It’s difficult to get excited about superhero movies these days. They’re churned out at a quick pace with seemingly little regard to high quality or original plot structure (that old obligatory action-filled, yawn-inducing third act doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon). Sure, they’re usually part of a universe to create intrigue for viewers so they’ll spend more of their hard-earned cash to return for future viewings. Ultimately, it’s all a bit hollow and cynical.
Not the Spiderverse, though. Into the Spiderverse deservedly won Best Animated Feature for its slick, dynamic and endlessly creative visual palette, where titular hero Miles Moralis (Shameik Moore) discovers that he’s not the only Spidey dude out there. While this gimmick had the potential to get tired quickly, a relatively simple plot, outstanding animation and some stellar voice acting assured this was anything but. Nicolas Cage essentially being Nicolas Cage as gravel-voiced Noir Spiderman was an inspired bit of casting, and heck, there’s Peter Porker, with The Simpsons Movie’s spider pig brought to glorious life. Across the Spiderverse brings along various additions to the cast without diluting the narrative as Miles reunites with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), discovering multiple webs of new Spidey folk (see what I did there?) and eventually coming into contact with hardened head honcho Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac). As with the original, high energy is the name of the game; Across in particular feels like what would happen if the Safdie Brothers had a go at making a child-friendly animation (note to the Safdie Brothers: don’t do that, I like my Safdie Brothers movie to be full of mature fear-inducing tension and unease, thank you). Dialogue flies by in frenetic tune with the visuals, and if that’s not your thing, maybe you won’t enjoy it.
But if you need a break from that superhero movie carb crash, you won’t find anything better this year. Some new cast highlights include Issa Rae’s Spider-Woman (Keke Palmer brought the Akira motorbike slide back in stylish form in Nope, and Rae continues the tradition in similarly cool fashion here) and Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk. Kaluuya has been hitting out of the park in every single feature he’s starred in, and he continues to strike gold with his guitar-wielding superhero. Every single side-Spidey (yeah, I’ll use that term for now) is imbued with charisma and warmth.
It isn’t difficult to guess who the film’s ultimate big-bad turns out to be, but that’s not the point. With all the visual ingenuity on display in every single frame, it’s hard to imagine any other film taking home the Best Animated Feature next year.