MOVIE REVIEW: SPIDER-MAN ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

 

After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.

Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson

Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, Oscar Isaac

Release Date: June 2, 2023

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Rated PG for sequences of animated action violence, some language and thematic elements

Runtime: 2h 20m

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the kind of sequel that ups the ante on pretty much everything that made the original so special.  The fact that it manages to do so with incredible ease while never losing touch with its emotional center is an impressive feat.  Visually, it’s an aggressive hodgepodge of animations styles thrown at the screen with reckless abandon.  It’s an optic assault on the senses which makes every shot and sequence impossible to fully appreciate on a single viewing due the level of detail and depth contained in every frame.  The action is kinetic and frenzied in its own way with each new set piece and character offering a very specific sort of visual style and approach.  Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson could have leaned on the visuals and delivered a middling story, but they manage to keep the story grounded with its character and their relationships.  Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld make up the film's emotional core with both delivering stellar voicework throughout.  Moore's voice gives Miles a believable and relatable tenor to his interactions something that really shines in the quieter moments with Lauren Vélez and Brian Tyree Henry who play his parents.  Steinfeld's character is given a bit more depth this go around with the added pathos making her far more interesting.  The supporting spiders are all given their moments to shine but Karan Soni as Spider-Man India and Daniel Kaluuya as Spider Punk leave the biggest impression.  Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099 and Issa Rae Spider-Woman both have important roles, but you get the sense that both characters will get a bigger focus in the third entry which this film sets up with a tantalizing cliffhanger that'll give people of certain age flashbacks of Empire Strikes Back or Star Trek The Next Generation's The Best of Both Worlds so be forewarned.  

A

Cindy Prascik's Review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Dearest Blog: After rather a long hiatus, yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Spoiler level here will be...uh...you know what, we're five weeks in and I never did see a trailer for this, so let's just say read on and take your chances.

Many Spideys from many dimensions join forces to fight a common threat.

Dear reader(s), the week Spider-Verse was released, we had five new movies opening locally. As the busy holiday season left me time for only two and I am prone to poor life choices, I opted for The Mule and Mortal Engines. Yesterday was my first opportunity to catch up with Spider-Verse, and, while I normally wouldn't bother reviewing a movie this late in its run*, Spider-Verse is so extraordinary that if I can convince even one person to get out and see it while it's still on the big screen, it's my civic duty to do that.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a terrific film, sans genre qualifier. The story is clever and layered without being muddled, and it explains itself well enough that even those not well-versed  in the multi-verse should have no trouble keeping up. Glorious visuals could pass for pages pulled directly from a comic; in fact, there's more than one panel I'm pretty sure *was* pulled directly from a comic. Your enjoyment may ebb and flow depending on the amount of time "your" Spidey spends on screen (I'm a Peter Parker girl myself), but the movie is at its best when all the Spideys share scenes together. A familiar stable of villains lends a comfortable feel to the proceedings, but a great sense of humor and multiple focal points keep the picture moving at pretty frantic pace. Daniel Pemberton's fantastic score and a positive, empowering message wrap up the heroic proceedings with a neat little bow.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse clocks in at 117 minutes and is rated PG for "frenetic scenes of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild language."

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an exceptional movie that stands out among a glut of super-hero movies and sets a new standard for animation.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse gets nine.

Until next time...

*Feel free to laugh at this remark when my next review is of a movie that turns 15 years old this summer.

MOVIE REVIEW: SPIDERMAN INTO THE SPIDERVERSE

Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.

Director: Peter Ramsey, Robert Persichetti Jr., Rodney Rothman

Cast: Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna 

Lauren Velez, John Mulaney, Nicolas Cage, Liev Schreiber

Rated PG for frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild 

language

Genres: Animation, Action, Adventure

Runtime: 1h 57min

Review:

Spiderman into the Spiderverse is one of those animated films that is instantly striking due to it’s visual style and energy.  The visual style is so striking that it takes a little while to adjust to it in action.  Once you settle into it it’s a cornucopia of visual delights.  The character designs and lush backgrounds make for a beautifully vivid film.  Thankfully the story is just as strong as the visual.  The story is a fun superhero tome filled with great messages for kids and adults alike.  The voice cast all fit their characters perfectly with Shameik Moore and Jake Johnson sharing great chemistry.  Hailee Steinfeld as a SpiderGwen has spinoff written all over it but it’s not nearly as fun as John Mulany as Spider Ham and Nicholas Cage as Spiderman Noir.  Ultimately, Spiderman into the Spiderverse is a fun film which offers a fresh version of animation which makes it pop.

B

MOVIE REVIEW: TAG

One month every year, five highly competitive friends hit the ground running for a no-holds-barred game of tag -- risking their necks, their jobs and their relationships to take one another down. This time, the game coincides with the wedding of the only undefeated player. What should be an easy target soon becomes an all-out war as he knows they're coming to get him. 

Director: Jeff Tomsic 

Cast: Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Annabelle Wallis, Isla Fisher, Rashida Jones, Leslie Bibb

Release Date: June 15, 2018

 

Rated R for language throughout, crude sexual content, drug use and brief nudity 

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min. 

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Tag is one of those goofy comedies that shouldn’t work because of the flimsy premise but it succeeds more often than not.  Jeff Tomsic creates a fun little film that moves along at a steady pace with the “tag” sequences standing out for ingenuity.  The film’s biggest asset is it’s collection of stars.  They all share good comedic timing and chemistry together.  The jokes go off in fairly rapid fire manner with the movie never lingering too much on anything to avoid stagnation.  Its breezy style makes it easier to overlook some of the horrible things these friends do to each other.  Still it makes for a funny movie that’s got a beating heart underneath it’s crude exterior.  There are a few dead spots here and there but nothing damning even though they could have used female members of the cast a bit more.  Same complaints aside, Tag is a surprisingly funny film that doesn’t disappoint. 

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of The Mummy

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the opening act in Universal's new Dark Universe, The Mummy.

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you haven't seen already in trailers and advertising.

 

Tom Cruise unleashes an ancient curse...on his box office, apparently.

 

Well, friends, by now I'm sure you've heard that The Mummy is terrible. A Facebook friend and fellow movie reviewer--not generally one who just parrots the opinions of "real" critics--called it the worst movie he'd ever seen, and many headlines have proclaimed it, at the very least, the worst picture Tom Cruise has ever made. I'm here to argue that, while the Mummy is not Oscar material, nor is it rocket science, it is a perfectly passable way to spend a couple hours at the cinema.

 

It goes without saying The Mummy's chief positive is Cruise, who always seems to be having the time of his life, no matter how good or bad the project. His character is nothing new, a morally ambiguous rogue pressganged into heroics by circumstance, but Cruise is so delightful it matters not how many times you've seen it before. The Mummy's leading ladies, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella, are solid enough as cookie-cutter characters, but it's Russell Crowe who steals the show in...erm...let's just say a "dual" role. The Mummy boasts decent effects, fun action sequences, a few nice jump scares, and it's quite amusing when it wants to be. It's also smart enough not to wear out its welcome. While The Mummy is certainly no unforgettable piece of cinematic brilliance, it does a fine job kicking off Universal's new Dark Universe, and I look forward to watching that play out (though I do wish it still included Luke Evans. *sigh*).

 

The Mummy clocks in at 110 minutes, and is rated PG13 for "violence, action and scary images, and some suggestive content and partial nudity."

 

If you're especially skittish about spiders or rats, or so deeply in love with Brendan Fraser you simply can't abide the prospect of this reimagining, maybe take a pass on The Mummy; otherwise, if you're in the market for some fun summer brain candy, you'll likely find it a good time...and suffice to say reports of Tom Cruise's career demise have been greatly exaggerated. Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Mummy gets six.

 

Until next time...