Spider-man: Across The Spider-Verse
Directors:Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Shameik Moore, Daniel Kaluuya, Oscar Issac, Jake Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, and more
For me,
There were so many subtle moments where I forget I was watching an aminated film. This movie fleshes itself out in so many ways and becomes as tangible as any live-action film. The emotional torment that our two main characters are dealing with makes this one of the best spider “person” stories ever told. Our antagonist (other than the spot) Spider-Man 2099 has one of those perfected motivations when they “know” they are in the right.
This movie really is about the drama that has emerged between Gwen and her father Captain Stacey. We were introduced to this character first in Spider-Man 3 but we were really given a deeper connection in Andrew Garfields The Amazing Spider-man 1 and 2. These two movies will be the connective tissue that will make what Gwen is going through with her father more emotional but it is not necessary to see the films to adjust to what we're getting in Across The Spider-verse.
Miles Morales as Spider-man has a better relationship with his father who is also about to become captain in their universe but the focus is really on what is going on with him and his mother. The better he becomes the Spider-man the further his family feels he is getting away from them as Miles. This is on top of missing the one who got away to another dimension. The moments of their reconnection and trying to impress the parents while secretly doing what spider heroes have to do was in itself its own entertaining movie.
Are big bad is The Spot, figuring out who he is and how he fits into all of this, causing the rifts in the multiverse is one of those moments where you take a C-level, maybe D-level villain and give them a motivation/purpose that graduates them to A level threat status to the point where they can not be ignored, denied, reasoned with or easily stopped. It was the same way Electro was attempted to be handled in ASM 2 but Spiderverse perfected it.
The thing to look out for is where the multiverse can take you in this movie. Sony really listened to what the fans wanted to see in Spider-man Into The Spider-verse and we got a lot of those expectations met. That's all I will say till the spoiler talk show we put on the channel.
The music sets the tone of the movie capturing all of the tension and excitement from moment to moment. This is the best multiverse story above any in the MCU and the latest best picture winner. As complicated as this movie is written and the many different stories happening at the same time, the ability to lose the plot to all of the visuals could be a distraction but the way this movie is paste and balance makes it extremely easy to follow. The stories of each spider hero are well blended. You have Jessica Drew, Peter B Parker, Miguel O'Hara, Gwen Stacy, Spider-Punk (who I did not think I would like but was bloody brilliant, and Pavitr Prabhakar whose world was absolutely spectacular. There is so much love, pain, fear, and joy in this movie. It will excite you and make you cry. So far, spider-man (Tobey) has the best first and second films. Holland has the best trilogy, but if beyond the spiderverse sticks to landing. This will be in the running as the best Spider-man trilogy period.
I would be surprised if this does not get a Best Picture nomination. Not that it would win, it could, but a nomination I think is deserved if we get 10 other films after this that would be more deserving than Across the Spiderverse we as movie fans are in for a treat.
So, FOR ME, Spider-man Across The Spiderverse gets an A+ rating.