Michael Phillips: 5 things to love about ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ — and 1 to dread
Some quick web-slinging — thwip! thwip! tthhhhwwwwip! — on what’s behind the opening-week success of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” and why it’s the superhero movie we needed to counteract the less interesting titles in theaters right now:
1. The triumph of creative animation: I’ve enjoyed many of the live-action Spidey films for different reasons, though they’re not very live at all. The percentage of digital, animation-adjacent filmmaking involved in a live-action Marvel or DC movie makes them more like animation/live-action hybrids. The most conspicuous example of this lies outside the Marvel or DC realm, over at Disney, where live-ish adaptations of proven animated hits — “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid,” etc. — have a way of stranding the viewer in movies determined to look as “real” and unmagical as possible.
Five years ago, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” showed us what was missing from superhero movies: animation that truly animated a dangerously familiar franchise, expressively. Its visual universe felt expansive and fluid and alive. Miles Morales, the latest incarnation of Spider-Man, brought with him a world teeming with life. There were adventures beyond Brooklyn, but emotionally the story’s heart belonged to the borough.
2. How to sequel: “Across the Spider-Verse” doubles down on the 2018 “Spider-Verse”'s animation approach, and the result is a movie even more manic in its pacing than, say, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (another multiverse tale), but with shrewder peaks and valleys. The movie may get a mite wearying in its action rhythms, particularly in the second half. But I’ll take its brand of deft, accelerated velocity over anything in, oh, say, “The Flash,” which opens June 16.
3. The money: “Across the Spider-Verse” directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson worked with a budget of $100 million. That’s a lot. But it’s only half, roughly, of what “Spider-Man: No Way Home” cost, not counting packaging and marketing. In idealistic theory, less money means less corporate meddling and, now and then, a more distinctive outcome.
4. The most aggressive cliffhanger ending in recent memory: We’re living in a perpetual cultural cliff-hang, thanks to the perceived dictates of streaming platforms requiring stories to, whenever possible, not end. Ever. The finale of “Across the Spider-Verse” is a different matter. Like “The Empire Strikes Back,” the middle installment of the original “Star Wars” trilogy, it’s a shameless cliffhanger that both teases the wrap-it-up “Spider-Verse” conclusion arriving next year, and entices rather frustrates the fans. “Avengers: Infinity War” did the same thing with the Thanos snap (terrific dance tune, by the way: The Thanos Snap!) but I’d rather use examples of movies I like.
5. The soundtrack: It’s great.
P.S. The bad news: Hope springs occasional, of course, but Sony’s developing a live-action Miles Morales “Spider-Verse” movie, since the animated “Spider-Verse” triumphs hit two-for-two. The recycling is inevitable. IP stands for intellectual property but also for in perpetuity. So here we go again, again. It’s Hollywood as run by Kinkos.
But I take heart from “Across the Spider-Verse.” It isn’t locked into a comic-book style; rather, it’s freed by its myriad visual inspirations. Flawless? No. The Mumbattan corner of the multiverse comes off like a cultural cheap shot and a little racist; the first half is wondeful, and the second half is merely really good. Overall? The movie feels like a movie, not a timid stockholder placation device. It’s something old transcended by something new, servicing fans while slipping them something of actual quality.
You know. Just for fun.
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