de facto film reviews 3.5 stars

 

 

Just shy of five years ago, the unexpected Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a shot in the arm to the comic book genre. With its distinct approach to animation, capturing the immersive feeling of reading a comic book, it was an imaginative and groundbreaking feat for storytelling and animation as a medium, already showing its large influence. The long-awaited sequel, aptly titled Across the Spider-Verse sets out to deliver an even more ambitious story of Miles Morales and the great responsibility of what it means to be Spider-Man. It’s an experience that is downright “ahem” spectacular, just understand this is only one half of a bigger story.

Like its predecessor, Across the Spider-Verse is visually gobsmacking, but retains the storytelling strengths of the first film. Grappling with the further consequences of the multiverse with remarkable clarity, the sequel, set a year and a half after the first film, finds Miles (Shameik Moore) reunited with Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) aka Spider-Gwen, after she’s joined the Spider-Society, an elite task force of Spider-People, lead by the imposing Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), tasked with protecting the fabric of the multiverse from anomalies and canon disruption.

Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, tells an expansive story, one split between two films. This allows for more patient storytelling than the genre traditionally allows. With a script penned by returning producers/writer Phil Lord and Chris Miller, as well as Dave Callaham, the narrative juggles both Miles’ dual responsibilities as both a teenage son and a superhero, the greater multiverse story, and continuing the arcs of its many characters, both new and returning. Despite the extended runtime, the film dashes through its introductions and numerous plot threads with cohesion. The complexity in this sequel’s storytelling is quite a feat considering just how different plates it’s spinning at once. The script finds time to elegantly weave in canonical satire, character depth and even grapple with the many cultural aspects of the character. Daniel Pemberton’s score is symphonic and pulsating, nicely complimented by a new soundtrack produced by the great Metro Boomin.

Shameik Moore’s work as Miles Morales is just as soaring as any other live-action portrayal. The exchanges between Miles and his parents, voiced, respectively, by Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez, are filled with heart and tangible emotion. Hailee Steinfeld’s Gwen, now the film’s co-lead, is greater fleshed out, with a weighted relationship between her and her father, Captain George Stacy (Shea Whigham). The scenes between Gwen and her father are often portrayed in these bold, experimental watercolor tones that evoke a heightened sense of emotion.

The blend of CG animation with hand drawn elements is even more audacious than the predecessor, with the filmmakers opting for even more variation in the art styles. Jason Schwartzman’s The Spot, a new baddie whose initial “villain of the week” introduction is transformed into something far more, is presented with some astonishing expressionist illustrations. The introduction of arguably the film’s coolest character, Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), whose own art style is punchy and hypnotic, is an explosion of energy. Every single frame is quite literally bursting at the seams with innovation and artistry. A central set piece involving hundreds of different Spider-People is kinetic and thrilling, pulling out all the stops in terms of color variation and the most diverse fusion of animation styles potentially ever.

What ultimately kneecaps Across the Spider-Verse is the frustratingly unearned cliffhanger. Feeling more like one half of a story than a middle chapter, the ending winds up in a weird space that teases more than it ends up delivering. After zipping past a major revelation, the film spends its “climax” appearing to shift gears and rev its engine for an incredible climax with swelling emotion only to anticlimactically cut to black with the dreaded “to be continued” tag. There is a difference between a cliffhanger and an incomplete ending.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is consistently innovative on a narrative and visual level. This is a film about shattering formulas and upending predetermined outcomes, which is precisely what the film does as a bigger, more elaborate superhero sequel. It lacks the electric emotional highs of the first film due to its conception as a part one, and the cliffhanger ending leaves a sense of unfulfillment. However, this is a major achievement that lays the foundation for an even greater conclusion.