Year: 2023
Genre: Animated, Action, Adventure
Duration: 2 Hours 16 Minutes
Where to watch: Cinemas
The highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ is here and it is BIG. The first film was critically acclaimed and won a few awards, including an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was a game changer for animation, had incredible art style and was technical on all fronts. The newly released sequel repeats those accomplishments and exceeds them.
First and foremost, ATSV is part 1 of a bigger story. This isn’t a spoiler, it was a part of the original title when first announced. But you may be thinking ‘oh so the story is broken into two parts, so the character arcs and plot aren’t completed’… yes and no. Though it’s broken into two parts, the overarching narrative is set in a way where all minor plot points and some character arcs and development are achieved in a satisfying conclusion, with these points being left open enough for them to be explored further in part two.
The main story follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore). Following the events of ITSV he has grown into being a more mature and almost fully fledged Spider-Man, however he still feels empty after his Spider friends left him after the last film, especially Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). It’s not until Gwen gets involved with a large group of Spider-Men does Miles get involved, unravelling truths about this own origin and the goals and morals of this society of heroes.
The animation in this film is top notch. For each universe we explore there is a different art style, which every Spider-Man carries with them through every scene. At a time you could have up to 10+ different characters, all with their own distinctive art style and way of being animated. It truly is art, and I’m not saying this as a comic book nerd. Visually this film is stunning on all fronts. I was blown away from what I was seeing and the rest of my cinema was too. With perfectly timed jokes, to spectacular set pieces and action scenes, to beautiful character driven moments, the only fault this film has was that it was only a half of an overall storyline.
I cannot recommend this film enough, obviously it’s advised to watch Into The Spider-Verse first to be able to grasp the full picture of the narrative.
4.5
