AngierCorleone’s review published on Letterboxd:
And we now continue with a rewatch, and yeah this was still as breathtaking as the last time. I'm still unsure wether it's better than the first one though, I think Into the Spiderverse still has the edge for me.
But I'm still in shock how they managed to pull this off twice now, it's nothing less than a miracle. If you had told me 5 years ago today that these movies would change the entire landscape of the entire animation industry I would have doubted you just a little bit, but here we are. I'm so glad other animation studios are taking inspiration from these with the likes of Puss in Boots 2, Arcane, and that new TMNT movie.
Can we talk about how absolutely stellar Miles and Gwen are as main characters?! I love where the writers took them both. Miles taking control of his destiny despite everything and pretty much everyone going against him is extremely satisfying to watch, he really does things working out for him though at the moment it's not looking good. Then there's the first 20 minutes which focuses on Gwen and it actually goes hard, the relationship between her and her Dad was really sad and she just seems incredibly lonely. I'd love to see a spin-off focusing in her universe.
The side characters aren't to shabby either, it's a mixture of old and new. Seeing Peter B Parker again with a little baby is just perfection, and him telling Miles that he was the reason Peter wanted kids made me cry. Hobie Brown and Pavitr Prabhakar were awesome, in fact all of the Spiderpeople are really cool including Andy Samberg. The first hour or so of this movie is mostly just domestic stuff between Miles, Gwen, and their parents but I don't mind that because they're really great as characters and they have meaningful conversations with our main protagonists.
And then there's the villains which I have mixed feelings about. I liked the voice for the Spot more this time, though he's not particularly funny or intimidating until later on. But I think the design was pretty great, especially as he became more corrupted. Miguel O'Hara was amazing in every way, you sympathise with him because he's the reason an entire universe collapsed. Now his brain has warped into thinking only his plan will work (much like Thanos) and any anomaly must be burned and it's fantastic to watch, but I wish he had had more screen time.
The one thing I've not heard a lot of people talk about is the sound these movies have. Like the soundtrack is outstanding, helping elevate some scenes even higher with awesome needle drops like with What's Up Danger. But the score from these movies are absolutely insane. Each character's, the motifs and call backs, coupled with impeccable use of time makes for some of the best scores in any movie. I can't think of many other movies that have a score that can sharpen my attention with a single bit of music, I mean the Prowler theme alone puts me on edge like nothing else.
March 29th 2024 can't come fast enough for me, there's a thousand ways the story can go but it'll be a masterpiece whatever they do. I might end up removing Parasite from my Top 3 at this rate, but only time will tell.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading both of these. :)
