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The new movie ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ features an impressive voice cast, including Issa Rae, who brings a tough-love vibe to her role as Spider-Woman Jessica Drew. Oscar Isaac, who played a great role in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight,” is also cast as a slightly unhinged and self-serious version of Spider-Man. Steinfeld’s Gwen, a fan favorite, gets more screen time in this film than the previous one, making it clear that the character is paramount to the plot. Furthermore, the movie delves deeper into the character’s back story and her feelings of displacement in her world.
The directing team, composed of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, has created a beautifully realistic, multicultural New York that immerses the audience into Miles and Gwen’s journey. This was done through simple yet powerful details, such as including a wheelchair basketball game in a nearby court, or displaying a shelf full of beef patties in a Jamaican bodega.
In the film, both Miles and Gwen continue to confront the various possibilities in life that come with adolescence; it’s about figuring out who they are, whether that’s being a superhero or not, and finding their place in the world. The movie also asks intriguing questions about the limitations of the canon of Spider-Man stories, and whether trauma completely defines these heroes. Although the film has a disappointing cliffhanger at the end, it proves that ‘two’s a team, three’s a party, and hundreds is a multiverse crawling with opportunities.’
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
is rated PG and has a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes. It is currently playing in theaters.
Audio produced by Tally Abecassis.
