HOLLYWOOD—I am just going to put this out there, the traveling between the various universes is a complicated narrative that is not that easy to follow for most moviegoers. We recently saw this in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and it will also be a narrative point for DC with the upcoming “The Flash.” Well, there is another movie you can add to that list, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Let me be clear, this notion that the flick is not entangled to the live-action “Spider-Man” flicks recently starring Tom Holland.
This is an animated version and it happens to be the sequel to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Yeah, a play on the words for each movie is slightly confusing, because one mishap and you might be referring to the previous flick. With that said we have this sequel, that I was slightly spoiled when someone told me it ends with a twist, and they slightly alluded to the twist which angered me.
If you have an idea as to how a movie ends, it will not have the punch you expect. This sequel picks up with Miles Morales (voice of Shameik Moore), as our teen webslinger. The pressure is getting to Miles who is attempting to do his best to juggle being a superhero, while also being a teenager and navigating those pressures. I really loved this take on the stress that our protagonist endures. You don’t want to see a hero who has everything going so well.
Now here is where the complications come into play; we start with a tale focused on Gwen Stacy (voice of Hailee Steinfeld) who is grappling with the death of her bestie on Earth-65, not the same as Miles’ world of Earth-1610. I was immersed in the opening sequence, and then we transition to Miles’ universe and it took me a moment to re-integrate myself in the animated feature.
Let me put this out there, the movie clocks in at 2 hours and 20 minutes. Yeah, that is a bit long, and I have to be honest, the flick could have trimmed off around 20-30 minutes which would have greatly improved the pacing of the film. There were some moments where I got bored and my attention waned, this was primarily in the second act.
You might say why Gwen’s role is important? It is because she has a connection to Miles from the first film that is pivotal to this sequel where we discover an abundant Spider-Verse with a variety of different Spider people with unique traits and looks. Some of those characters include Miguel O’Hara (voice of Oscar Isaac) and Jess Drew (voice of Issa Rae). Jess’ character is an interesting one because she rides a bike and she happens to be a superhero who is pregnant people. Not something ever seen before in the superhero arena.
I think The Spot/Dr. Jonathan Ohn (voice of Jason Schwartzman) is a terrific villain who is a bit of a klutz in the beginning and a nefarious foe to our protagonists and all the other characters in the film. The various Spider-Mans provide a ton of advice to Miles who is still growing and discovering himself and learns some valid truths about life and that when you’re a hero the people you care about most are always in harm’s way. Other notable additions to the franchise include Daniel Kaluuya (voice of Spider-Punk), Karen Soni (voice of Spider-Man India) and Jake Johnson (voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man).
What works so well for “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” is that it is visually stunning. I mean I have not seen a flick like this with such stunning imagery that immerses you into this iconic, unique and exciting universe. You feel like the movie was literally ripped from the pages of a comic book, which has never been captured on the big screen quite like this. Could this have transpired 20 years ago? I don’t think so and the filmmakers take advantage of the technology at their fingertips to immerse the audience in a world unlike anything ever seen on the big screen.
Kids will thoroughly enjoy it, but might tap out at some point because of the pace, adults on the other hand I think will have a stellar time, but it doesn’t hurt to see the previous flick before watching this one to be aware of all the characters and how these various universes interact. Really eager to see how this next chapter will play out considering how this sequel ends. Are we looking at a trilogy with an epic end or another sequel? Time will tell.
