MOVIE REVIEW: Spider Man Into the Spiderverse

  Hello everyone! So, I've been hyped for Spider Man Into the Spiderverse for a while. To be exact, over a year. When the first teaser of this film was out, I was blown away because this looks nothing like the usual mainstream animated movie. It just looks straight out of concept art book!

  Naturally, I got excited for this movie. The last time I got this excited was for Kubo and the Two Strings! I waited for a whole year and trying to be patient, even though in the end I just couldn't contain my hype for this movie. For weeks I begged my friends to see this movie together. Although to be honest, I would watch it anyway without my friends, but they eventually agreed to join me. I saw this movie on Saturday, a day after the movie was released, and BOY let me tell you that this movie lives up to its hype.

WARNING: There's a mild spoiler in this review. Please avoid the red text if you haven't watched the movie.

  The movie follows an origin story of Miles Morales, a teenager from Brooklyn that was bitten by a spider and ended up being the next Spider Man. Even though there were a lot of Spider people from another universe (we'll talk about this later), the movie still managed to keep the focus on Miles. I mean, this is his debut film after all. Miles himself was a really likable character. Many comic book geeks complained about him in the comic being a boring Peter Parker knockoff for diversity points, but he got much more characterization in this film, which is thankful.

He bought this costume from someone special

  So, Miles was a good protagonist, but what about the main appeal of this movie, the spider people from another dimension? I'm glad to say that they were really fun! There were five different spider people here. Peni Parker was probably the most popular one after the second trailer was dropped because obviously, she's a cute anime girl. She was indeed really cute, however I really wish that she got more lines. Spider Ham was hilarious! I love his Looney Tunes physique. My favorite one has to be Spider Noir tho. Nicolas Cage really nailed his role, I mean he wanted to be on superhero flick for a while, of course he's gonna do his best. Noir got the best lines on the whole movie and his design is just really neat. However, those three didn't really do much in contributing to both Miles' story and the movie itself. They're just there to show that there are so much Spider universe out there, which is not an unimportant role at all, I just wished that they got more screentime.

Do animals talk in this dimension?

  Spider Gwen was a nice companion for Miles since they're the same age. She wasn't the stereotypical "girl power" character that I've expected her to be. Also she didn't end up together with Miles! Thank God! They just met! But the upcoming sequel will set them up together... let's just see how it'll turn out. Last but not least, we got Peter Parker. In Miles' universe, there was a Peter Parker as well, however he passed away as a hero. This Peter Parker, he was a slobby mess who got broke and lazy. Thankfully, that's not his only traits. He's still kicks a lot of bad guys, so he wasn't a completely unlikable hobo, like many fans had worried. He also has a great chemistry with Miles. His sarcastic witty personality plays off well with Miles' clumsy and curious traits.

Their spidey sense are tingling

  We talked about the hero, now let's talk about the villain. We all know that the main villain is Kingpin, as shown in the trailers. God, his design is wonderful! Because this is technically a cartoon, they can exaggerate his body feature without looking like an uncanny valley. So they decided to make his body extremely huge with small head. Many people thought it looks ridiculous, but I loved it! The design shows his main characteristic, a controlling business man with great strength. And I'm not joking around when I said he has a great strength, he killed Brooklyn's Spider Man with his own fist! He was really terrifying in the movie. Although not gonna lie, his toy design cracks me up. His sidekicks were really entertaining and were a genuine threats towards the heroes. My favorite one... well, I don't think I can spoil it, but you'll know it when you see them.

an absolute UNIT

 Since this movie was written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the one behind The Lego Movie and Clone High, it was guaranteed to be a hilarious movie. So many great and memorable lines... and a bunch of Spider Man references! If you are a Spider Man fanatic, you're gonna have a blast. If you're a casual movie-goer, you're not gonna miss anything, since the references weren't in your face. There were also a lot of emotional moments as well, and they really hit you in the heart.

Miles in his costume

  Lastly, we gotta talk about the visual. My God, the visual was out of this world! I love how much details they put into the art direction and designs. Just look at the spider people. Spider Noir has halftone pattern to reference classic comic book's artstyle, Spider Ham was basically a 40s Chuck Jones era cartoon character with Looney Tunes physics (seriously, how did they make smear frames in a CGI model?), and Peni Parker is, well, an anime girl, because her comic was based on Neon Genesis Evangelion, a popular anime (shame that there wasn't any reference of it in the movie). Also, since this is a comic book adaptation, they were taking a LOT of advantages of it. It was colorful (unlike the live action comic adaptation in which EVERYTHING is desaturated, God... I'm sick of it), not to mention that there were a lot of visual references of classic comic book, such as comic panels, speech bubbles, and chromatic aberration (this was a reference to printing errors in comics, they REALLY went that far into details). It's like animation is the perfect medium for comic book adaptation, but mainstream audience are treating animation as kiddie flick so there are so little theatrical animated adaptation..... ah, but that rant is for next time.

Look at all those speech bubbles

  Overall, I really recommend you to watch this movie as it's currently available on the theater. I really don't want this movie to flop, because this is definitely a gem in a year filled with mediocre animated movies. The visual, characters, and the script itself makes this movie worth the admission ticket! As for the obligatory ratings, well.. 9/10. This is one of the few movies that I wish I could've re-experienced it all over again because it was so mindblowing. So, get up and see this movie right now!

Man, I wish it was released on December 12... :'(

 Oh, and please wait for the end credits scene. It was glorious and I'm so bummed that I left before it was shown.
--
It's been a while since I've written a post that isn't a task. 11th grade is very hard and I was getting lazy, so I didn't post much. That's why I wanted to exercise my writing skills with more reviews and essay coming up... hopefully. Thank you for reading!

MIND MAP: Life on Land

Hello! This is a mind map that me and my friend Alfina made for another English task. As the title suggests, it's about life on land. Specifically, the sad truth about the forests and biodiversity. Check it out!

EXPOSITION TEXT - Adopt, Don't Shop

Hello, guys! This is an exposition text that me and my group (Alfina, Faza, and Shabrina) made a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION TEXT - Why Music Piracy Is Bad

Why Music Piracy Is Bad

   Pirating music isnt something that is uncommon to us. The internet has made piracy even easier and harder for the authorities to control. It's really such a shame since piracy is really harmful. Not only that it's the equivalent of stealing, but it also hurts the original artists and the economy.

  Piracy itself means illegally obtaining sonething (in this case, music) without spending a dime. Since you don't pay for it and you don't have any permission, it's no different than stealing. Yet piracy is still the norm despite that stealing is frowned upon in the society.

   There's no doubt that pirating music has a negative effects to the original artists. Maybe not so much for Hollywood multi-millionaire celebrities, but for independent artists who make music for their living, it's very bad. They will not earn money that they actually deserved if someone pirate their music, therefore their hard work means nothing. Artists spent months to make their best offerings to the music industry in the form of album or EP, and stealing that hard work from them is very shameful.

   According to Institute for Police Innovation, the US government loss in total of 12.5 billion dollars in output due to music piracy. Not only that, but it's estimated that 71.000 people in US lose their jobs due to piracy. This means that piracy actively hurts the economy since many people has become unemployed because of it.

   In conclusion, music piracy is a form of stealing and hurts the artists and even the economic system. It's beneficial for those who pirate it, but it's harmful for everyone else.

DISCUSSION RESUME - Wedding Invitation Analysis

Hello, readers! This is yet another English task, this time it's about invitation. We were asked to make a wedding invitation and do an oral invitation speech in front of the class. My group consisted of me, Cynthia Parameswari and Mohammad Nabil. Here's the invitation that we've made together.

Our group's wedding invitation

And here is a complete list of our analysis of other's group oral speech.

GROUP 1: Amara, Yasmine, Fariz

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 2: Raka, Fitya, Nursyifa

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 3: M. Farhan, Alfina, Shabrina, Faza

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 4: M. Rifqi, Kayla, Feny

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 5: Achmad, Mahyana, Kiyasati

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 6: Gilbert, Ilham, Syifa, Muthia

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 7: M. Faeza, Helena, R. Fathia

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 8: Nadira, Tiara, Christian

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

GROUP 9: Akmal, Asri, Aufa, Saskia

Name of the host	Invitation sentence	Kind of event	Date	Time	Venue	Special instruction	RSVP
√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√

DISCUSSION RESUME - Giving Opinion and Thoughts

GROUP 1: Orangutan Died

Pros	·         Tourist could’ve had bring diseases that was contagious to the orangutans ·         Tourist should’ve stayed 10 meters away from orangutans yet many disobeyed this rule
Cons	·          There are more factors that contributed to orangutan’s death than just human contact ·         Tourist couldn’t resist being that far away from orangutans
My opinion	In my opinion, there are a lot of factors that contributed the death of orangutan, not just human contact. However, I feel like it’s best to not disturb their habitat and just let them live in peace in the forest.

GROUP 2: Girl Was Sexually Assaulted In Depok, No Investigation From Police

Pros	·         Since this news had gone viral, the police should investigate the case despite that the girl didn’t report it to the police ·         The girl was traumatized, so she just couldn’t tell anyone else about her case. That’s why she didn’t report to the police.
Cons	·         The police must follow procedure, because of this they couldn’t investigate the case
My opinion	Sexual assault in woman is still a huge problem in this world. However, lately sexual predators, at least in Hollywood, have been arrested since the age of internet made victims able to talk about their case without being anxious, since a lot of internet users are very supportive towards assault victims. The most recent example of this is Harvey Weinstein, in which the victims confessed about their assault incident, which went viral and ended up with Harvey getting arrested. These women didn’t report to the police, yet police investigated the case anyway. In my opinion, regardless of the girl reporting or not, the police should investigate the case immediately since the story is already viral in social media. A potential rapist is in loose. We really need the authorities to dig this case deeper.

GROUP 3: Legalization of Underage Marriage

Pros	·         It gives more time to plan their adulthood ·         It avoids free sex since they’re legally married
Cons	·         The child isn’t ready biologically, emotionally, and psychologically ·         Childhood moments are cut short due to marriage responsibility
My opinion	Underage marriage is illegal for a reason. Teenagers under 18 years old are not mature enough to think about marriage responsibility since their concept of marriage is often very unrealistic. Their hormones are also very unstable, therefore if they’re already married, that marriage could be in danger due to mood swings. Not to mention that they probably won’t be able to find a job because they’re lacking in experience, so they’ll end up living with their parent’s money and making their parent’s life even harder. In conclusion, I really disagree with legalizing underage marriage.

 GROUP 4: Psychological Test for Driving License is Just a Formality

Pros	·         It took a very long time ·         The test is on paper which might be inaccurate
Cons	·         There are a lot of drivers who can’t control their emotions ·         Psychological test will control their behavior and concentration
My opinion	I feel like psychological test when getting a driver license is very important if it’s done right. Many people who are mentally unable to drive in Indonesia are still getting driver license, which is dangerous for road safety. However, if people could just pay to get a good score on their psychological test, what’s the point?

GROUP 5: Community for Transgender Who Struggled to Get a Job

Pros	·         Transgender can socialize with their peers ·         This community will help trans people make a living
Cons	·         Transgender are not being thankful to God for their own body ·         They can’t get a job and they should just accept it since company refuse to hire people with gender ambiguity
My opinion	Let trans people live, why should we judge them? It’s their life, not ours. If they have gender dysphoria, so be it. I don’t like people who judge other based on their physical looks.

GROUP 6: Zoning Policy Resistance from Parents and Students

Pros	·         Students won’t be tired to go to school because school is near their home ·         There will be no “favorite school” and all school will be equal
Cons	·         Not all area in Indonesia has a school nearby ·         Students would accept getting a school that is very far away from their home if that’s the school they want
My opinion	I understand the ministry’s intention, but if you want all school to be equal, you really need to make all teachers equal as well! And the general school curriculum need to be fixed. The percentage is also really unfair in my opinion, since there were less people who register to school with pure national examination score this year, it won’t fix how unequal schools (at least in Bandung) are. A lot of area in Indonesia has school that is very unfit due to how uncaring the local government are to education, for example a middle school in Padalarang (keep in mind that this is West Java) has unwanted pregnancy problem. As a Padalarang citizen, I don’t want to go to a school like that! This zoning policy really need more thoughts from the minister.

GROUP 7: Green Project for ASIAN Games Still Less Maximum

Pros	·         Indonesia still has forest fire ·         They should’ve prepared it further
Cons	·         It’s impossible to change Indonesia in such a short time ·         Anytime is a good time to make Indonesia a better place
My opinion	I think it’s true that it’s kind of impossible for Indonesia to change in a short time, but still, the government could’ve put more effort for this Green Project.

Bonus: Thoughts on the song "The Man Who Can't Be Moved"

Offer	Maybe I can help you to get a girl who is actually interested in you?
Suggestion	I think he should just get over this girl.
Opinion	I think this man is actually kind of creepy, I don’t think the man mentioned anything about his chemistry with this girl so the listener could make the assumption that this man know nothing about this girl. Move on, already! Your love is nothing but an infatuation. Regarding about the actual song (production and instrumental-wise), it’s nothing interesting, in fact it’s a really generic song, but I don’t mind it very much.