Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
★★★★★
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is cooler than I can ever imagine being. This movie will astound the senses. I loved the first Spider-Verse installment and my biggest regret was not seeing it in the theaters. I was thrilled to see this sequel in IMAX and it indeed is a sight to behold. I know that some people may think that it's too much, but I think it's perfectly balanced with the tone of the story. All the visuals are so unique and creative that a lot would be gained from watching this again.
It's extremely clichéd to say that this is the epitome of a comic book brought to life, but it's not just that these filmmakers (directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson and Kemp Powers) make you feel like you are ingesting the pages of a comic book, they also have created a film that can stand on its own. It's action-packed, hilarious and surprisingly dramatic. It doesn't dismiss the tense dynamics between growing teenagers and their parents, and this film has genuine, moving moments between the characters.
I don't think it's a spoiler to say this, but it's best going in to know that although this is a sequel, it's more of a part one to the eventual third movie. I keep my ear close to the the cinematic world of news, but I also try to avoid trailers and spoilers. I knew how long the movie was supposed to be and I found it odd that towards the end that there was a lot to be wrapped up in a short amount of time. The movie definitely concludes in a satisfactory way, but I think you can rest into the story a bit more to know that there is still a lot more of the Spider-Verse to come.
I hope that this film gets recognition beyond the animation category come awards season, because it's a both a marvel (no pun intended) in technical filmmaking and dynamic storytelling.
