Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

pixelburp

The inevitable sequel to the box office and critical success - and for me, one of the best superhero films of the last 10 years period - finally has a trailer.

IIRC not all the same team are back, but hopefully this film can manage the same mix of character and visual inventiveness managed last time.

https://youtu.be/5dov0_sdwVI

pixelburp

Even the film forum is getting in on the idea of many Spiders. The MCU thread was also bumped by flazio for ... The Spider-Man trailer 😂

flazio

I'd seen the clip turn up on Hailee Stienfelds instagram and I wondered to myself "Why is the Kate Bishop actor cross promoting another Marvel project?" then did a quick Google to realise she voiced Gwen and berated myself for not realising sooner. Second time D+ has gotten someone off this movie after Kathryn Hahn.

Anyway still looks awesome and the direction style remains. October 2022 doesn't seem so far away now considering we have to wait until 2023 for Spider-man 2 videogame.

Also it's officially called "Part One" which means we're going to get a third movie as well. 😁

Agent Coulson

Will we get a life action scene with the 3 live action Spider Men as he bounces across the Spiderverse.

flazio

Sony now just going all in Pixar on us. 😁

https://twitter.com/SonyAnimation/status/1467302363501187074?t=ygGQV4-tQ2Bqvj6zBByVhg&s=19

Between this, the imminent No way home plus 3 more, Freshman year on D+ and the videogame. Good times ahead for the Web heads.

Ridley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118270971#Comment_118270971

The other half of this film moar like.

speedboatchase

Finally, a new Spider-Man movie!

EoinMcLovin

https://twitter.com/SpiderVerse/status/1517011832212393984?t=neJ8-rJQiUmMJ3SrUBGiAw&s=19

flazio

Dang it. Wonder what the problem is?

flazio

New trailer

https://youtu.be/cqGjhVJWtEg

pixelburp

Interesting how they're obviously trying to keep the new spider men/women under wraps; good to see mind you, hopefully they resist the urge to spoil the surprises with more tell-all trailers.

peteeeed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shW9i6k8cB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shW9i6k8cB0

TheIrishGrover

That looks SO pretty.

Into the Spiderverse was my movie of 2018. And that was the year you had Three Billboards, The Shape of Water, Black Panther (Which I also loved), Infinity War... I've already harped on about how much I loved the original.

It is interesting to see the impact this has had. Obviously The Mitchells vs the Machines took a lot of design elements from Spiderverse but that was to be expected: Sony made it, some of the people behind Spiderverse involved so that made sense. And it was heavily touted as being "from the people who brought you...". But I watched the latest Puss in Boots and it DEFINITELY took elements from Spiderverse. It's more noticeable in the action sequences. The film itself is pretty good. I was never really a fan of the Shrek series and spinoff(s?). I thought the first Shrek was pretty funny but then we very quickly copped on to the early Dreamworks formula: Eyebrow, already dated pop culture references. They have gotten better of course. How to train your dragon for example it great. But I quickly grew tired of the uh... shrekverse. I've seen 4. Not sure if there is a fifth. And I've seen bits of the first Puss in boots movie but Humpty Dumpty is creepy beyond words and freaked me out so I don't think I've seen it all. But the new Puss in Boots was actually pretty fun and, once again, looks REAL pretty. Less eyebrows and more heart.

Interestingly, they seemed to have dropped all mention of this being part 1 of 2 (I think they renamed the last one Beyond the Spiderverse). I suppose to not put viewers off. People who have not being waiting for a sequel for ages :)... like us.

pixelburp

Interesting how the "villain" appears to be Spider-Man 2099 of all things; that's an interesting swing (as it were).

The art-style remains as gorgeous as ever, though hopefully the larger scope and inserting even more Spider-People doesn't suffocate the story too much.

It's kinda nuts that the studio that keeps dredging through its catalogue of Spidey villains nobody gives a shít about, also produces these movies. How do we go from Morbius, to this?

TheIrishGrover

I know nothing about the comics. At all. So I'll have to take your word on the use of particular characters over others. But I was (Pleasantly) surprised how well the first one was supported by Sony. I mean it wasn't a live action Spiderman. It wasn't Tom Holland doing a celebrity voice. Hell, it wasn't even Peter Parker. It wasn't Pixar/Dreamworks style. It wasn't even anime style (Although it was closer). It didn't have hugely famous actors doing press junkets. Nicholas Cage was the biggest name and even that was little more than a fun cameo. Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, John Manoney, Leiv Schreiber and Lily Tomlin all have pretty good careers but they are not the usual people you see flogging off Pixar or Disney movies (Although I'm sure they have voiced both).

So it was good to see Sony having faith, giving the space and money and promoting it so heavily and giving the sequel(s) time to develop further (Even though the delay was heartbreaking at the time). I saw the first one in the cinema (Twice) and there was more the second time than the first. Word of mouth was the stuff of dreams. I don't know anybody who didn't like it. The worst I heard was a "Meh" and that's because I oversold it.

So kudos to Sony for allowing the time and space to try something different. It could have sunk their animation department.

Slydice

Looks good. Guessing it's all solid by the in-depth Spiderman fans? They seemed pleased with the first film.

pixelburp

And yet another trailer pops up; I laugh at how these films' animation style is so dense, the YouTube video encoding breaks down during the busier moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etv-L2JKCWk

santana75

Judging by the reviews on RT this appears as though it's as good as the first one

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120664863#Comment_120664863

It looks as fun as the last, and retaining that beautiful comedic timing:

https://youtu.be/vUyC3ohm1pI

peteeeed

‘Spider-Man’ Producers Tease Live-Action Miles Morales Movie and Animated ‘Spider-Woman’ Film: ‘It’s All Happening’

As “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” finally hits theaters this weekend, the producers behind the trilogy have their attention set on the third installment, next year’s “Beyond the Spider-Verse.”

However, that’s not the only web-slinging project that’s on their minds.

Producer Amy Pascal says a Spider-Woman and live-action Miles Morales movie are in the works. “You’ll see all of it,” she told me Tuesday at the “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” premiere in Los Angeles. “It’s all happening.”

Producer Avi Arad teased that moviegoers will see a “Spider-Woman” movie “sooner than you expect.”

https://variety.com/2023/film/columns/across-the-spider-verse-miles-morales-spider-woman-1235629183/

TheIrishGrover

I've been avoiding the latest trailers as I want to go into this blind. I cannot wait for this.

What I did find interesting was that this came up in casual conversation in work: "What ya doin' this weekend?" "I'm gonna see new Spiderman movie" "Oh yeah, that's out this week. I loved that Spiderverse movie". I'm.... reasonably nerdy: I have no problem going to see animation in the cinema. (Hell, I've been to the Ghibli museum 5 times). And the usual reaction is along the lines of "Yeah, I'd go to The Lion King and stuff but that's it". But most of the people I mentioned this to have seen Spiderverse and loved it. Was quite surprising.

johnny_ultimate

It would have been easy to make a Spider-Verse sequel with the same basic art style and a few extra flourishes and do a victory lap. But fair play to the creative team here: they've delivered something a lot more ambitious than that. Switching art styles between different universes sounds a bit gimmicky, but in action it's anything but. Instead, it allows the film to not only feature all sorts of more dynamic action sequences and movement but also to more dynamically reflect the emotions and themes of the film. In Gwen's universe, for example, you have these gorgeous soft pastel hues that are constantly fluctuating between shots. It lends those scenes a totally different vibe befitting where they fit into the story, but also allows the animators to get even more expressive during moments of high emotion. It's not alone either: the film constantly finds new ways to express itself. Spider-Verse was a big step up for American animation stylistically, and this goes several steps further again. A joy to look at, and while it lacks a big 'What's Up Danger' signature musical moment, I did think the more diverse soundtrack choices also helped the film flirt with different registers and styles all the time.

The story itself is both chaotic and half a story. There's a lot going on, not least the endless parade of cameos and fan service that is 'blink and you'll miss it' dense... and then some. There are some references that'll be nearly impossible to spot until the thing is available for freeze-framing. It's fun but also exhausting. And yes, this is very much a 'part one' with cliffhangers that just sort of halt the story mid-way through - which we knew going in, of course, but still can't help but feel somewhat unsatisfying. But there's also some lovely character work, and a long opening hour or so that is a lot more laid back and vibey than the more manic second half. And the action here is still a joy to witness - indeed, with some widly different art styles constantly overlapping and colliding (not least the glorious Spider-Punk), it's a couple steps more vibrant than its exceedingly vibrant predecessors.

I had a great time, honestly, but will reserve at least some judgement until I see the second half. It's messy for sure, but also triumphant in how the creative team express themselves in ever more ambitious and even nuanced ways. Strange to say nuanced in a film so unashamedly maximalist, but here we are. Superhero fatigue has only increased since the last film's debut, and honestly American animation seems like an even more uncertain place given Pixar's ongoing inconsistency (and audience's indifference). This feels like another hand grenade thrown into the scene, and thankfully that grenade is filled with all sorts of paint.

FunLover18

Judging from the reactions in a my screening, not a lot of people knew this was a part 1. Unlike Infinity War however this is definitely half a story and like johnny I don't think I can fully judge this until I've seen the next installment. There are things in this movie that seem to contradict the message of its predecessor and the villain goes from awkward funny to scary evil so quickly, it's jarring. The animation is outstanding, like this film is fúcking gorgeous but it's long and inconclusive.

flazio

I said previously, I'm not looking to be wowed by comic movies anymore just pleasantly entertained.

I was wowed by this.

Spoiler Warning

It's not perfect however.

I thought the end had a bit too many cliffhangers and suffered from the Return of The King problem of too many endings. When he escaped Miguel and got back to what he thought was his universe, was that the end? Or was it when Miguel sent Gwen back or was there going to be another big fight, you understand?

Also the movie seems to be suggesting that there is only one Miles Morales across all 'verses because there shouldn't be any at all. We know that's not true as there have been a few Miles in the comics and the video game Spider-Man, who made a voiced cameo is currently alive and working with a Miles Morales.

EoinMcLovin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120675364#Comment_120675364

I think what he meant is

Spoiler Warning

that he is the only Spiderman to be bitten by a spider from a different Earth. All the other Spidermen got their power from their Earth . This means that he's an anomaly as a result of him get bitten, a Spiderman for Earth 42 could never exist.

santana75

Saw this last night and I thought it wasn't as good as the first film. Its very busy, the animation that is, theres a lot going on, it zips along at a frantic pace. I think they went overboard to be honest, trying to push things too much. Into the spiderverse had a really strong narrative but this is weaker in the story dept and it seems like they tried to compensate with a lot of style. It was never boring but all in all I wasnt as taken with this as I was with the first film.

gmisk

Saw this evening thoroughly enjoyable, maybe not as coherent as the first one story wise, but moves at a cracking pace looks spectacular, funny too.

Spoiler Warning

It did very much feel like half a film (a long one!).

Indian Spiderman was a highlight, loved the Lego section too, will definitely watch the next one. Will happily watch this one again as well, probably missed some jokes.

flazio

Took in $120M on its opening weekend. More than Guardians 3.

https://deadline.com/2023/06/box-office-spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-1235398807/amp/

Penn

Man, the audio was atrocious. I'd hoped it was just the first scene with Gwen drumming while talking, but it was terrible throughout. Really struggled with a lot of the dialogue even just in quiet scenes.

Penn

Overall I thought the film was really great. Visually stunning as expected, some great humour and character work. Doesn't hit the same highs as the first film though, mostly just because this is clearly a Part 1, which means a lot of setup and some characters come into it or you only start getting to know them pretty late in the film.

Spoiler Warning

I copped the computer screen saying Earth-42 so Miles ending up in the wrong Earth wasn't that much of a surprise. The whole thing about police captains dying and being canon... that just felt a bit flimsy. Gwen's father is now safe because he resigned, when surely the impact of the police captain dying is supposed to be the spider-person's emotional connection to them. Also, they changed Miles' father's surname I guess to simplify things by giving him the same last name as Miles even though he was Jefferson Davies in the first film, and his brother was Aaron Davis. Couldn't have just thrown in a line where another Spider mentions the police captain isn't related to you but then Miles says he is, his parents never married and he was given his mother's name? Small issues, I know. But the first film just felt so rock solid that these issues feel a bit more jarring.

There were definitely a lot of highlights though. Spider-Man India and that whole sequence was terrific. Spider-Punk was great (when I could hear what he was saying) and the design of both were perfect. Spider-Woman was still heavily pregnant even though Gwen had been working with them for about 6 months if I remember right? Doesn't really matter. Would like to have seen more of her and presume we will in the next film. And the performances throughout were pitch-perfect (again, when I could hear them). The film was just lacking those moments like the entire sequence from the first film of Peter B telling Miles he wasn't ready, to his father's speech through the door, to the What's Up Danger scene. In that regard it does very much feel like a Part 1. But I'm sure as hell looking forward to Part 2.

TheIrishGrover

I very much enjoyed that..... Apart from the fact that I bought a ticket for Sunday instead of Saturday. So to the person who saw that weirdo sitting in his seat £14 on Saturday, that was me. Sorry about that :)

Anyway, I enjoyed that a lot. Maybe not as much as the first one 'cos that was such a bolt from the blue.

I thought the dialogue was a little bit subdued. When I moved to a new seat (After exchanging mine) there was a father and kid beside me talking quite a bit. A bit distracting but not super loud and I always bear in mind that there are always going to be talking kids at family movies. If you don't like it then go to a later showing or don't go to a family movie at all.... Anyway, I thought the dialogue was a bit subdued, especially at the start and I missed some lines (Especially from some of the cameos and one in particular).

The action was frenetic at times but still easy to follow. The story is great and it makes sense (Well, as much as any multiverse-type movie "makes sense"). It's obviously a bit more serious than the first: We're not talking "DC-Gritty" or anything but given the storyline, it's a little less jokey. It's still funny, especially the first half but there are just more serious bits I suppose.

The voice casting is still spot on. Obviously the initial crew was spot on but the new members are excellent too.

And finally the animation: It is still eye-bleedingly amazing. The ENERGY of the animation during the action scenes is simply stunning: It is frantic, dazzling but still coherent: No transformers transporting from the US to Jordan or to the Egypt simply 'cos the director wanted a cool shot of robots on the Pyramids. The backgrounds reacting to the action and even emotional states of characters. The different styles for different characters. All without aping anime styling.

However

It is quite long and there are about 4 points where you think: "Ah, this is where it crashes to black screen - End of part one". It's hard to know where they could have trimmed it a bit. Maybe the action sequences could have been cut back just a smidge. Min or 2 here, min or 2 there. No SCENES could have been cut.

And it does end on a cliffhanger (Most of us would have known this going in but younger kids might be a bit confused and frustrated with the end).

And it's RIGHT AT THE EDGE of needing to reign the directors in: I've said it before that (IMHO) sometimes directors need to be reigned in: The Wachowskis made a tight little anime-styles action movie, The Matrix before being given all the money they wanted for the overblown sequels. Waitiki made a fun subversion of the Marvel movies before being given all the control he wanted for a confused and incoherent sequel. These guys juuuuust need to make sure they don't take that one step too far in part 2

So: TLDR (Usual for me): Liked it a LOT. But as out-of-the-blue jaw-drop that was the first one and part 2 shold be careful not to go much larger but overall a great movie that will impact animation for years.... again.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120680641#Comment_120680641

The only audio I struggled with was Spider Punk but maybe that was the accent

Slydice

Saw it in the cinema. Enjoyed it. Felt very fun and wild and just huge and everywhere.

I'd say it's fine to wait for a good home entertainment system but probably for the real deep Spider-Man fans, there'd be a good time going to see it on the big screen.

The one criticism I have was my eyes felt strained or something wierd in places with the artwork. Some of the way it looked in places reminded me of seeing a 3D IMAX movie if I took the glasses off.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120683682#Comment_120683682

He purposefully talks under his breath to Miles a few times, or mutters things to himself. That's where I had the most trouble with him. But I definitely struggled in a lot of places in the film, or could just barely piece the dialogue together.

johnny_ultimate

I saw it in the Cineworld faux-Imax screen and there were definitely audio issues. Especially at the start in the Gwen prologue it felt like the sound mixing levels were off. There were definitely other parts where I struggled to get the dialogue - again possibly a sound mix issue, but also the film gets pretty chaotic at times on purpose.

Going by reports the film came in pretty 'hot' i.e. post-production was finished much closer to the release date than would be typical of a major Hollywood release, so sound mixing may have been a consequence of getting it out the door quickly. Or it could just be the Chris Nolan problem of 'wall of sound' approach to sound design, where legibility of dialogue suffers in favour of brute force loudness.

TheIrishGrover

Oh good (Well, bad) I thought it was me with the audio. As you said, especially at the start. No problem with music or sound - They weren't too loud but yeah, I found the dialogue volume low at times (Found Hobie difficult to get also).

I think it was more of the fact it needed a tweak rather than an intentional Nolanesque Wall of Sound type thing. (Hopefully he's taken that onboard. Tenet was practically indecipherable for the majority of the movie. And not just the wibbly wobbly timey wimey. Simply couldn't understand 75% of what they were saying. So much so that I have not rewatched it since the cinema)

Penn

I was tempted after the first 10-15 minutes of the film to go out and ask them to adjust the volume, but like you said the music and sound effects were fine, it was only the dialogue. I felt it might just end up making the music/sound too loud and there were kids there so I just felt best not to bother.

gmisk

At least they are acknowledging some audio issues...

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a44164018/across-spider-verse-new-version-audio-complaints/

steve_r

Watched it a few days ago. It's a great cinema film (although some people have had issues with the audio).

I think unfortunately it suffers in comparison to the first one, which had a really compelling story and a lot of heart.

I think the story probably would have worked better with a smaller main cast - a lot of the characters aren't used a lot (Spider-woman, Spider-Punk), and maybe that time could have been spent tightening up the motivation for Spider-man 2099 and making his story more than just the brief flashback it was.

As a visual spectacle, I loved it and it's filled to the brim with easter eggs and references. It's also exactly in line with the things I love about Spider-man as a character and the struggle that the character has (which is something a lot of superhero characters don't face).

Full_Circle_81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120684373#Comment_120684373

The "3D movie when the glasses are off" issue affected me a *lot* during the first movie. I honestly thought it was my eyes acting up (as no one else mentioned it), but its present on the blu-ray, digital version and also in the sequel, so clearly very intentional. I love all the stylistic choices they made in the two movies (especially the ones that mimic comics), but I'm not sure what point this effect serves other than to make certain things look sort of blurry.

Having said that, I was extremely impressed with the creativity they had (and were allowed to have) when it came to animation styles. I never thought I'd say this, but it makes Pixar look like old (safe) hat in comparison!

Story-wise, for a two-parter I thought it was far too long and like almost all Lord and Millar joints I found it extremely chaotic on first viewing. I look forward to absorbing it all a bit better at a home-viewing at some point.

Potential-Monke

Just back from this and... I'm disappointed. The visuals were amazing, so I'm not referring to that. The story was pants.

Spoiler Warning

Yet again, they're focusing on the humanity of superheroes. I'm sick of it. I like my superheroes to be just that, not human (because, well, they're not, they're mutants as acknowledged by one of them). I felt most scenes that were just Miles or Gwen, or the two of them, were boring. Everything else was great, and some of the comedic moments were excellent ("Perfect Pose"), but I felt the main characters dragged it down with their humanity. It felt like more origin stories albeit that's the central theme to a degree. And I'm sick of origin stories and touchy feelsy bits.

For once, I was happy to see "To be continued" because it was finally over. Not a patch on the first (outside of the visuals). But I also acknowledge that it's a personal reason, so I can also see how it appeals more to most other people.

Spoiler Warning

Kudos to motorbike Spiderwoman for telling Gwen that more or less you can't have personal feelings as Spiderperson, while she herself is pregnant. :rolleyes:

flazio

After the second weekend out The Flash dropped to third and Spider-Verse jumped back to the top of the Box Office.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/jennifer-lawrence-no-hard-feelings-box-office-opening-the-flash-crashes-1235653983/

Riddle101

Went to see it today and enjoyed it as much as the first movie. I think they knocked it out of the park.

Spoiler Warning

I kind've got a Who Framed Roger Rabbit vibe from it with how they connected the live-action universes to it. I also got a Rick and Morty vibe from it as well with the all parallel universes having a different Spider-Hero character.

pixelburp

Finally got to see this, having been dead keen but life getting in the way of experiencing it in the cinema. Suffice to say: wow.

An utterly overwhelming experience: 2 hours of having my senses pummelled & massaged in all the right ways; one where the sheer visual density on show never drowned my faculties beyond comprehension or thrilled entertainment. I said it of Into the Spider-Verse that it functioned as quiet evidence towards the Superhero genre being best suited to animation - so this sequel kinda made that entire question a bit of a no-brainer. You just can't do the things this film did in live-action; a certain heart to heart between Gwen and her dad was the most beautiful piece of animated cinema I had seen in years

It's a point of contention around here - a bit one, but there's no doubt for me the last couple of years has seen the functional duopoly of Superhero blockbusters - DC's stable and the MCU's own - show a substantial wobble in both execution and audience enthusiasm. The end-results have perhaps been inarguable: audiences are stifling yawns while the productions show a laziness in execution bordering on contempt. The half ássed CGI mush has been well publicised and explained, while there has been a degree of listlessness in the bones of the films themselves; the MCU in particular has been lurching about in search of a point since End-Game.

So within my own growing impatience with Marvel's meandering course, along came Across the Spider-Verse as both a rejoinder to the suggestion of so-called "Superhero Fatigue", and that the genre still had something to offer cinematically, emotionally - and just as pure unbridled entertainment built with a modicum of style, the confidence to trust its audience to "get" something this outlandish, this imaginative. This unabashedly beautiful.

By now it's well known the film ends on a supreme mic-drop as everything came to a head, but the only reason it worked in the first instance was 'cos getting there was a whirlwind of enlarged stakes, impact, character - and a sense that if Into... was those first hesitant steps, here was the confidence to just run with the idea. A swaggering second act of a story with more panache, imagination, heart and creativity than the vast majority of this genre has depressingly managed across recent years. Yet where other sequels might fumble the sudden need for "More!", Across... never tipped the film into nonsense, or the kind of messy chaos that would often sink an overeager follow-up.

flazio

New short film set between the first and second films.

It's done in collaboration with a Speak Up mental health not for profit company.

https://youtu.be/FcGPpwFdE1Y?si=mGhrw5etxZvtS6sa

emilyhlib

Honestly, I liked that part. I love watching this kind of thing, especially in the cinema