Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

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. 😁

Sony now just going all in Pixar on us. 😁

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

Finally, a new Spider-Man movie!

Dang it. Wonder what the problem is?

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.

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.

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.

I think what he meant is

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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.

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

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.