Movie Breakdown: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
Pre-Screening Stance:
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a fantastic movie, and so far I haven’t seen anything that indicates Across The Spider-Verse will be anything less than a worthy follow-up.
Post-Screening Ramble:
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is pretty awesome, but it will require a slight adjustment to your expectations. The story kicks off with Gwen Stacey/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) on her Earth in a battle against The Vulture (Jorma Taccone), but it’s clearly one that’s not from her universe. As they’re fighting, in comes a pair of Spider-People – Miguel O’ Hara/Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) – to help wrangle the misplaced villain. After the skirmish wraps, Gwen is invited to join the duo in their efforts to save the multi-verse, which is in disarray due to the events of the first film. Meanwhile, Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) is still doing his thing on his Earth, and it’s here that he’s introduced to Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a being that can create his own portals to other universes. Naturally, all of this brings these Spidey-Folks together.
The first thing to note here is that Across The Spider-Verse looks incredible. I could have watched it on mute with no captions and I still would have had a good time just staring at its incredibly lush, unique visuals. The rest of it is great as well, with some fine voice work and a bumping soundtrack on display, and all in all I can definitely tag it as a well crafted movie that’s a big step up from the first film. With all of that being said, it’s also part one of a larger story (Beyond The Spider-Verse is out next year), and it does not feel like a standalone effort in any way. So, just as you’re finally settling into the story and just as things are starting to get real serious and interesting, Across The Spider-Verse ends. If you’re a fan of Lord Of The Rings or Dune or the like, this probably isn’t going to bother you much, but it’s still worth knowing heading into it that the film spends its runtime building to a cliffhanger and is not just simply the next adventure.
You should see Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, but take note before you go that it may leave you feeling a little unfulfilled. It opens in theaters tomorrow, June 2.
One Last Thought:
There should be a full spin-off with Daniel Kaluuya as Hobie/Spider-Punk. Due to his super thick accent, I’d probably miss out on most of the dialogue but that’s fine – I’m in anyways.
