‘SpiderMan Across The SpiderVerse Review — An Animated Masterpiece
I visited Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse yesterday, not sure what to expect. It's been five years since the amazing movie Into The Spider-Verse came out and I'm in awe of this movie. But five years and a pandemic later, who knows? I was surprised by so many sequels.
Turns out I needn't have worried. As the movie ended and the credits rolled, there was a loud commotion in the theater. One person yelled, "What!?" then the audience applauded. It was one of the coolest audience reactions I've ever seen in a movie and when you see it you'll understand why.
Note: This review contains only basic spoilers, as you can glean from the trailer and movie description. I won't reveal the big twists or endings.
Across The Spider-Verse begins after the events of the first film. Miles (Shameik Moore) is a little older, a little taller and a little depressed. He misses his Spider-friends from the previous film, who all went back to their own universes after defeating Fisk and we thought the multiverse problem was solved, wrong.
It seems the trouble in the multiverse is just beginning. Next, we learn that there are all kinds of holes through which various villains and monsters can travel from one universe to another, and that the Spider People Society was created to plug those holes. Holes play a large role in the film, including one of the villains, Spot (Jason Schwartzman).
The leader of the Spider Society is a Spider-Man vampire named Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac), a stern and somewhat unpleasant superhero. When Miles is surrounded by Spider-People and confronted by Miguel, he learns some pretty important things about the multiverse and his role in it. It's really crazy, with great action and great twists that blew me away.
Across The Spider-Verse is a beautiful animated film full of wild colors and imaginative artwork. It takes everything from the first movie and makes it even bigger. Every scene is something to admire. This film doesn't just follow the art style of the first film. Instead, he builds on that style by layering color, emotion, and sound at every turn. To be honest, it's hard to describe. It still has the comedic flavor of the previous film, but it's much more than that. Sometimes it can be a bit of a headache.
Meanwhile, the story goes places you never expected. It's so well written that once you find out what it's about, you realize there are clues you just missed along the way. (Or maybe you won't miss it, but I did). One thing's for sure: by the time you get to the end, you'll be wanting more.
The show is great, as is the animation and writing. We get a lot more of Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), which I think is great. Other returning characters from the first film include Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), as well as newcomers such as the anarchic punk rock Spider-Man, Hobie (Daniel Kaluuya) and the video game Spider-Man played by Yuri Lowenthal. .
It's a great animated movie and, like the first one, it's honestly one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen. It not only brings freshness and newness to a seemingly outdated genre, but also a brilliantly crafted story. I think the story will be difficult for young children to understand, but they will enjoy the action, humor and wild animation like nothing else. Watch on the biggest screen with the best sound you can get!
6/6 on the Revised Little Man Rating Scale . I really have a problem with that. The movie is almost perfect, but should I give it a perfect score? Is this one of my favorite movies of all time? Is it on par with the big guys? In the end I think yes. In many ways it surpasses the original film, which was well on its way to perfection. There have been few sequels and I think this one deserves the highest praise.
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