (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).

Hindi ko lang alam kung totoong footage of old school New York ang ibang eksena na ginagamit pang-intercut sa mga scenes. Pwedeng totoong footage 'yun, or pwedeng modern footage na nilagyan nalang ng film grain para magmukhang luma. Si Grandmaster Flash pala ay totoo. I mean, totoong tao siya na master ng turntables at pioneer ng hip-hop music. Sa show, siya ay pino-portray ng isang actor na si Mamoudou Athie. Pero 'yung totoong Grandmaster Flash, na obviously matanda na, ay associate producer sa show na ito.

Hitfix

Shaolin (kanan) at Flash (kaliwa), na medyo kamukha ni Pharrell.

Dahil ito'y tungkol sa hip-hop, hindi talaga maiiwasan ang mga comparison sa Empire, ang hip-hop show ng Fox na lumabas noong 2015. Actually, malayo ito sa Empire. Ang magkatulad lang siguro sa dalawang shows ay ang African-American, hip-hop music, at New York City. Ang Empire ay mas katulad ng Glee, kung saan may mga original songs. Sabi nga ng British rapper na si Rodney P tungkol sa The Get Down, "I was worried. I saw the trailer and I thought, 'This is gonna be like a hip-hop version of Glee." Buti nalang hindi.

Magaling din ang casting para sa show na ito. Maganda ang chemistry ng DJ na si Shaolin at ng kanyang wordsmith na si Ezekiel, a.k.a. Zeke. Ayos din ang magkakapatid na sina Dizzee, Ra-Ra (Skylan Brooks), at Boo-Boo (Tremaine Brown, Jr.), pero parang tinamad ang writers mag-isip ng pangalan nila. Sa adults naman, ang galing ng mga veterans na sina Jimmy Smits at Giancarlo Esposito bilang magkapatid na magkalayo ang hitsura at landas. Pero ang pinakabida talaga rito ay si Mylene (Herizen Guardiola). Ang galing lang ng boses. At ang ganda pa niya.

In terms of narrative pacing, maganda ang pilot dahil na-hook ako agad. Ang isang indicator kung magiging maganda ang series ay ang pilot, dahil kung hindi ka na-hook sa pilot, hindi mo pagtiyatiyagaan panoorin ang mga susunod na episode. Pero ayos ang pilot, at hindi lang dahil si Baz Luhrmann ang nag-direct. Kaso lang, natapos ang six episodes na parang isang buong season na. Mid-season break lang dapat iyon, dahil twelve episodes talaga ang Season 1. Pero buo na siya e, at malamang ang magiging feel ng next six episodes ay Season 2. Hindi lang ako sigurado, so baka may surprises pa si Luhrmann up his sleeve.

Variety

Nakaka-bother ang pekpek shorts ni Boo-Boo.

The Get Down. USA. 2016.



Original na rating: 7/10
Walang Herizen Guardiola nudity: -0.1
Jimmy Smits bilang Papa Fuerte: +0.1
Kevin Corrigan bilang Jackie Moreno: +0.1
Kevin Corrigan na taga-Bronx talaga: +0.1
Medyo corny na rhymes ni Nas: -0.1
NYC graffiti: +0.1
Speech ni Zeke sa Episode 6: +0.1
Grandmaster Flash: +0.1
Final na rating: 7.4/10