Every week Mike presents the best films for your daily firecracker break
Overview: Animated films are capable of both the worst and the best. Following in the footsteps of the excellent Lego films, anti-capitalist diatribes and Seth Rogen’s X-rated comedy Sausage Party, comes Spider-Man: New Generation, the only “superhero” film of its generation to transcend its popcorn status.
After the failure of their Amazing Spider Man 1 and 2 reboots, Sony delivers a film that finally asks the right question: Why risk your life for others?
The story is a blend of several series published by Marvel in recent years, in particular Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-verse. Very good books, highly recommended if you’re not arachnophobic.
In this brand-new film, we follow Miles Morales, a young mixed-race boy who tries to fit in at a school for the gifted and ends up with the powers of his hero Spider-Man.
Without spoilers, we can tell you that he will learn to manage his powers alongside many other Spider-men from parallel dimensions. The film succeeds in telling the story of the different characters’ origins without ever repeating itself. It’s fluid, frankly beautiful and always well written. The soundtrack, which shifts from electronic to rap, is always well chosen, and here’s an extract:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deahJkMNA4I
Why watch High : It’s a visual feast, an explosion of colors, shapes and techniques that renews itself with each sequence. Each of the Spider-men has his own graphic style, which brings out his own character. The action is always designed to be dynamic and accessible, a far cry from the confusion of certain franchises (not to mention Avengers).
The Cel Shading graphics are both familiar and surprising, halfway between an animated comic book and a painting. Cel Shading is a style of animation that originated in video games and can be found in Borderlands and Jet-set radio. It is defined by shading that gives a celluloid rendering to 3D. In short, it’s a way of making digital graphics look hand-drawn. If you would like to know more, we recommend this excellent video by ARTE :
Cult moment: Every appearance by Spider-Ham (better known as Spider-Cochon in France), dubbed by the hilarious John Mulaney. His character is a cartoon hero who never fails to poke fun at the absurdity of the “Real” world. We can also mention Spider-Man Noir, dubbed by Nicolas Cage, who is a huge comic book fan.
A vigilante from a world of intrigue and turmoil, who always poses in the wind to make his cape flutter. A great Batman parody.
The final word: Spider-Man: New Generation proves that it’s still possible to make a superhero movie with heart. A success that evokes the franchise’s heyday. The era when Sam Raimi (also behind the Evil Dead saga) gave the genre its letters of nobility. Far from taking the viewer for a fool, it offers quality entertainment populated by endearing characters and epic passages.
This success is due in no small part to the film’s team. Among the executive producers are two of the best screenwriters in comic book history. Brian Michael Bendis, the creator of Miles Morales, and Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, who died just a few weeks after the film’s release. We laugh, we cry and, of course, we smoke.
Mike Teeve
