Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Discussion
OK, so it is arguably a kid's film, but having a 15 year old daughter (who was 10 when the first film "Into the Spider-Verse" came out) who was desperate to see this (and was going to miss opening night tomorrow because she was away on Guide camp) I treated her to an early pre-screening.
What a blast! Funny, visually stunning, a feast for the senses, lots of fan service without it being forced (the plot absolutely lends itself to it) and a clever twist that dumps all over the messes other studios have got their character arcs into and teaches a lesson to the superhero franchises that have misused the concept of a multiverse to just just continually retcon canon and remove all jeopardy from their films to the point of pointlessness, and it does so blatantly!
TBH I missed "Into the Spider-Verse" at the cinema, but word-of-mouth amongst the teens led it to being a 'Friday night with pizza' movie in chez Evercross and I was instantly charmed by it. OK, so its story was basic, but it was a good-old fashioned superhero movie updated for a younger generation without it ever being preachy about being diverse (something that Sony Pictures seem to manage that Disney repeatedly fail to do). The post-credit sequence in the first movie in particular got old duffer me (who remembers old style animated Spiderman cartoons on Glen Michael's Cavalcade - it's a Scottish thing) chuckling!
I (as others) got worried though when a pregnant black female Spiderwoman (riding a motorcycle) appeared in the trailer for this sequel, but it is absolutely treated as the ridiculous thing it is when the character is introduced, and then nothing more is made of it (she is not a Mary Sue sent to prove how useless all the men are, which would be the case had this been a Disney movie).
I loved this film, but I loved it more for the meta-criticism this film represents for other action superhero movies.
What a blast! Funny, visually stunning, a feast for the senses, lots of fan service without it being forced (the plot absolutely lends itself to it) and a clever twist that dumps all over the messes other studios have got their character arcs into and teaches a lesson to the superhero franchises that have misused the concept of a multiverse to just just continually retcon canon and remove all jeopardy from their films to the point of pointlessness, and it does so blatantly!
TBH I missed "Into the Spider-Verse" at the cinema, but word-of-mouth amongst the teens led it to being a 'Friday night with pizza' movie in chez Evercross and I was instantly charmed by it. OK, so its story was basic, but it was a good-old fashioned superhero movie updated for a younger generation without it ever being preachy about being diverse (something that Sony Pictures seem to manage that Disney repeatedly fail to do). The post-credit sequence in the first movie in particular got old duffer me (who remembers old style animated Spiderman cartoons on Glen Michael's Cavalcade - it's a Scottish thing) chuckling!
I (as others) got worried though when a pregnant black female Spiderwoman (riding a motorcycle) appeared in the trailer for this sequel, but it is absolutely treated as the ridiculous thing it is when the character is introduced, and then nothing more is made of it (she is not a Mary Sue sent to prove how useless all the men are, which would be the case had this been a Disney movie).
I loved this film, but I loved it more for the meta-criticism this film represents for other action superhero movies.
Edited by Evercross on Friday 2nd June 10:08
Went to see this today with juniors....artistically it's a gem every frame is like something you'd hang on your wall.
Storyline is a bit thin for me, not enough to hold the 2hr + running time in my opinion. I nipped out for the toilet and some drinks for the kids at the start of a fight scene and it was still going on 10 minutes later, daughter sighed and said she was bored.
I really wanted to love this, it's obvious that the creators do but it was just a bit visually overwhelming, not enough dialog, and just a bit too long.....and then, the worst crime of all "To be continued....."
I will certainly watch the second half - but for me not as good as Into the Spider-Verse - the previous animated / Miles Morales film.
Maybe it's one of those films that get better on second viewing.
Storyline is a bit thin for me, not enough to hold the 2hr + running time in my opinion. I nipped out for the toilet and some drinks for the kids at the start of a fight scene and it was still going on 10 minutes later, daughter sighed and said she was bored.
I really wanted to love this, it's obvious that the creators do but it was just a bit visually overwhelming, not enough dialog, and just a bit too long.....and then, the worst crime of all "To be continued....."
I will certainly watch the second half - but for me not as good as Into the Spider-Verse - the previous animated / Miles Morales film.
Maybe it's one of those films that get better on second viewing.
Looking forward to the next one.
grumbledoak said:
Lower them slightly.
It is excellent but not quite as good as the first. A little over long and that ending.
I am inclined to disagree. It is a lot more involved than the first which had what at first glance appeared to be a fairly straightforward storyline, but IMO that is a good thing as 5 years have passed since then and the writers/producers are allowing the franchise to grow with its audience.It is excellent but not quite as good as the first. A little over long and that ending.
As for the ending, I don't know anyone under the age of 25 who has been annoyed about it, and instead they are absolutely hyped up for the conclusion.
I've seen it a second time now (having watched some of the breakdown vids on Youtube) and I am really impressed at how well structured it is, cleverly foreshadowing the twist from as far back as the first movie as well as tightly integrating what could have been a sprawling narrative. Despite the long runtime there really is nothing superfluous there once you know what is going on.
PS. I also like how Sony managed to subtly (slyly even) keep the movie's ESG metrics up without being preachy about it.
Edited by Evercross on Tuesday 13th June 10:33
Saw it opening weekend and loved it. I missed the first one in the cinema as I didn't get the hype but having then seen it at home I was hooked.
I thought this one was actually better than the first. I agree, it's not quite as self contained a story as the first one but that's because we all knew it was going to be a two parter. I think it handles that far better then Avengers IW as it doesn't just spend the film doing things you know will be undone in the next one.
Instead, it invests it's time in developing the characters. IMO this is one of the best representations of a Spider Man balancing his life with being a super hero. They certainly don't shy away from leaning into the fact that Miles has even greater expectations on him because of his background that he needs to live up to.
Visually it was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. So much thought was put in to every element and how its animated. Sound design was at the same level, there's a really good video of how at the end they merge the signature themes together across a scene which I missed the first time.
Definatley up there as one of my favourite Spider Man films.
I thought this one was actually better than the first. I agree, it's not quite as self contained a story as the first one but that's because we all knew it was going to be a two parter. I think it handles that far better then Avengers IW as it doesn't just spend the film doing things you know will be undone in the next one.
Instead, it invests it's time in developing the characters. IMO this is one of the best representations of a Spider Man balancing his life with being a super hero. They certainly don't shy away from leaning into the fact that Miles has even greater expectations on him because of his background that he needs to live up to.
Visually it was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. So much thought was put in to every element and how its animated. Sound design was at the same level, there's a really good video of how at the end they merge the signature themes together across a scene which I missed the first time.
Definatley up there as one of my favourite Spider Man films.
It exceeded my expectations as I had heard some negative things about the length. My daughter had avoided all spoilers so was a bit disappointed about it not ending. We both have a slight concern about the last film though as it doesn’t feel like there is an entire film left. I hope that they surprise us.
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