Discussing The Gifts and Gambles of ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE!!! (Patreon)

Warning MAJOR SPOILER talk therein…

Seriously, you are warned, okay… here we go.

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STRUCTURE - Surprise!! It’s half a movie. A GREAT half a movie, but yes, that’s very much what it is. What’s funny is I remember them originally putting it as part one / part two in initial trades, but whatever win / loss they gambled in going this way and selling it as one movie, well, it certainly had an effect. I mean, my audience was SCREAMING when it went to the “to be continued” card, especially because it felt like we were right on the crest of something big. Like I said above, there’s absolutely going to be a downside of doing this. It will absolutely feel like some kind of let down no matter what. This is inevitable. Intrinsic even. But you have to remember people were disappointed / felt halfway stuck after Empire Strikes Back, too. The whole question is if you can really still build a strong enough foundation that people are completely into the journey still. And ultimately part of a “spider-verse” trilogy that people adore as a complete thought. But it also has to be entertaining along the way… And boy howdy did they do that…

PACE - Even from the opening long sequence, I was like “oh boy, they’re taking their time aren’t they?” Because they certainly were. Which is perhaps odd given that the first film, Into The Spider-Verse is a Swiss clock of precision and rapid timing, moving along its beats with incredible speed and soaring to an incredible (and cathartic) finale. It’s perfect storytelling (and I did an hour long mega video essay with Landon about that here). But this film is soooooo not that. Again, it’s a gamble. And something that will obviously have some kind of negative impact. I mean, even I agree there’s a few conversations that ramble on and repeat some of the beats. But there’s great things that come from the change, too. Like when you give scenes to breathe you really can get some moments to resonate. I mean, does anyone else think the most incredible scene in the movie is Gwen and Miles catching up on the clocktower? We know how the first film uses the powerful inversion imagery, but the scene is ACHINGLY gorgeous, especially in how it shows they’re the only two people who can really see the world LIKE THIS. It’s maybe one of my favorite little intimate sequences I’ve seen in a studio film in YEARS??? And hot damn, there are only some things that are possible when you let a movie find these kinds of moments. Speaking of which..

STYLE / SCORE - Emboldened by the success of the last one, they push the impressionistic stuff to a whole other level. Sure, we get legos and Mumbai and so many dips into the strange possibilities. And dazzling doesn’t even cover the action of it. But my hands down favorite is the (perhaps more subtle) emphasis on Gwen’s impressionist, splash paint version of New York where we spent A LOT of time in the movie (it almost felt a little Disco Elysium?).  And part of the pacing and style difference means the film gets so much time to highlight Daniel Pemberton’s score, which already feels like an all timer?

S Tier Additions - The way the first film builds out its roster is one of those amazing things and we get to wonder what kind of spider-folks we’re going to get this time. My hands down favorite? And seemingly everyone else’s? Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk Hobie. From design, to the serious yet tongue and cheek punk anarchy, to his protest peacing out of the big battle cause he can’t be bothered with none of that, to his giving of the watch thingy to Gwen as a cathartic-yet-in-character-act-of-rebellion is all perfect. But he’s not alone. Pavitr Prabhakar? “Who I don’t know!” Incredible. Jessica Drew? “He’s hot though” Incredible. Shea Wiggum as Gwen’s dad? Incredible. All of it feels so damn alive and vivid. Even Oscar Isaac gets the incredible job of being stern fuddy duddy (which they also get to play as hilarious), all before leading to…

THE BAIT AND SWITCH - I remember the second I heard the braids line I was like “oh shit oh shit oh shit” and you could feel it all coming in the audience in waves after that. By the time it gets to the Miles / Prowler reveal, you slap your forehead. OF COURSE. Of course that’s where it all had to go. And all the possible thematic meaning comes alive right there: Miles understanding the architecture of his life, the dark side of who we could be, what he’s actually fighting for in his identity and self-hood, along with the deeper notions of a whole essay that could be so full of depth and meaning…

But it’s half a movie. And that’s the ultimate thing. I can’t really fully write about it until we have the whole of it put together. And while there are a lot of studio film situations where I’d bemoan the delay, there are some stories that do a good job of earning your trust in the process. Because let’s be honest about this particular genre…

No one else is working on this level, are they?

<3HULK