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'Across the Spider-Verse' is Good and Bad

 


Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes out today. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures.

What started off with good hard rock grooves ended with a cliffhanger that I hunger for a resolution to. Spider-Man:Across the Spider-Verse was fun in the beginning, then got heavy towards the end. It’s also very confusing with this multi-dimensional rift thing.

Continuing a year from Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore, is still having trouble finding himself, between being Brooklyn’s newest Spider-Man and figuring out his life beyond the mask and electro-webs. But when Gwen Stacy, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, comes from her dimension to his, Miles finds himself in a Pandora’s Box of crises that spell out how hard it is to be Spider-Man in every possible Earth.

As for what I enjoyed about Across the Spider-Verse, I enjoyed hearing Gwen and Spider-Punk’s, voiced by Daniel Kaluuya, rocking music beats in the background as they dealt with the misadventures of being Spider-People. In addition, there were Miles’ awkward attempts at witty one-liners against dimension rift villain Spot, voiced by Jason Schwartzman, and with the police, cool fighting choreography and budding romance for Gwen and Miles, well-constructed colors of the background and different dimensions that also highlighted the happy and tragic moments, and during said moments, Miles’ parents, voiced by Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez, loving him and wanting him to succeed.

Oscar Isaac’s character Miguel O’Hara was an animated Lethal Weapon, and maybe a half-Mexican Clint Eastwood. In that sense, he doesn’t laugh, barely even smiles, but knows how to punch a perp down. On the good side, he and Miles could be inspiration for more people of color in high-functioning STEM-esque jobs. And like No Way Home, I was awestruck at the sight of so many Spider-Men/Women from the past showing up to help Miles stop Spot.

But as I said in the title, Across the Spider-Verse was similar to Back to the Future Part II in a good and bad way. The good way was the humor and adventure moments, but the bad way was reminder of sacrifices it takes to be a superhero like Spider-Man. Overall, I give the film a 7/10, because the ending threw me off and I can’t wait several months to see what’s next, which is also a good thing. Good job with the diverse cast, humor, soundtrack, and animation, but get that next movie on air as soon as you can, Sony and Marvel.

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