Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse review: weaving the perfect web

 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse Review

Alright lets do this one last time. My name is Sam Harrison, I was bitten with the media bug and for the last few weeks I have been the Media-man, I am sure you know the rest, made some blogs, started some video pieces, hoping to make a name for myself in the process and span to so many ways of media. Well now I am not here to talk about my own but instead I am here to delve into one of my most highly anticipated films of this year and that is with Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse, the long awaited sequel to the 2018 Award winning Into the Spider-verse. Now after the last movie was such an awe-inspiring masterwork, the bar was set high for the sequel (and it's inevitable 2nd part coming out in late March next year) and I am pleased to say that they have set the bar high and passed it with grace and ease and is another masterpiece.

*There will be some minor spoilers for Into the Spider-verse and not too many at all for Across but not spoiling everything at all. Also this reviews score may change on the outcome of the Final film but most case they may stay pretty high scoring*

Weaving the Web of a story

Now to delve into the story of this one I want to give a little backstory summary of the first film. In Into the Spider-verse we were introduced to the main lead of this series, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) a kid from Brooklyn who has found themselves in a very prestigious school that feels like he doesn't belong. One day while creating some art with his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali), he bitten by a spider and soon develops powers of Spider-Man. He was going to get some help from his universe's Spider-Man (Chris Pine) before the super collider by the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) causes the fatal injury and passing of that universe's Arachnid hero. However, this leads to a whole array of situations as the collider had opened a portal to multiple different universes and unleashed an array of other Spider-people, including a slightly more rough Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man (Jake Johnson), a more graceful and powerful Gwen Stacy / Spider Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), a Neo-Noir Spider-Man (Nicholas Cage), a young girl with a giant spider-mech named Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and a talking anthropomorphic Pig Spider-man named Peter Porker / Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) they soon team up to stop Kingpin and his fellow villains, stop the collapsing of all the universes and in the process for Miles learn what it means to become Spider-Man. It's simple, easy to understand, a lot of fun and a great starting point to the series.

As for this Across's story, it is as follows:

"After Reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full time, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Miles Morales is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-people charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat known as The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spider-people and he must soon redefine what it means to be a hero and save the people he loves most"

Now for any sequel it usually would always be the case of going much bigger from the original and this one does that with ease, with so many new worlds, characters and a much bigger threat coming into play it does build it up much more. As of now the story is not fully complete, given this is the first half of a 2 parter, but from the first part it has turned out really great and I have good faith that the 2nd part is going to be on the same level hopefully

Score: 9.5 (may be revived to a 10 by the sequels release)

Along Came the Spider's

Now I am not going to talk about every single person in this movie as there are over 240 characters in this film and I do not want to keep you here all day. I am going to delve more into the likes of the main focal group of characters that have a fair bot of screen time presence to make things easier. I will give one thin that the voice case gives it a strong A-Game to the whole film and helps to make it fit every single performance no matter if it is a major role or even to the likes of a few short sentences.

Miles Morales

(It is our friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man)

Let me Start with the main man of this series and that is with Miles Morales. He has been the primary focus for the series from the very beginning as it is about his story of starting as a simple kid from Brooklyn, gets bitten by a radioactive spider and must learn how to be Spider-Man while stopping a Multiverse level disaster. Now we got a great deal of character development for this character in the original and in this one we have been amplified tenfold for the development given it has been over a year now of Miles being Spider-Man for his universe and the journey he will go on in this film will build on his character for the future of how his story will play out when we get to the trilogy conclusion in Beyond the Spider-verse. His performance shows how much he has grown in the last year of being the wall-crawler and dealing with missing his friends and trying to make his parents understand him more and it does feel genuine and he has become one of my all time favourite Spider-people.

Gwen Stacy

(The 2nd Major focus to this film)

Now to talk on the character that this film is as much a focus with as Miles and that is with Gwen Stacy. Now Gwen was a character we met in her normal form in the original before the attempted heist in Alchemex introduced us to her character in all of her greatness and does some great bit of help in the film up till she got back home to her universe. Now in this new one we get a bit more of a background of her dealing with the guilt of her accidentally causing the death of her close friend Peter Parker and her dad wanting to hunt her down for doing so. We get a focus of a great deal of conflict with Gwen and her dad that shows that she wants to be open with her and needs to deal with the consequences of it and it feels very genuine and real then what I have seen before in other forms of media that try to portray it. It also does a great deal of showing that somewhat affection between her and Miles in the film at the start and a little over the film of her being a part of the major Spider-society and also knowing that the side of Miles reasoning to the whole threat is possibly the right thing as well and shows her trust and confliction with great focus. I am sure we will get the complete development of Gwen in the following film and in the Spider-Women film in the works soon so I will watch with great interest.

Mr and Mrs Morales

(the connection of family is a strong part to the film too)

Talking on parental figures and connecting to Miles, let me talk on the parents of this film of Rio and Jefferson Morales. These 2 have been given a little more of a focus in this one compared to the previous film, while Mr Morales did have some form of a presence in the original, he kind of gets a little more development of trying to figure out Miles and what he wants to do for his future just as he is about to become captain of the NYPD. As for his mom she is worried that she losing and not even knowing who her son is and wants to be and there are moments where they have some somber heart to heart moments that feel genuine and something that parental figures would want out of their own children to achieve big things for the future and I like that and feels a bit more fresh for everything. Hopefully those promises and everything will be built upon for the follow up and promised about by the end of the next film.

Miguel O'Hara

(the leader of the society will make sure the universe does not collapse by any means necessary)

Now we gotta talk on Miguel O'Hara or known as Spider-Man 2099. We got the smallest tease of him at the very end of Into the Spider-verse as he travelled across all the different universes and recruited other Spider-People for a large scale defense force against dangers and threats to the Multiverse and doesn't want everything to become an incursion and completely collapse everything. He know the pain and suffering that goes into the collapse of a universe from his own hands and wants that to never happen again and while he understands Miles at first, he knows that their is no chance of fully getting him and see him now as a possible threat and an anomaly. He does show some level of kicking ass and also the case that he will stop at nothing to stop the destruction of the Multiverse or Spider-verse by any means possible. He is a little sidelined in the film until the 2nd half and I am sure he will have a much bigger presence threat in Beyond so I am looking forward to all of that.

Peter B.Parker

(he may be Spider-Man but he is sure a super-dad)

This was the first of the multiverse Spider-People we met in Into the Spider-verse and there was the strongest character arc between peter and Miles in that film with this peter being one that had a bit of a rough patch by the time we met them and a lot has changed in the course of a year. He has made things work again between himself and MJ and have gotten himself a kid with the similar Spider-powers and he has become a hard working dad who really cares for his new bundle of joy and you feel that Miles has helped him since the original. Now while he does get a little bit less screen time then I was expecting but I get that to build more on one or 2 other characters but I get the decision of it for him being somewhat sidelined and I am sure he will be back again for more screen time in the final film and more Peter B. is an enjoyable thing for me.

Pavitr Prabhakar

(Spider-man is not just for the US and has some international variants)

Now to say that every film in this series is going to introduce all new forms of Spider-People is the biggest understatement as we have some new ones as some background ones and then some that vwe get introduced as main players in the game and the first is the introduction of Pavitr Prabhakar or Spider-Man India and his combined earth location of Mumbatten. His style is so unique and having some cool aspects like his moments and fight style being connected back to the deep history of India is very cool and while he does not have much of a screen presence in this film, he does show his efforts in saving the world he is a part of and doing it in his own style. I do hope we see more of him in the next film to really show more of his design and skills in saving the multiverse from possible destruction.

Hobie Brown

(the definition of cool)

I didn't think you could make a Spider-Man cooler but then in walks Hobie Brown, AKA Spider-Punk, my new favourite character from this trilogy series as he is so cool, rebellious, and has the support of a fellow spider-brother with Miles and has helped him out in a pinch and in the way when it comes to danger, he may be against all of it but will do it for the aid of Miles and Gwen. His animation style is so god damn cool and I thought how can you make a character even more awesome with an animation style but they pulled it off with a 70s rock punk style advertising style. He may not have the biggest of screen time right now but it does seem like he will be involved again for the follow up and I for one welcome this extra appearance of Punk (and even would love a spin off dedicated to him in the future)

Jess Drew

(still kicking ass while preparing to be a supermom)

Now we delve into the closest ally to 2099 and that is with Jess Drew or Spider-woman. Now her introduction at the beginning of this film with 2099 is one of some bad ass methods as she is kicking ass with her Spider-cycle, multi web shooter hands and doing this all while she is due a child in a few short weeks. She becomes a somewhat mentor to Gwen when she becomes accepted into the Spider-society does have that authority stance of making sure that no universe completely falls apart and everything stays as it is meant to be. She may not have much of a screen presence after the beginning but she does get involved when the story calls for it and she does make a good presence. I am sure we will get more of her in the sequel and also in the Spider-woman film in the future.

The Spot

(They may look like a villain of the week but they are more dangerous then you think)

Now let's talk on what is essentially the main villain for this 2 part duology and that is with the Spot. Now the spot may look like some weird andromorphic Dalmatian, but he has some strange cosmic powers of creating some forms of portals with the black spots on his body and soon shows that he is more then just the Villain of the week and more of a multiversal threat. The basis of him starting off as a goofball and building to someone that honestly creeped me out by the near ultimate power form is super cool and I think when you can turn some form of a villain for any superhero in the comics from being some laughing stock to becoming a real dangerous being is something I enjoy and his untapped potential is something to be scared by. While is is a major presence for the first half of the film, he does disappear for the 2nd half but seems to be building him up to him unleashing his true power in the next film and I am ready to be amazed by his sheer power and not just a villain of the week.

Other characters

Now while there is over 240+ spider characters, a lot of them are background pieces and may have more of a presence or focus in Beyond and some other appearances and cameos I do not want to delve into too much as they could be seen as spoilers. I can delve on 2 that were shown in the trailers and that is with one other villain and another Spider-Man that does have a little bit of a screen time. For the villain we are shown a unique version of the Vulture with a really cool art style inspired by the workings and artbooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and they way that it has been projected onto the big screen is super cool and stylized with all the subtle aspects and tones of what you have found in that great artists workings and is a great opening set up to the whole film. As for the other Spider-Man I can mention it is the Spider-Man of Ben Reilly or Scarlet Spider, he gets a few funny lines of dialogue and I know some people complained about his portrayal in the film but honestly, it could've been a lot worse then what I have heard he has been given lately in the comic books and I hope he does show up again for Beyond.

But yeah I really did like a lot of the characters with some getting some more development onto the first films development of the characters. Sure some of them do make a smaller appearance then I was expecting but I am sure that they have a presence for the trilogy finale and I am all for seeing some of these characters again and maybe even one or 2 Spider-People we have yet to see.

Character Score: 9.5 (could rise by next as I am doing this by the 2 films)

A worlds of pure imagination

This one I already knew from the beginning that it would get itself a perfect 10 and I would give it higher if I wanted to because this movie is so gosh dang beautiful, as soon as I left the screening, I wanted to see it again and then I also wanted to have a 4K copy of the film instantly so that I can go through the film frame by frame and get so many clips of it that I would try and get made into pieces for my wall of all the beautiful artwork. Every universe has something new and cool to it like Gwen's Universe being a style of Watercolour paintings, 2099's being a mix of clean future with a dystopian underbelly and then Spider-Punk's world feeling like the advertising and album cover to 70s rock scene advertising and taking that long to make is so cool and wonder what are all the other in universe styles are likes for these other spider-people cause they could be really cool

As for the characters and respect to the source material, they all have elements to their stories from the comics like Gwen's with the death of Peter or elements of other universe canonicity is all well established and have elements of their backstories in tact. Each character all have a different style to them and it is not just with the main group mentioned as it also comes to the case with every other Spider-person having a unique colour palette look or style that make them stand out so you know which is which and as well with the main ones like Hobie matching the style of his world (which I heard took a total of 2 years just to animate him and I respect the animators for doing so). I could go on all day about these characters but I do not want to make this review too much longer then it needs to be so will say that the presentation really highlights the work of Art.

Presentation Score: 10

Across the Music-Verse

Now I am not one that would be the biggest in listening to the music and stuff that would be in this soundtrack and score for the film but honestly the music for this is actually pretty good and was very enjoyable for the songs and music that the studio and artists that have worked on the album and the tracks they have made for this movie are actually really good and they have such a vibe to them and are ones that I would not mind listening to again when I am working or doing some form of exercising or something like that. The score is also pretty great too and I love some of the new tracks that they have given to some of the other cast like the theme for 2099 is a future synth ominous theme while Gwen's is pretty cool and upbeat and the likes of the Spot turns into something that sounds so menacing and actually scary sounding. I think that they have done an excellent job with the music and hopefully hear some of these themes again for the next one and some new score and tracks for the finale.

Music score: 9.5 (may change with final film)

Writings on the wall

I will say for the likes of some movies as of late the writing can be a little flat (a lot of this has been pointed towards superhero movies in particular or ones that can focus on a lot of characters being a bit rough) but I think that this does have some pretty strong writing to it. It is especially noticeable in some moments like between Miles and his parents or Gwen where they have it written out like conversations that people would genuinely have with others and feel forced sounding and instead feels very fluid and totally understanding of giving it that more real feeling to it. Scenes where characters are explaining things were easy to follow and not bogged down by being overly complicated and told it straight and all other forms like the quips and some jokes were actually pretty funny and well timed. I know that the writers for this have worked on both this and beyond at the same time (I believe) and hopefully there will be some more continuous great writing in the sequel.

Writing score: 9.5 (again may go up or down depending on Beyond)

Stuck in the web

Now of course, every movie, even ones that would be classed as Masterpieces, do have some known flaws to them of course. Some of these ones may get resolved properly with the sequel or not but most case on my end it is only really 2 points:

Story: this is mainly more with the way that the film ends with the cliffhanger, I have seen a fair amount of complaints for its location and while I would agree the placement of it does feel odd, I think it does set up the follow up with a really strong opening scene on one end of things. If it is the case that the opening just ignores where that ending leaves off it will be very annoying of not seeing all of that but I am sure that we will see it play out by the start

Characters: Mainly on the case with one or 2 getting a little bit of minimal screentime then I expected, but then again some will probably be making an appearance a lot more in the sequel with some other characters as well maybe but I am sure given this is half a major film that it would be the build up to the big final showdown, but unless in the process they are sidelined again then I would knock down the scores for 1 or 2 of them collectively but I am sure they will find a way to give them all moments to shine

Does it rise up or fall flat

Overall, the original Spider-verse film came along and surprised everyone with beautiful animation, striking action and visuals and a great story and gave its follow up a tough challenge and Across did it with ease. It is fantastic, the story is simple but great, characters are fun and inventive and all other elements are amazing and the animation has gone beyond masterpiece and into true works of art. I for one am very excited for this finale and even if the film is supposedly being delayed with how much work is put into this film then I would be perfectly fine with this one having more time to create everything fully and when that day comes I go back to the movie theatre (possibly in a full costume), and sit down to see how this story end I will known that no matter the outcome, I will be grateful that this series of films existed.

Final scores (may go up or down with release of Beyond)

Story: 9.5

Character: 9.5

Presentation: 10

Music: 9.5

Writings: 9.5

Total: 48/50 or 96%

If you enjoyed this film I would love to hear what you think of it yourself as well as your thoughts on the points that I made for this film and as always stay being wonderful people and I will see you again soon. Take care

Signing off

Sam H