Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is by far the best comic book movie I’ve ever seen; it is a love letter to the style and stories of the original comics. Its amazing style, score, and plot are something that more comic movies should aspire to reach.

Going into see Into The Spider-Verse I was expecting another half-decent Marvel movie with forgettable villains and a plot progression long overused, from the intro credits alone, however, it was clear I was deeply mistaken. The movie immediately makes its style pop for everyone to see. Mixing cel shaded details and classic comic book art styles into its animation can only be described as that feeling when you wake up before your alarms and get to go back to sleep. Every character has a distinct silhouette, even all nine Spider-People. The movie even puts to use word boxes the same way they appear in the original caricatures of Spider-Man and other comic book tropes.

On top of this, every Spider-Person is animated in a different style; Peter Porker, for example, is drawn and animated as if he were ripped straight from Looney Tunes, while Penny Parker is animated like an upbeat anime character. The same rule applies for villains, with Kingpin being a walking rectangle, moving as cumbersome as you’d expect, while Doc Ock moves fluently like an octopus.

You truly get to enjoy the sound design and soundtrack that was put into this movie when seeing it in theatres, especially IMAX. The soundtrack was composed by Daniel Pemberton, who I’ve personally never heard of, but after hearing “The Prowlers” theme I immediately fell in love with the track. Every villain’s theme is suspenseful and actually gave me goosebumps in what I was expecting to be a lackluster soundtrack. However, the movie falls short on some of its licensed songs, sounding weirdly out of place or just too cheesy for the moments they were used. particularly in one very important scene, where Miles has to make a life-changing decision, and then suddenly Post Malone comes in, ruining the entire somber mood.

The story was great, having a good message throughout the entire film, that anyone can relate to, no matter who someone is, anyone can change the world.  Even the Spider-People are living embodiments of the film’s message, which really adds to the impact of it. Whether they’re name’s Peter B. Parker, or Peter B. Porker, anyone can wear the mask. The story arcs for antagonists were also compelling, having twists and turns I didn’t expect, and was pleasantly surprised to see I still got the chills the second time seeing it. Some of the villains didn’t get any story at all, only appearing for one or two scenes, which was a real let down to me because they were some of the coolest villains in the entire movie.

Overall, this movie was like watching a marriage of comics and movies that couldn’t have been executed better. Having issues so small that they’re easily overlooked, this is by far my favorite movie of the year, and I recommend everyone see it before it leaves theaters. With an amazing cast, story, soundtrack and art style, this movie earns a perfect score of 5/5 stars.