Review: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Positively Crosses Boundaries

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse (dir. Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson) is the long-awaited sequel to 2019’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (dir. Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Bob Persichetti). The story picks up about a year after the last movie left off, as Miles (Shameik Moore) navigates his sophomore year of high school, keeping up with his family, and being Spider-Man. But this time around there’s one big difference: he’s doing it all by himself, without his friends from the Spider-verse. Or at least, that’s how things start out. But since when does anything go according to plan?

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Review: ‘Let It Snow’ Evokes Holiday Excitement and Nothing More

One of America’s favorite ways to reign in the holiday season is to watch sub-par cheesy rom-coms. Let It Snow is a continuation of that beloved tradition. It is a great movie for those who are fans of the holiday Hallmark collection, and it is a great movie to mindlessly watch while baking cookies or wrapping presents. However, it is not a great movie. Based off the novel Let It Snow written by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Mycrale, it follows several teens in their small town on an eventful Christmas Eve. In true holiday rom-com fashion, it is driven by absurd coincidences, best-friends that are hesitant to reveal their true feelings, and a lot of snow.

Let It Snow tries to pull off one of the classic tropes of rom-coms: multiple intertwined storylines. However, their attempt hurts the film far more than it helps. The result of of their attempt is what causes the movie to be disorganized because each storyline isn’t given the opportunity to resonate with the audience. There are three main subplots and they all feel shallow. Let It Snow would have been much better off with a narrower, less distracting focus. The lack of it leads to a lost central message of the movie. It is so busy establishing each story that is has a hurried and unimpressive resolution. The plot is over complex and yet the characters are written without complexity. The characters feel inorganic and their actions lack any motivation besides desperately moving the plot along. Overall, the screenplay was poorly written; the jokes fall flat and its attempts at comedy cause a reaction more on par with cringe than laughter.

What Let It Snow did do right was the casting of Shameik Moore. With Shameik’s stellar performance in Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse, there is no question Shameik has talent. This talent easily makes Shameik’s character, Stuart, the most outstanding character in the movie. Stuart is a pop-star who takes a detour in an unassuming small town in the film. His run in with with Julie (Isabela Merced), is largely what drives his storyline in the film. In addition to Shameik, the only other substantial performance in the film is from Liv Hewson and her character, Dorrie. In her storyline, Dorrie handles solving her issues with her best friend and her crush on a cheerleader. What makes Dorrie’s character stand out is that she is level headed and thoughtful, in contrast to the otherwise emotional and irrational characters in this film.

Let It Snow evokes an excitement for the holidays, but unfortunately, nothing more. The coherency of Let It Snow is missing, but the holiday cheer is not. For those who are just looking for a movie to usher them into the season, this is the movie for you. However, don’t expect it to be the next Love, Actually.

2/5 STARS

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Review: ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is the Best Superhero Film in Years

To quote Greg’s Letterboxd review: “The best superhero film in years…came from Sony.” Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the breath of fresh air that both the superhero genre and blockbuster animation truly needed. Fresh, funny, and inventive, the movie proves its central thesis by virtue of its own quality: that every great endeavor is just a leap of faith.

The film honors its comic-book roots with an animation style that blends 3D animation with 2D elements like cell-shading, motion lines, and onomatopoetic onscreen text. The animation is truly engaging and impressive, and it looks unlike anything I’ve seen in a mainstream animated feature film, and it is my great hope that future animated flicks take a hint from its inevitable success that audiences want to see diverse animation styles rather than the expected Pixar/Dreamworks style. I would not be surprised if it is nominated for Best Animated Feature this Oscars Season.

Even more engaging than the animation, however, is the story itself. The film follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as he grapples with family, identity, and controlling the new powers he finds himself with after being bitten by a radioactive spider. He soon discovers he is not alone when Wilson Fisk a.k.a. “Kingpin” (Liev Schrieber) activates a device that brings together multiple alternate realities and brings five other “Spider-People” into Miles’ reality. Together with Spider-Man (Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Noir (Nicolas Cage), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), and Peni Parker a.k.a. “SP//dr” (Kimiko Glenn), Miles must find a way to return the Spider-People to their own dimensions before their bodies decay and stop Kingpin’s device from destroying the city.

The movie is lighthearted and very funny and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Despite its admittedly off-the-beaten-path plot, it is easy to follow without being simplistic and will be appealing to comic book fans and casual viewers alike. It is a good solution to the plethora of Spider-Man movies in recent years (seven since 2002) and feels completely new despite acknowledging its many predecessors.

The film is, above all, a story of inclusivity and acceptance. Its central messages are of the importance of friends and family, and the belief that anyone can “wear the mask.” In a post-Nolan world of largely serious superhero movies, the way Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse balances admittedly dark themes and tragic moments with a reckless optimism and belief in what people who care about one another can accomplish together is heartening. It is exactly the kind of film we are desperately in need of right now.

Score: 4.75/5