 |
| 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
No comments:
Post a Comment