SPIDER MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER VERSE
#spiderman
Five years ago, the feature-length animated film "Spider-Man: Across Universes" turned the comic book movie genre upside down, won an Oscar (plus many other prizes) and proved that it was still possible to create an innovative, truly extraordinary work within the Hollywood system.
A sequel was inevitable, and a third installment is being prepared for 2024. Apparently, equally inevitable was the complication of the already multi-layered and confusing structure (it is harder to develop and draw several universes than one). But that's not the main problem. "Spider-Man: Web of Universes" proves that the Hollywood machine is capable of digesting, adapting, appropriating and commercializing the most breakthrough concept. It's a very high quality and cool cartoon, but the sense of freshness and nonconformity - incidentally, extremely important to the character of Spider-Man, the archetypal teenager rebelling against adults - is lost.
The paradox is that the theme of conflict with parents comes to the fore here. In the watercolor-painted universe of Gwen Stacy, Stacy confronts her sad father. In Miles' brightly colored and visually street-art world, he argues with both of his parents. At the same time, Gwen and Miles' fathers, who live in different universes, are policemen. It's as if the nonconformist character himself within the structure of the movie is struggling with the penal code of mainstream filmmaking, which doesn't allow you to go too far outside the boxes if you want to succeed.
The visual richness has barely been affected. The franchise is still stunning in its ability to jump from one aesthetic frame of reference to another, often in shockingly contrasting ways.
The accented comic book graphics, reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein's paintings, have receded into the background. But the combination of two dozen animation styles in one screen space, reflecting the complex structure of the multiverse - and life itself - remains the know-how of "Spider-Man's" Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the cartoon's constant producers and creators.
Whereas in the first cartoon the teeming variety of form and content brought to the screen such unorthodox characters as the noirish black-and-white Spidey or the nihilistic Spider-Pig, in the second this parade of superheroes is orderly and strictly subordinated to the ideas of representation: Spider-2099 is a Mexican who comes from the distant future, Spider-Woman is a pregnant African-American, a grown-up white Peter Parker is raising a daughter.
At one point, they are joined by the most attractive character of the new movie - Spider-Punk, who looks in from Great Britain and never breaks up with an electric guitar - he looks like he came off the cover of an unreleased Sex Pistols album. But he doesn't stay long: he obviously dislikes the "friendly" spider's trial of Miles, who dares to break the hierarchy and break the accepted canon. Rocker merges, and from now on the tone is set by Spider-2099, completely devoid of a sense of humor and therefore very boring.
His opposite is the most unthreatening and lovable of the villains, a failed scientist nicknamed Blur. His body is devoid of personal characteristics and consists of solid spots - peculiar black holes that change shape and lead to parallel worlds. Not a character, but a walking Rorschach test.
Such a whimsical psychological tool in the structure of the cartoon also has no place, not without reason it is so persistently trying to banish. With all the numerous contrivances "Spider-Man: Web of Universes" is built on two disconcertingly kondovye core plot. The first is a single Spider, or several with supervillains, who are eventually defeated not by skill, but by numbers. The second is the drama of growing up and Miles or Gwen's attempts to challenge the authority of their elders, not only Mom and Dad, but also more mature Spiders from neighboring dimensions. There's also a barely hinted at, traditionally unabashed romantic line. It's no coincidence that the two equal protagonists are a lonely young man and girl, misunderstood by their parents and society. Humor has become noticeably less, but the level of teenage sentimental drama has increased. Sometimes "Web of Universes" intonationally begins to resemble "Twilight".
But the movie has three new directors - Joaquim Dos Santos (previously worked on "Avatar: The Legend of Aang"), Kemp Powers (co-director of "Soul") and Justin Thompson (who worked as an artist on "Cloudy, Possible Precipitation in the form of cocktails" of the same Lord and Miller). Apparently, they were given the task of surpassing the achievements of the previous movie, and formally they coped, on the way spilling something very important.
Perhaps not definitively. After all, "Web of Universes" breaks on half a word, ahead of the completion of the trilogy - and a chance to work on the mistakes. And the undoubted loyalty of the audience will help in this.