An Animated Spider-Man Returns in a Poignant, Complicated Web

Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) in
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In December 2018, directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman delivered an animated Spider-Man outing with their thrilling and gorgeously realized “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”  With groundbreaking visuals and an emotional and humorous story at its core, we were given a web-slinging adventure that focused on Miles Morales, a version of Spider-Man who Marvel Comics introduced in August 2011.  After the film ended, it left us wanting to go back into that world to see where this character would be taken.

Now, we have what may be one of the best superhero sequels in quite some time with directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”  Equipped with a bigger roster of characters, a grander story, and animation that tops even that of the original, we’re thrown back into the multiple worlds of this series to experience  something spectacular.

A little over a year after the events of the first film, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is trying to balance his life as Spider-Man and as a high-school student, while also attempting to figure out his future.  When a new villain named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) sets his sights on Miles, this leads to events that will introduce Miles to an even wider Spider-Verse.

Moore offers a rich, emotional voice performance as Miles.  Portraying a character who’s being pulled in many directions, we hear the confusion and frustration that Miles’ secret has on him.  After exhibiting the wide-eyed adolescent amazement of being thrust into a superhero world in the first film, Moore brings out the heavier dramatic side to his voice for which his character now calls, but still occasionally showing Miles’ enthusiastic side.  As the film goes on, Moore’s voice brings across the full weight of the stress, both physical and emotional, that his character faces, and this shows an intriguing growth to Miles and promises more great things once we get to the third film.

Hailee Steinfeld, who returns to voice Gwen Stacey/Spider-Woman, is given plenty of new material with which to work as we see a dramatic arc that parallels Miles’.  Right from the opening prologue that focuses on Gwen’s backstory, it’s clear that Steinfeld will be diving deep into her character’s troubles, trying to keep her friendship with Peter alive, but also being torn onto other paths, as well.  Just like Miles, Gwen has tough choices to make, and Steinfeld has us feel that tension as she tries to do what’s right, versus what she wishes to do.

As far as the new characters go, the standout is Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099, who’s voiced by Oscar Isaac.  For his role, Isaac brings us a character who’s tortured by his loses from the choices that he’s made.  He adds a great amount of emotional weight to his moving voice work, making you experience the grief that burdens his days.

As far as the other returning characters go, Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Vélez are devoted to the heart-rending parental strain that they face as Miles’ mother and father, Jefferson and Rio.  Their soft, yet stern voices show that they have so much love for Miles, but are also deeply concerned about what secrets he’s keeping from them.  They each have memorable scenes with Miles as they try to impart guidance, and Henry and Velez provide great work as their characters try to understand what’s going on with their son.

For the rest of the characters, we have Jake Johnson returning as Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man from what’s known as the Earth-616 universe.  For the new additions, there’s the aforementioned Schwartman as The Spot; Issa Rae as Jess Drew/Spider-Woman; Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India; Daniel Kaluuya as Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk; and Shea Whigham as Gwen Stacey’s father, police captain George Stacey.  Despite there being a lot going on in the story, each of these characters is supplied with enough time to make an impression.

The screenplay by Phil Lord (who co-wrote the first film), Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham gives us a wider scope for the narrative as it succeeds in juggling characters, kinetic action scenes, emotional beats, and expositional segments.  With this movie being almost a half hour longer than the previous film, the writers show their dedication to fleshing everything out.  That sense of expansion comes right at the beginning with an emotional prologue that’s centered on Gwen Stacey and the burdens that she experiences with being a superhero, which helps us frame it against Miles’ journey to have us compare their difficult journeys as reluctant heroes.  And, as for the long list of characters, the writers provide us with the dramatic stakes that each of them holds.  With an accomplished balance between the returning characters and the new additions, there are some great interactions to be seen between the fight scenes.  Whether it’s a scene between Miles and his parents, Gwen and her dad, Miles and Gwen, or Miles and the other Spider-People, we’re given detailed and complex views into what’s going on with these characters. 

One other noteworthy aspect of the script is how it takes one of the most important scenes that could have been purely expositional, and manages to give it some hard-hitting drama.  I won’t give away anything big, but the scene revolves around Miguel explaining the concept of “canon events” within the scheme of the multiverse to Miles, what Miguel lost when he tampered with such an event, and why Miles shouldn’t do it either.  It impacts Miles in a way that heightens the emotional stakes even further than they were.

Despite none of the three directors returning from the previous film, the new trio works wonders in picking up where they left off.  While the action scenes are strong, it’s terrific to see how much dedication they also put into the imagery of their dramatic scenes, such as a heart-to-heart sequence between Miles and Gwen on a skyscraper.  When it comes to the action segments, although the movie has several of them, the two standouts are the absolutely thrilling segments that take place in Spider-Man India’s Mumbattan universe and Spider-Man 2099’s Nueva York universe.  While the animation was stunning in the first film, it’s in these sections where you really see the directors breaking barriers even further into what animation can achieve.  There’s limitless love and dedication to them bringing the comic-book imagery to life, making it seem like you’re watching Marvel’s pages flip right in front of you as you witness the rich, vibrant textures of all of the environments within the film.  Helping the directors make this movie as electric as it is are “Into the Spider-Verse” composer Daniel Pemberton, who offers wonderful transitions between the pulse-pounding music of the battle scenes and the slower music of the quieter character moments, and editor Michael Andrews, who’s able to stitch together the unwavering energy of the superhero action and have them maintain a sense of comprehension as to what’s taking place.

The next film, “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” is set for release in March 2024, so we thankfully don’t have to wait a whole year for it, which is sometimes the case with “To be continued…” situations.  Given how much the directors and writers include when it comes to the film’s different characters and settings, there are endless possibilities as to where Miles’ story will go, and I can’t wait to see the further weavings of this web.

Grade: A

In a Hotel Room, Fantasy Gives Way to Reality

Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott in
"Sanctuary"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

When it comes to movies, hotel or motel rooms are often used as enticing or seedy locations to see characters who probably shouldn’t be together meet up in secret and reveal their true selves to each other.  Whatever it is we think we may know about these characters is stripped away as we learn deeper details about the people in the scene.  What’s disclosed about them changes the way of how we look at them through the rest of the film and puts the narrative stakes in a different light.

This is what’s accomplished with director Zachary Wigon’s psychological-thriller, “Sanctuary,” where he works within the limits of the small cast and sparse setting to deliver something that’ll keep you guessing as to what’s really at play.

Hal (Christopher Abbott) is the upcoming heir to a hotel empire and has become stressed with the expectations that he faces.  As a way to decompress, he hires Rebecca (Margaret Qualley), a dominatrix who he has regularly seen, for their latest session.  When he tries to end their relationship afterwards, Rebecca shows Hal that she won’t be kicked to the curb so easily.

Abbott does superb work in showing the shifts in the emotional arc of his character.  He does well is displaying the sketchiness of Hal in the first third of the movie, only to then show an anger and then a gradual vulnerability that presents a new side to his character, helping you understand the torment that he experiences in his mind.  It’s a shedding of layers that Abbott exhibits as Hal shows that he doesn’t really know what he wants and is weighed down by how others view him.

Qualley is fantastic as Rebecca, presenting her character as someone who’s much smarter and more intuitive than Hal gives her credit for.  She’s magnetic to watch as her character remains one step ahead of Hal, bringing forth a devilish glee as she picks him apart to show that she intends to come out on top by the time their session is over.  Just like with Abbott, Qualley shows her character’s complexities with skill as we go further into the film, breaking her character down to her bones as we learn about the truth behind Rebecca’s deviousness.

As a pair, Abbott and Qualley are dynamic as they keep their chemistry alive through the chaotic anti-chemistry of their damaged characters.  They’re the only people in this movie, meaning this whole film falls on them, and they bring the fire as they verbally spar and battle over who will be the winner by the time their night together ends.  Their interactions begin at a simmer, only to then become explosive mental battles that Abbott and Qualley devour with an unwavering energy.

The screenplay by Micah Bloomberg does a fine job with setting up the first third as a way to get us to know the two characters and the nuances of their relationship.  However, he starts to play with our expectations when what we think we know goes up in flames, throwing us into the rest of the film as we try to figure out which one of the two characters will claim the night.  He invites us into these behind-closed-doors mind games that threaten to take a turn for the worst in each scene, building on the twisted nature of the central relationship as Hal and Rebecca open up to each other when the games get more psychologically brutal.  You’re given insights about Hal and Rebecca’s backgrounds, which make you understand the shifts in power between them.  And, as the complications arise, Bloomberg has you wonder what’s real and what’s not in terms of what the two characters disclose to each other.

The eye-catching cinematography by Ludovica Isidori uses nifty camera movements as the tension begins to boil over and Hal scrambles to keep his life in order and secrets from getting out.  With the limited setting, he offers memorable visuals that capture the frenzied nature of the characters’ psyches, using every section within the expansive hotel room to have us wonder what kind of trouble might unfold in each of those spaces.

This is only Wigon’s second feature (his debut feature being the 2014 romantic-thriller, “The Heart Machine”), but he knows how to utilize the one-night timeframe, limited environment, and small cast to maximum, thrilling effect.  Despite the small setting, Wigon's direction doesn’t feel stagy, but instead weaves the camera through the components of the hotel room to maintain a freshness to the surroundings, capturing the drama between the characters that threatens to blow out the walls.  There’s an abundance of emotion and humor, and Wigon has both of those aspects hit their targets, thanks to his skilled handling of the occasional tonal shifts.

With “Sanctuary,” don’t make any assumptions as to where the story’s heading because the privacy of this hotel room holds many surprises.

Grade: A