Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023)
Dir: Joaquim Dos Santos; Kemp Powers; Justin K. Thompson
Writers: Phil Lord; Christopher Miller; Dave Callaham
Starring: Shameik Moore; Hailee Steinfeld; Brian Tyree Henry; Oscar Isaac; Adam Samberg
by Paul Bernardo paulieb2003@gmail.com
So many great actors in this, so much fun and so many layers of animation! I mean this puppy switches style like Madonna changes faces! It is simply marvelous and there is no chance you can get bored with this film. Oh hey and guess what? You can understand it! Right? I knew what was going on the whole time! Wow! A Marvel film that I actually understood!
Some people are upset about the ending but I am actually okay with it, because the main story and the B, C stories all closed up nicely. And this ending was more of a beginning of a new story, then a cliffhanger, so I’m okay with it. I didn’t mind at all. I walked out happy that I understood a Marvel film with sensational animation.
Animation styles change here to fit the story, or mood or character, and it is just brilliant. Let’s take The Vulture, (no not Michael Keaton’s Vulture) this character was from way back in the Michelangelo period and he spoke broken English but was animated like DaVinci would animate him. They used book flipping and layers upon layers of pencil and hand drawn lines to create the wooden effect and suit his time period. Just incredible.
For heartfelt moments with parents, they used warm water colors, lush with pastel tones and gradual fill. Just amazing and really took emotions and feelings to the next level.
You can tell the studio was hands-off on this project and let the directors really create their vision and do brave, innovative things. I love it, and I love that they had the freedom with such a high profile IP such as Spider-Man.
I heard the chase sequence, which is rather complicated, took 2 years to animate. Now that is the dedication level of a Kubrick or a Coppola. I mean these guys took the effort to take the time, painstakingly, and get it right. This shows up brilliantly on the screen, and there is never a dull moment. Even the villain is awesome, and I heard it was Avi Arad’s idea. A different villain in a superhero movie? Unheard of right? Well you got one here. This is something DC and Marvel should adapt for their live action films. Plenty of villains on both sides, use them. 40 years of Joker being the villain gets pretty tiring. Batman has tons of amazing villains. Use them. If I were a filmmaker, this is the kind of film I would kill to work on. These guys really emphasize the right things and take care in the right things. The story is about growing up, dealing with parents and keeping the family unit together. The thing I loved most is that yes, you see the Spider-Verse, but it’s used more like a train station than the center of the story. The story is the heart, and it’s small, and simple. Family, expectations, honor, integrity – all things that superhero movies should be about. Not replacing infinity stones throughout time and space and saving the world for the hundredth time. We get all that. What we want is heart and emotion. Everyone has someone they love, this movie focuses on that, and how important that is to everyone, even superheroes.
