Friday, June 2, 2023

Review: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ pushes the limits of both animation and superhero storytelling

When Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was showered with praise upon release in 2018, the adoration was effusive but concentrated; people were primarily dazzled by the idiosyncratic art style and the meaningful character work amid swells of IP-mashing. James Gunn called it “the best superhero movie ever made,” and indeed it often felt like a best-in-show, pivoting expertly from wild irreverence to hard-earned pathos. Yet, on some level the film was still a relatively traditional origin story that we’d seen many times before. Its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, travels worlds to upend its own status quo, spinning a truly unique and sometimes devastating narrative that finally matches its visual ambitions.

Funny enough, Across the Spider-Verse is in no rush to impress from the jump: It uses the same tactic as the original of building grounded characters in the early goings and putting tangible, real-life obstacles in their path. At nearly two hours and 30 minutes, it’s the longest animated film to be released by a major American studio, and the lower-tempo first act suggests confidence on the part of writers Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and David Callaham. They have something truly wild up their sleeves, but they know it’s not going to have the proper emotional weight without necessary table-setting.



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