🍿68: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
🕷️ This week's spider-packed SP comes with 3 fresh trailers, the worst films we've ever featured and lot's of Disney news!
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
~ Spider-Man, 2002
It’s your friendly neighbourhood SP…
For those new to the SP-Verse, you might think that this week’s Spider-Fest means we’re avid fans of the MCU. Love it or hate it, let us tell you now that we sit firmly with Martin Scorsese when it comes to “theme park movies”.
We’re not knocking those films… well, we are a bit, but we’re not knocking the fans. If that’s your thing, enjoy it. Just know that it’s not the typical film you’ll find in Salty Popcorn.
To further ensure you don’t get the wrong idea about the kind of films we enjoy at SP, we thought we’d compile some of the worst films to be featured over the past couple of years:
Bliss - Salma Hayek opens Owen Wilson’s eyes to the real world, a paradise where everything is perfect and our “reality” was created to help people appreciate their lives. Was this film a commentary on mental health, or were the characters just on drugs? Nobody knows, nobody cares.
Old - Based on the graphic novel ‘Sandcastle’, by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters, M. Night Shyamalan traps a bunch of tourists on a tropical beach that causes them to rapidly age. Sadly, the powers of the beach couldn’t make the film go any faster.
Deep Water - Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck star in this forgettable film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name. Who would’ve thought you could describe a film as both horny and boring?
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - It’s not quite funny enough to be a comedy, nor violent enough to be an action film. Nick Cage playing Nick Cage is the least ridiculous thing about this film.
Don’t Worry Darling - Sadly, the drama of the press tour was juicier than that of the film. It’s all very style — and Harry Styles — over substance.
What’s the worst film you’ve seen in recent memory? Let’s rant about it together in the comments!
Now for the headlines:
Disney has shuffled its release schedule, pushing back several Avengers, Star Wars and Avatar releases. Read more.
Bambi will be getting a live-action remake with Oscar-winner Sarah Polley attached to direct. Read more.
Pixar has made a short film spin-off of Up. Titled Carl’s Date, the animated short will apparently play attached to the latest Pixar release, Elemental. It’s even got its own trailer. Read more.
Carrie Fisher’s final film, Wonderwall, will be released at last following a seven-year “perilous” journey. Read more.
And finally, Michael Caine has written a novel that’s due to be published in November — and it’s exactly what you’d expect. Read more.
Salty Popcorn is 100% free, but if you enjoy SP, please consider buying us a cinema ticket for just £5 per month - or a bunch of tickets for just £30 per year. Thank you!
Upcoming Releases
They Cloned Tyrone
UK: 21 July // USA: 21 July
Starring Tyonah Paris, John Boyega and Jamie Foxx, this sci-fi mystery thrusts an unlikely trio onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy.
Bottoms
UK: TBC // USA: 25 August
Two unpopular queer high school students, PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) start a fight club as a way to get laid before graduation.
Elio
UK: 1 March // USA: 1 March
Elio (Yonas Kibreab) struggles to fit in until he is transported by aliens and becomes the chosen one to be Earth’s galactic ambassador while his mother Olga (America Ferrera) works on the top secret project to decode alien messages.
Fact of the week
During the filming of Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey Maguire, director Sam Raimi played a prank on Doc Ock actor Alfred Molina.
In the clip below, you can hear the end of a conversation between Raimi and Molina, suggesting that the studio wants something more from Molina’s performance…
Review: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Star rating:
4 (out of 5)
Where to watch:
USA: Only in cinemas
UK: Only in cinemas
Runtime:
2hr 19m
Director:
Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, Kemp Powers
Blurb:
The long-awaited sequel to one of cinema’s most-revered animations is finally here.
After reuniting with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Miles Morales — AKA. Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) — is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.
The review (NO spoilers):
Multiverse madness reaches dizzying new heights in the latest comic book caper. But for anyone who’s seen the first Spider-Verse film, the question surely is, does the sequel live up to its predecessor? The answer: Yes! (And no).
The first film, Into the Spider-Verse, came out in 2018. It was a hot take on a Marvel character that the world was already very familiar with, and (being the seventh Spidey release in 16 years) possibly getting bored of. But nobody expected it to be as good as it was.
The comic-kaleidoscope animation alone was enough to blow everyone away. As a result, the latest film, Across the Spider-Verse, has had to do a lot to avoid getting caught in the first film’s web of success. And, for the most part, it does.
At least 85% of the film is non-stop adrenaline-charged web-slinging action. It really feels that if you blink, you’ll miss it. For some adults, this might get tiring, but kids (and die-hard fans) will most likely love it.
However, being a full 39 minutes longer than the first film, it does beg the question as to whether a PG-rated animation really needs to be two and a half hours long. I wasn’t bored per se, but I was ready for it to be over.
While the vivid animation and relentless action work wonders to keep you captivated, it does fall a little short of the first film’s inventiveness — but that was always going to be hard to match.
Across the Spider-Verse might not be the same cinematic marvel as its predecessor, but it’s still a lot of fun and well worth a watch.
Scroll down to see what’s in the next issue.
If you liked Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse…
Everything Everywhere All At Once
2022 | UK: Amazon Prime (Free for subs) // USA: Paramount+ (Free for subs)
Last year, Everything Everywhere blew me, and much of the world (at least in this universe) away. If you haven’t seen it yet then you simply must. You can read the full review here, in SP#37.
In the next issue:
Asteroid City
UK: 23 June // USA: 23 June | Watch the Trailer