Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse Reviewed by GREG KING
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K Thompson
Stars: voices of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Verez, Shea Whigham, Jason Scwhartzman, Jake Johnson, Andy Samberg, Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya, Karan Soni, Issa Rae, Mahershala Ali, Amandla Stenberg, Ziggy Marley, J K Simmons, Donald Glover, Elizabeth Perkins, Kathryn Hahn.
Marvel seems to love the concept of the multiverse as it has become a principal ingredient in many of their movies of late, especially in those movies featuring Doctor Strange or Spiderman although the device has grown tired of late. The animated 2018 film Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse first introduced us to alternative dimensions featuring a variety of Spiderman characters who had all been bitten by a radioactive spider. That film deservedly won an Oscar for its superb animation that pushed the limits of what was possible in an animated movie.
The more ambitious sequel Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse continues the adventures of 15-year-old Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), and, as with the first film in this animated Spiderman trilogy the animation is vivid, bold, colourful and spectacular. And it both honours the legacy of past Spiderman films but pushes the character into bold new directions. And it is, arguably, even better than the first film.
Miles enjoys his role as Brooklyn’s heroic teenaged web-spinning crimefighter Spiderman, while his parents the strict, by-the-book policeman Jefferson Davis (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and loving mother Rio (Luna Lauren Verez) are blissfully unaware of his alter ego. Meanwhile in another dimension dedicated police captain George Stacy (Shea Whigham) is pursuing a masked avenger, unaware that it is actually his daughter Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) who is the masked crimefighter. But when Miles encounters the villainous multiverse crossing character known as The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), whose body is full of black spots that operate as portals to other worlds, he is drawn back into another dimension to connect with Gwen, and the pair venture into a multiverse populated by a vast array of diverse Spiderpeople charged with protecting it, including an Indian Spiderman (Karan Soni) with a wonderful head of hair to a punk Spiderman (Daniel Kaluuya) and even a spidersaurus.
The subversive and playful, imaginative script comes from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie, etc), and is full of their particular irreverent, anarchic brand of humour, with lots of clever in-jokes, and visual references to other live action and comic book adaptations of Spiderman. They draw upon the mythology of Spiderman himself, and they make connections with other films in the whole Spiderman canon through clever cameo appearances and lots of Easter eggs. Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse spans some six different universes and introduces us to numerous different characters, but at its heart the visually inventive and spectacular mind-bending film deals with universal coming-of-age themes of family, responsibility, fate, power. However, we are emotionally invested in the fates of Miles and Gwen and their complex relationship with their parents as they try to figure out their place in the world.
Three directors have collaborated on shaping the film, but they all come from a background of working on animated films. Making his feature film debut here is Portuguese director Joaquim Dos Santos, who hails from a background as a storyboard artist, having worked on productions such as the tv series The Last Airbender, etc. Also making his feature directorial debut here is Justin K Thompson, a former production designer who worked on animated films such as Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, etc. Kemp Powers co-directed the 2020 Oscar winning animated film Soul.
The three certainly throw a lot at the screen in its overly generous but exhausting running time of 140 minutes. The pace is quite frenetic and at times it is hard to keep up with the different universes the characters inhabit. Here the filmmakers also use a giddying range of different comic book mediums and styles, ranging from impressionistic vibrant colours to old school comic book style animation and even a hint of anime.
The producers have assembled a strong vocal cast to give voice to the various Spiderman characters, including Jake Johnson, who plays a Peter Parker who has just become a father; Andy Samberg (from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, etc) ; and Oscar Isaac as a humourless Spiderman who is in charge of the Spiderverse.
Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse certainly heightens the expectations for the continuation of the story, which apparently is due to hit cinemas sometime in 2024.
★★★☆
