MOVIE OF THE WEEK (6/2/23): SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

"Hey girl ... Just hangin' out???" Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) checks in on his surprise visitor Spider-Gwen a.k.a. Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) in a scene from SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE. Credit: © 2023 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

 

DIRECTOR: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson

KEY CAST MEMBERS: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni with Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac

WEB SITE: https://www.acrossthespiderverse.movie/

THE BACK STORY: Fifteen year-old Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) has a lot going on for him. He's already getting chances like attending Princeton University, his father (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) is on the verge of getting promoted to police captain, his mother (Luna Lauren Velez) loves him to death and oh yeah – he's spent the last year+ serving as Brooklyn's own friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Unfortunately, that last part is about to cause him – and a bunch of other people – a LOT of trouble. Why? Because the incident that saved his universe the last time he was facing someone with villainous plans has created a new, more dangerous villain: The Spot (voiced by Jason Schwartzman), a man who, thanks to that super collider that blew up, has turned to a life of crime and seeks revenge on Miles for what he inadvertently made him. 

But while Miles may think of The Spot as a "villain of the week," there's another group of people – Spider-powered people, as it turns out – that know he is a dangerous anomaly that needs to be stopped. So when Miles old friend Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) shows up out of the blue, he quickly learns that it's not just a social visit.

It's time to go Across the Spider-Verse. 

THE REVIEW: In short, to use a phrase the young people say, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, is "dope AF (and NO, I shan't explain those last two letters, nor the word 'shan't!). 

The animation in the film is unlike anything you've ever seen and truly brings the characters to life, which is no small feat considering the fact that save for some very smart exceptions, all of them are animated. The Spider-Verse comes alive in each setting the film travels across in its 2 hour and 15 minute runtime, which feels short when the film gets to its Avengers: Infinity War-like ending. 

The fact the film is visually stimulating is enhanced by the stellar vocal performances of the film's cast and smart, engaging pacing/storytelling presented by its trio of directors. Like the film that proceeded it, ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE tells engaging stories of parents and children, responsibility, the struggle to deal with loss and grief and accepting your fate versus defining it for one's self. Throw in the fact the film is able to hit measures of diversity, equity and inclusion in a way that is: (1) Respectful of the various cultures it showcases in a way that is (2) Smart (3) Engaging and (4) Funny in such a way it's (5) sure to upset the "anti-woke"/keep superheroes male and white crowd and you have an early contender for not only Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards – an honor it's predecessor has already taken home – but Best Picture, period. 

With so many Spider-Man movies already existing in the 21 years Sony Pictures has owned the cinematic rights to the character, one could be forgiven for thinking there's not possibly anything left that could be compelling enough to see on screen. ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE proves that idea wrong in spades, owning the screen as its own unique-yet-stil-connected-to-everything-else-Marvel entity in the process. From the Easter eggs hidden for long-standing Spider-Man fans, cameo appearances to incorporation of other adventures in the character's two decades' plus on screen, the film is both homage to those that have come before it and its own being. That is no easy feat to pull off but one the film does excellently from start to finish much to what most certainly will be Spider-Man fans' delight. 

To say more would be to spoil all the fun – and ACROS THE SPIDER-VERSE might just be the most fun you'll have at the movies all summer.

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):