If you are like me, you enjoyed the Spider-Noir character in the Spider-Verse movies. Voiced by Nicholas Cage, it was a fun little gimmick and provided some comedic relief. But could Spider-Noir really stand on its own?
When I first heard this was going to become a live action show staring Nicholas Cage and his wig, my Spidey-Sense began to tingle. I sensed an absolute train wreck. But like any good train wreck, I simply could not look away. And then something truly unexpected happened, not only did the train avoid wrecking, it actually completed a wildly entertaining trip!
Although I was surprised, I could have completely avoided that uneasiness if I simply looked at who was producing the show. It turns out Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were involved. Had I known that, I would not have hesitated for one second to have high hopes for the show. That duo knows how to entertain me. They have not failed yet. If you look at their IMDB page you will see fun movie after fun movie. So I should not have been surprised that they would produce a really good television show.
Those are just a few of Lord and Miller's awesome movies and TV shows.
What makes it so good? i wish I could say it was Nicholas Cage's acting... but that is not really why anyone watches Nicholas cage. It is more his over acting that makes him so fun. And Spider-Noir is no exception. He almost plays a character of himself playing Humphrey Bogart. He lays on the gumshoe slang, accent and dialogue so thick that it can't help but make you smile.
The rest of the roles are perfectly cast with one thing in mind: fun. Lamorne Morris (who I as Winston loved in New Girl) does a fantastic job playing a 1930s investigative reporter. And if you stick around for his Nicholas Cage impersonation, I promise you will not be disappointed. Ever private dick needs a wise cracking secretary and Cage's Ben Riley gets his in the form of Janet Ruiz ,portrayed by Karen Rodriguez. She does a perfect "Girl Friday". It's the 1930 so you need a bunch of gangsters led by Silverman portrayed by Brendan Gleeson.
I don't want to spoil anything too much, but let's just say that some classic Spider-Man villains work for Silvermane. As a result, we get some cool superhero vs supervillain battles. But those battles are not the star attraction of this show. The real draw is the care the creative team put into recreating a classic 1940s movie. One of the options is to watch the show in black and white. I HIGHLY recommend watching it in this retro style. Although they could have taken the easy way out and simply used black and white as a crutch to create the nostalgia, the team went the extra mile and actually filmed the show like the Hollywood classics it pays homage to. There are so many shots where they tilt the camera like they used to in the old days. There are single camera shots that remind you of some of the greats.
But the show is not all gimmicks. It actually has a really cool "who dun it" story. Cage's Ben Riley is trying to find a "cure" for what ails him and many other super humans in town. There are plenty of double and triple crosses and some delightfully over the top side characters to keep the entertainment rolling. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it could have worked as a simple nostalgic detective story. But adding Spider_man to the mix was a perfect cherry on top!
Has anyone else seen Spider-Noir?
