373: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

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[00:01:05] And if you're listening to this on YouTube, please let us know your thoughts in the comments. Thanks. 81 Let's get to Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. It came out in summer of last year. It's directed by Joaquin Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. Stars a huge cast.

[00:01:29] Oscar Isaac, Hailey Steinfeld, Andrew Garfield, Donald Glover. Jameke Moore, Lisa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry, Jason Schwartzman and many others. And the synopsis is, After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the multiverse where he encounters a team of spider people

[00:01:51] charged with protecting its very existence. So I saw the first Spider-Verse film into the Spider-Verse, not in theaters, but I saw it shortly afterwards. And I absolutely loved it as did many and it completely blew people away, everybody away really. And I think it's still considered to be

[00:02:10] one of the best Spider-Man movies and probably is one of the best superhero movies of all time. At least that's how I feel. And so I knew that they were doing more and I was very much looking forward to this one.

[00:02:22] But I did not get around to seeing this one either until just recently. And I know that at least on Letterboxd and in some other places it has huge, huge praise. I think even more so than the first one. So I went in with very,

[00:02:37] I wouldn't say high expectations, but I was hoping it would live up to the hype. And I do really enjoy the movie overall. I don't, this may be as a hot take, I don't know. I enjoy the first one a little more.

[00:02:53] I don't know if it's something about simply just being the sort of origin story or being the first one in this series where it feels fresher or maybe a little less complicated, I'm not really sure exactly why. But, gun to my head,

[00:03:06] I would pick the first one over this one. Nevertheless, it still is a very good movie. Like, it goes without saying the animation is unlike anything that I've ever seen. It not only is in the same realm as the first one, but it builds off of that.

[00:03:22] It doesn't just repeat the same visuals and the amount of variety and textures and colors and styles in both of these movies is unbelievably amazing and is worth seeing just for that. Even if the movies were horrible, otherwise they would still be great because of that animation

[00:03:41] because it's very, very unique and it's a great showcase for you have the ability to make great, new, refreshing animation styles in this day and age. You don't have to just repeat the same stuff. So, this one definitely blows a lot of other recent animated movies

[00:03:59] out of the water. I would absolutely watch more films done in this way. It is, for sure, an inspiration for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film that came out late last year. That one is in the same sort of animation style and I love it.

[00:04:14] I love that style. There's such variety and always keeps you guessing and on your toes, so I love that. I think for the story itself and maybe this goes into why I like the first one a little more. I didn't enjoy the story as much

[00:04:30] in this one as I did the first. Not to say it's a bad story at all, I just found myself a little bit more engaged and I don't know if it comes down to direction either or editing or however it is else it's put together.

[00:04:43] But I did find that while the animation, yes, is great, there were points where it was so... I don't know if bombastic is the right word, but there was so much going on. The colors were so in your face. The pacing was quick. The different multiverses

[00:05:01] and everything were jumping in and out. There were points where I was starting to sort of lose focus in this one, whereas in the first one, maybe because again, it's more simple, I kept more tension. So if I had any criticisms, it would just be

[00:05:13] maybe a combination of factors that I did find myself sort of drifting off at points and losing concentration on what was happening. Sometimes got a little bit lost. I'm sure that all of the plot points connect and it's all there.

[00:05:27] I believe it in terms of this sort of film and this craft. But yeah, I did have small little issues with that. Occasionally, it is a little long. I didn't mind a movie like this being so long, considering again, the craft, but still kind of

[00:05:43] drag at points and I was sort of ready for it to wrap up in that last half hour or so, whereas the first one, I didn't really have that. And maybe you know, I think this is the kind of movie you need to watch

[00:05:53] two, three, four, five times to even get a strong standing on and understanding of because there's so many ideas. There's so many characters. There's so many connecting points to this and that. So it is no doubt, even with those small criticisms out there, still loved it

[00:06:11] for the most part. Score is amazing. The soundtrack is great. All the performances are awesome, top notch and I cannot wait to see what they do next with the third film. And if you haven't yet, I did review the short film that came out recently on YouTube

[00:06:25] within the Spider-Verse back about a month ago. So you can check that out on the regular feed and I will probably go back and re-review the first one at some point. Re-watch it because I love that one a lot. So I think you should see the first

[00:06:39] one before you watch this one because there are some connecting dots and lines. But I think it does a great job thematically of well, first off, the Gwen Stacy Spider-Man, Miles Morales relationship, love that. And I love how it oftentimes focuses a little bit more on Gwen really

[00:06:59] even. I really like that. I like the Spot character played by Jason Schwartzman, Oscar Isaac, Issa Rae, like everybody loved them to death. They're great in this and I think everybody understood this is a great unique, rich movie I need to give my best and they

[00:07:15] absolutely did. So these are definitely some of the best recent modern superhero films and I can't wait to see what they do next. It's just, they're very special. So that one is a heavy four and a half out of five. For the ones who get it done. Contest.