Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Jack and I enjoyed many parts of this animated sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, particularly the rescue in "Mumbattan" and the old school POWs and BAMs but, unlike the public at large (see below), we liked the first chapter more. Returning from the previous movie are the voices of Shameik Moore as Miles, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen, Brian Tyree Henry as Jeff, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, Mahershala Ali as Aaron, and many more in the cast of hundreds.

Co-directors are Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, working from a script by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham. All but Lord are new to the Spider-Verse series. At one point when the story focused on Miles' and Gwen's relationship, I called it a rom-comic.

I'm still digging Daniel Pemberton's new score, streaming on Apple Music and elsewhere.

Noticeably missing from this Marvel movie are a Stan Lee (1922-2019) cameo and a full bonus scene after the credits. We see only the words TO BE CONTINUED before the credits (and the third movie is in production now with the same directors and writers).

Lord and Pemberton were last blogged for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Powers for Soul, and Callaham for Wonder Woman 1984. This is the feature directing debut for Dos Santos, after some action TV episodes and shorts, and the directing debut, period, for Thompson. Miller has written or co-written several other movies and TV shows, including The Afterparty, which he created.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are spinning with joy, averaging 95 and 94%. We watched it on Netflix March 26.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Our friend Judy, who worked on this animated installment of the franchise, recommended we see the Oscar-winning 2018 movie before its 2023 sequel. In it, teenage Miles Morales navigates his world with his new spidery powers, interacting with family and friends and other Spider-Man iterations. It's a mashup of animated genres, with some lifelike characters, some abstract, big BAMs, slo-mo sequences, very funny bits, lots of action, and much more, 

So many voice actors! Here are the main ones: Shameik Moore as Miles, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Brian Tyree Henry as Miles' dad Jefferson, Mahershala Ali as Miles' uncle Aaron, Lily Tomlin as Aunt May, Liev Schreiber as Kingpin, Kathryn Hahn as Doc Ock, and the various Spideys: Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, John Mulaney as Spider-Ham, Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker, Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir, and Chris Pine as Peter Parker. Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee (1922-2018) makes his usual cameo as himself. Johnson's Parker/Spider-Man owes a little to Deadpool (that's a link to my post on the sequel).

Co-directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman work from a script by Phil Lord and Rothman, with story by Lord. 

I loved the techno music by Daniel Pemberton, streaming on Apple Music, and a jillion songs, fifteen of which are on an Apple Music playlist. Spidey Bells (A Hero's Lament), a song parody of Jingle Bells, is sung by Pine over the end credits.

Moore was last blogged for Dope, Steinfeld for The Edge of Seventeen, Henry for Causeway, Ali for Swan Song, Tomlin for Moving On, Schreiber for A Rainy Day in New York, Hahn for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Johnson for Jurassic World, Cage for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pine for Wonder Woman 1984, Lee for Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Pemberton for Ferrari.

This is Mulaney's first feature (two more after it) but he's more famous as a very funny comedian and episodic TV actor. Glenn is best known for 44 episodes of Orange Is the New Black and has done lots of TV, both animated and live action. Persichetti makes his directing debut after working in the animation department for a number of projects. Ramsey worked in art departments, directed one other feature and some TV episodes. Rothman also makes a directing debut but has written other things, including being head writer for 455 episodes of Late Show with David Letterman, and Lord has co-written a few other movies and TV episodes, most, but not all, animated.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are happily spinning, with averages of 97 and 94%. There's a third chapter in production right now. We plan to see the current/second one soon and rented this on Apple TV March 9. Be sure to stay in the room for the post-credits bonus which, Judy tells me, foresees the next movie.

Milestone alert! With Elemental, I have now watched and written about 1501 movies since September 3, 2008. There are 23 other movies posted on the blog that I saw before that date (and today I have five in draft mode awaiting my attention).

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Predictably fun, this sequel takes the webslinger on a high school trip to the capitals of Europe and the travel photography alone is worth the price of admission. Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man has to juggle his teenage crush on a classmate with saving the world from destruction and the pacing is pretty good.

Returning from the last installment, Spider-Man: Homecoming, we have in the cast Tom Holland (last blogged for Avengers: Infinity War) as Peter, Jacob Batalon as his best friend Ned, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Jon Favreau (more recently in these pages for Solo: A Star Wars Story) as Happy, Tony Revolori as Flash, and Martin Starr (last blogged for I'll See You in My Dreams) as Mr. Harrington. Notable additions are Samuel L. Jackson (most recently in I Am Not Your Negro) as Nick Fury, Jake Gyllenhaal (last in Wildlife) as Quentin, Zendaya (blog debut in The Greatest Showman) as MJ, and J.B. Smoove (most recently in The Polka King) as Mr. Dell. He says, "Witches!"

Director Jon Watts' last project was Spider-Man: Homecoming and the co-writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers most recently penned Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Sadly, there's no Stan Lee cameo--he died November 12, 2018 at 95. In fact, it's the first Marvel-Avengers movie without Lee's face. But, as usual, there is a scene at the very end, so stick around.

Matthew J. Lloyd (last blogged for shooting The Seagull) is the cinematographer, and the magnificent aerial photography (some by drone) is credited to Jeremy Braben, who was aerial DP on almost 200 movies, dozens of which we have seen and appreciated.

Michael Giacchino's (last scored Bad Times at the El Royale) soundtrack can be streamed on youtube, Apple Music, and more.

No one needs our recommendation to see this. If you're a fan of the franchise you have probably already seen it. But here are the Rotten Tomatoes numbers anyway: 90% from critics and 96% from audiences.

PS. This was our yearly pre-fireworks action movie for 2019. That said, we actually had bought advance tickets to the newest Men in Black, based on the fact that MiB had been released earlier and might not be around so long. But the sign outside the room had a different title (The Hustle--not really on our list). I went to the counter and discovered that, because no one else had bought tickets, that screening had been cancelled. This one was a good choice and still allowed us time to get downtown in time for the pyrotechnics.